WD: Error Message: "The Document Template Is Not Valid"

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

Sometimes the following error message occurs when you use the Templates and Add-in Command on the Tools menu (Templates command on the File menu in Word 2.x-7.x) to attach a different template:

   The document template is not valid.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when you attempt to attach a global template or add-in and you select a file

• with a .dot file name extension that is in a format other than Word Document Template format.

  -or-

• file that is in a format other than Word Document Template format, such as a Word document.

MORE INFORMATION

In Word, you usually create a new document by basing it on a template. However, you can also base a new document on another Word document, but you cannot later attach a Word document as a template to an existing Word document.

When you base a new document on an existing Word document, Word inserts the text from the existing document in the new document as a boilerplate.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, pages 701-702, 804-805