I'm trying to follow instructions for Word 2016 to create a master document. When I click on 'Create', I get the error "The selection does not consist of heading levels". Can someone advise how to continue? Thanks.



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The master document function has always been a dubious provision.
See https://wordmvp.com/FAQs/General/Why...ocsCorrupt.htm

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Graham Mayor - MS MVP (Word) (2002-2019)
Visit my web site for more programming tips and ready made processes www.gmayor.com

I don't know that you'll get much help in an online forum for Master Documents. Most experienced users go to great lengths to avoid using them. They have earned a reputation of destroying major projects.
Master Documents "Feature"

Thanks. I was aware that this was an issue in the past but I thought they would have addressed it by now. When free alternatives such as Libre Office don't have this issue, it's very disappointing that Microsoft haven't fixed their own word processor in all these years.

I wouldn't entirely agree … from what I've seen of Libre/Open Office, their implementation is far from problem-free. The paradigm for me is still FrameMaker with its rock-solid .book mechanism, or DITA with its .ditamap files.

It is my understanding that Wordperfect's implementation has always worked well. That was the reason that Microsoft introduced the "feature" back in the '90s. It was done so they could say that they also had the feature.

There has been no release from MS that they have fixed it, AFAIK.

The work and pain involved in testing has kept me and probably many others from testing. Faithe Wempen wrote:"Since its inception, the Master Documents feature has been a bit quirky and buggy, and that fact hasn't changed with Word 2016, unfortunately." Microsoft Word 2016 In Depth

As an alternative to master documents, you can bring in content from external files by adding INCLUDETEXT fields. Note that these must be updated manually (select all and press F9). The INCLUDETEXT field allows you to edit the field result/display text and then save the changes back to the source file with Ctrl+Shift+F7.

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

I have no great hopes, but I posted a UserVoice request on this. People can vote for it here:
https://word.uservoice.com/forums/30...cument-feature