Unable to save Word doc as PDF with embedded hyperlinks

[JRBarron]

I'm using a 2020 MacBook Pro with an M1 chip and running MacOS Monterey 12.5.1 and Microsoft Word for Mac 16.64 with a Microsoft 365 Subscription. (There are currently no updates available for either MacOS or Microsoft Office for Mac.)

I can save Word docs to PDF but embedded hyperlinks are lost. To conserve those links, one must go to File > Save As > File Format: PDF, and then select “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online services).” Invariably, I get an error message “Can't export file.” This has been happening for most of this year but is a relatively new problem.

(Note that selecting “best for printing" works, except embedded hyperlinks are lost. Likewise using the Print menu and then selecting save as PDF and then open in Preview creates a PDF but embedded hyperlinks are lost.)

My wife's computer is a 2022 MacBook Air with an M2 chip running macOS Monterey 12.5.1 and Microsoft Word for Mac 16.64 with a Microsoft 365 Subscription, the same as my computer. Her installation of Word works as it should and does not have this issue.

I've tried the usual troubleshooting routes, including uninstalling all MS Office apps (including Word for Mac), deleting trash, rebooting my Mac, redownloading the 365 Office for Mac installation package and doing a fresh install. The problem persists.

Someone suggested that I go to Insert > Add-Ins > Get Add-Ins and search and select one called “Soda." Alas, when I try that I get an Office Add-ins pop-up window that includes this error message: “cannot connect to catalogue.” I'm guessing that these two problems are related, different symptoms of the same underlying issue.

An obvious workaround would be using Adobe Acrobat — alas! while the conserving of embedded hyperlinks in PDFs converted by Adobe from a Word doc works on pcs running MS Windows, it doesn't work in MacOS Monterey.

Any and all assistance is appreciated.

 

[MacInWin]

I just tried it and it works for me using the same version of Word and macOS, so it's not universal. That leaves something unique to YOUR machine. About all I can think of is that your machine is not connecting to the Microsoft server. And I have no idea how to fix that. You might want to ask that question at a MS support site or from a MS support techie. And don't let them say it's Apple's problem, because it isn't. You now have two examples of it working as it should, your wife's and mine.

 

[IWT]

About all I can think of is that your machine is not connecting to the Microsoft server

I think you are spot on.

I replicated the OP's situation and when it comes to ticking the box "Best for electronic distribution etc", it tells me that I must allow the file to be sent to Microsoft for conversion. I agree to this and the final product is as it should be with embedded hyperlinks.

Ian

 

[pine man]

Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online services).

I never realised that this additional facility in Word for conversion to PDF documents existed. I have been merrily converting to standard pdf file and never noticed that the hyperlinks weren't their any more!

Learning all the time

Oh, and I checked out that facility and it worked ok on my iMac with hyperlinks retained.

 

[Rod]

Mine too, once I tried it. Not something I do very often. The process was the same as Ian described.

 

[JRBarron]

As it *is* a Microsoft issue, I've tried the MS routes but haven't yet had any luck; that's why I tried here.

I assume that there's some file that's gotten corrupted that didn't get deleted when I did the uninstall, which then got reintroduced into the new installation. What I don't know is what that file might be be or where it is.

 

[JRBarron]

RESOLVED

Well, it was a connectivity issue, as I suspected, but a different one than I had expected. My malware/firewall protection software was interfering. This didn't occur to me, as the issue I described is the only issue my computer has, and the firewall/malware configuration on both my computer and my wife's computer had been set up identically.

But apparently one of the settings had gotten changed. I closed Word, briefly turned off the firewall/malware protection, re-opened word and voilà! the missing functionalities were restored. So I immediately turned the protections back on, dove deep in the settings of the protection software and made the one necessary change. Everything works now.

In the past, there have been hidden configuration files that had gotten corrupted and were not removed by the uninstall/reinstall process. (I've dealt this problem with Microsoft Office applications running both on Macs and on PCs running Windows.) So I suspected that something similar might be going on here. Such things are easy enough to fix, but only if you know which files those are and where they're hiding. But it was a more straightforward issue this time and a possibility that I should've thought of but simply overlooked this time.

Someone over at answers.microsoft finally pointed me int the right direction.

I thank y'all for your engagement here!

 

[JRBarron]

I never realised that this additional facility in Word for conversion to PDF documents existed. I have been merrily converting to standard pdf file and never noticed that the hyperlinks weren't their any more!

Learning all the time

Oh, and I checked out that facility and it worked ok on my iMac with hyperlinks retained.

Glad to have helped, even if inadvertently !

 

[Rod]

Thanks for getting back with the resolution, adds another string to the bow of this forum's expanding knowledge base.

 

[Heddois]

I'm using a 2020 MacBook Pro with an M1 chip and running MacOS Monterey 12.5.1 and Microsoft Word for Mac 16.64 with a Microsoft 365 Subscription. (There are currently no updates available for either MacOS or Microsoft Office for Mac.)

I can save Word docs to PDF but embedded hyperlinks are lost. To conserve those links, one must go to File > Save As > File Format: PDF, and then select “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility (uses Microsoft online services).” Invariably, I get an error message “Can't export file.” This has been happening for most of this year but is a relatively new problem.

(Note that selecting “best for printing" works, except embedded hyperlinks are lost. Likewise using the Print menu and then selecting save as PDF and then open in Preview creates a PDF but embedded hyperlinks are lost.)

My wife's computer is a 2022 MacBook Air with an M2 chip running macOS Monterey 12.5.1 and Microsoft Word for Mac 16.64 with a Microsoft 365 Subscription, the same as my computer. Her installation of Word works as it should and does not have this issue.

I've tried the usual troubleshooting routes, including uninstalling all MS Office apps (including Word for Mac), deleting trash, rebooting my Mac, redownloading the 365 Office for Mac installation package and doing a fresh install. The problem persists.

Someone suggested that I go to Insert > Add-Ins > Get Add-Ins and search and select one called “Soda." Alas, when I try that I get an Office Add-ins pop-up window that includes this error message: “cannot connect to catalogue.” I'm guessing that these two problems are related, different symptoms of the same underlying issue.

An obvious workaround would be using Adobe Acrobat — alas! while the conserving of embedded hyperlinks in PDFs converted by Adobe from a Word doc works on pcs running MS Windows, it doesn't work in MacOS Monterey.

Any and all assistance is appreciated.

I'VE FOUND A FIX! I had exactly the same problem.

After trying to export electronic version of PDF from Word and getting same error every time, I finally got it to work by using the cloud-based Word app as opposed to the offline software on my computer. You don't need an Office365 subscription to do this. (I only have a perpetual licence offline version myself). Just get a microsoft.com logon and upload your Word DOC. Then Save as PDF.

Office.com
OneDrive

Regards,
Heddois

 

[TotalSolutions]

JRBarron "My malware/firewall protection software was interfering."
Thats what needs to go from your MacPro then. Not required.