I can't give you Mac-specific instructions, but for WinWord the following applies: http://word.mvps.org/faqs/drwgrphcs/...legraphics.htm. I hope you'll be able to find the corresponding commands in MacWord.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thank you for the link, Stefan, it's very informative and I'll use it to explore the corresponding actions in Word 2008.

A friend and fellow writer here told me something I didn't know (and that I accept as true because I have no reason not to), that Word will embed images up to a certain size but links to them in another location if the files are over a certain size. The images that disappeared were not high resolution and therefore relatively small, but she suggested that I may have moved the files from their location when inserted, and Word can't find them.

I haven't intentionally moved anything, but I decided to reinsert the images. I have no explanation for what happened, but after I inserted the first one, the others "filled in" on their own. What caused them to disappear remains a mystery, but the "crisis" has been averted, at least for the moment.

I appreciate your taking the time to assist me, thanks again.

Tosh