The last thing I learned: Word Desktop doesn't know the difference between a council and Counsel. Later, I learned Word Online doesn't know my book at all.
After I found "the spirit of council" in my proof copy of Kingdom Poetry, I thought — easy, I'll run it through Word Online. Everyone says the Online Editor is smarter. Punctuation, Conciseness, Inclusive Language — all the things Desktop doesn't have.
I clicked Open in Word Online and got this:
"This file has elements that Word Online can't read"
My holy book was apparently too dubious for the cloud.
Here is everything I found hiding in a KDP Desktop file that locks Word Online out — in case you're a fellow author in Dewsbury or Dallas fighting the same thing.
Error 1: The Header That Wouldn't Die (But Did)
My KDP template had a header on every section. Removing it was easy: double-click top, Remove Header. Done.
Error 2: The Footer That Wouldn't Die (And Wouldn't)
The footer was different. It looked empty. It wasn't.
Inside it was a hidden { PAGE } field code left by Amazon's template. On Windows, you press Alt+F9 to see it. On my Mac, Fn+Option+F9 just triggered a macro.
I pressed Cmd+A, Delete, Delete again. It came back. I clicked Remove Footer. It came back.
The fix: Right-click the page number itself > Remove Page Numbers. Then uncheck "Different First Page" and "Different Odd & Even Pages". On Mac, the real trick is to show ¶ marks with Cmd+8 — that last ¶ in the whole document holds the footer prisoner.
Error 3: Link to Previous is Greyed Out
I Googled it. Every forum said, "click Link to Previous to turn it off."
Mine was grey. Disabled. I thought my Word was broken.
It wasn't broken. It was telling the truth. I was in Section 1. There IS no previous section to link to. That grey button meant my file was split into 30+ sections from all those narrow margin fixes. Word Online can't handle that many sections — it gives up.
Fix: Find and Replace, find ^b (Section Break), replace with nothing. Replace All. Suddenly one book, one section.
Error 4: Compatibility Mode
At the top it said [Compatibility Mode]. That means my file was secretly still a 2003 Word document wearing a 2026 costume. No wonder Online couldn't read it. File > Info > Convert fixed it.
Error 5: Text Boxes for Poetry
I had centred my poems using text boxes to make them look beautiful for the hardback proof. Word Online doesn't edit text boxes. It just locks the file to Read-Only.
So what did I end up doing?
I gave up converting the beautiful version.
I made a second version — a "checker copy". Select all, but don't select that very last ¶ mark, copy, paste into a brand new blank document with Paste and Match Formatting. No headers. No footers. No boxes.
Just words.
That ugly file opened instantly in Word Online. And the Editor finally worked. It flagged conciseness issues Desktop had never shown me.
I wrote the corrections on paper, then typed those two or three words back into my beautiful Desktop master.
The Lesson
Desktop Word is a printing press. It's built to make things look perfect on paper.
Online Word is an editor. It's built to read meaning in the cloud.
For Kingdom Poetry, I need both. One to make the hardback look like it should be on a pulpit, one to make sure I didn't accidentally turn the Holy Spirit of Counsel into a local council meeting.
If you're writing theology, or anything where one letter changes the Spirit, don't trust one version. Use Desktop to format, Online to discern.
And if your footer won't delete on a Mac — it's not you. It's Amazon.
Grace and (proper) Counsel to you
David Nicholas Slater
Author, Kingdom Poetry Volume 1: Taking The World By Storm & Volume 2: New Beginnings
Dewsbury, UK
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