What to do when a file or document does not import

Context: In certain cases, memoQ may refuse the import of files. This article describes what you can do to import the file into memoQ. We go through the typical situations and offer step-by-step descriptions.

Description: If your file does not import, follow these steps:

0. Upgrade to the latest build or version. As we at memoQ fix software-related defects frequently, make sure that you are using the latest build. To check the build number, go to the My memoQ page, and compare it to the build number at the website. Version changes may have more significant implications.

1. Check if the file is being locked by the authoring tool. If you have the file open in Word, Word might block access for memoQ, and as a result, memoQ fails to import the file. Close the applications that might lock the file, or restart your computer, and only have memoQ open.

2. Try importing a different file of the same file type. The first thing to check is whether there is something wrong with memoQ's handling of the file format or with the file itself. If you are trying to import a DOC file, import another DOC file and see if it imports. If it does, there is nothing wrong with the memoQ and Office installation. If it does not, first try to uninstall memoQ, delete everything under C:\Program Files\Kilgray, and reinstall memoQ, and check again if the error persists. If it does, there may still be a problem with your Microsoft Office installation, and repairing or reinstalling Office may help.

3. Try an alternative route. If you have managed to import a different file of the same file type, there are two possibilities: either there is a bug in memoQ's file filter that prevents importing the file, or the file itself is corrupt. Actually the likelihood of the file itself being corrupt is high, especially for old filters in memoQ, as these have processed millions of files. To check if the file works or not, open it in the application it was created in, and save it again. If the application gives you options (e.g. you can save a Word file as DOCX or DOC or RTF, an Excel file as XLSX or XLS, or an InDesign file as IDML or INX), try saving into the other format and importing it into memoQ. If there are no options offered by the application, open the file in memoQ using Import with options, and try some options in the window that opens:

If you fail to import an Office file, memoQ can re-save it for you. If you fail to import a DOC file, try importing through DOCX and vice versa. If you fail to import an XLS file, try importing through XLSX and vice versa. If you fail to import a PPT file, try importing through PPTX and vice versa. If you fail to import a HTML file, select the other tag option (inline tags vs memoQ tags) and try again. If you still struggle importing an Office file, there is an Aspose check box - enable it and import the file again.

4. If you still did not manage to get the file into memoQ, send it over to memoQ's support. We fix file format filters with highest priority, and may be able to offer an imported file even if the new build is not out yet. Please note that there is not much we can do without receiving the actual document - the other things you can try are described in this article.