Problem: when clicking on the blue File Attribute link to open a Word Document, the error "The system cannot find the file specified." is displayed and MS Word does not open, even though MS Word is installed on the computer. 

Solution: this error might occur if the Windows Operating System cannot find the WinWord.exe file on your computer, needed to start Word.

Do the following checks to verify this problem:

Check 1) Click the Windows Button + R to open a Run window. Type "WINWORD.EXE" in the text field in the Run window and click OK. If MS Word does not start, then this is another indication that Windows cannot find the WinWord.exe file.

Check 2)  Click the Windows Button + R to open a Run window. Type "regedit" in the text field in the Run window and click OK. This will open the Registry Editor. Navigate to the path "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\Winword.exe". If this location does not contain 4 entries (but only an empty string), then this is another indication that Windows cannot find the WinWord.exe file.

To find where MS Word is installed on the computer, open the start menu and find the Word icon. Right-click on the word icon and select "Open File Location" or More => Open File Location in the context menu. This will open the file location of the Word shortcut. Right-click on the word shortcut and select "Properties" in the context menu. In the Shortcut tab page, find the Target text field which contains the path to the WinWord.exe.

Use this win word exe path to update the Registry for the registry path defined above, using the following pattern:

Word Add-in or Template Builder does not display properly using Dark mode.

Solve the problem by switching back to Standard Mode.

Use these settings:

Click the File tab => Options à General => Office Theme => Select “Use System Setting”.

Close and reopen the MS Word application. The data will appear as expected.

When using the Aligned Elements Windows Client, starting the Word Add-In displays the following error:

The error is an indication of that Word is installed as 64-bit on this computer but the Aligned Elements application expects a 32-bit Word application.

How to solve it

First, verify that you are using a Word 64 bit version.

Then uninstall your current Aligned Elements application.

Go to the Download Setups page and make sure you download the "Aligned Elements Windows Client - Word as 64 bit" set up. Make sure you download the correct version!   

This happens for the Aligned Elements Windows client on Windows 11.

The error says "An unexpected error occurred. Please mail the logfile to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. ..." 

On Windows 11 machines, the Microsoft Word installer sometimes do not set the path to the “Winword.exe” in the registry.

Consequently, Aligned Elements fails to start “Winword.exe” since its path is unknown to AE.

How to solve it

Manually adding registry values for this makes the problem go away.

The image below displays the expected registry settings:

If the Aligned Elements Web Client Word Add-In does not display any icons, proceed as follows:

1) Open MS Word.

2) Click File => Options => Trust Center => Protected View

3) Make sure that the first to checkboxes ( "Enabled Protected View for files originating from the Internet" and "Enabled Protected View for files located in potentially unsafe locations") are not selected.

Word documents and the Word Add-in displays in an awkward manner in Windows 10, version 20H2

How to solve it:

1) Find the Aligned Elements shortcut

2) Display Properties => Compatibility Tab

3) At the bottom of the tab click "Change high DPI settings"

4) At the bottom of the displayed dialog, in the section "High DPI scaling override", if the check box for "Override high DPI scaling" is selected, select "System" (and not e.g. "System (Enhanced)") in the dropdown.

If a VSTO customization cannot be uninstalled with the regular Control Panel - Apps & Features dialog, then access the "old" Programs and Features Dialog by clicking "Programs and Features" under the section "Related Settings" in the Apps & Feature dialog of the Control Panel. In this dialog, the VSTO customization can be uninstalled.

See AE User Manual section 4.10 for details.

Yes, you can. Select "Display Inconsistencies" for the objects you want to check and filter on the Inconsistency called "Document Object Not In File".