FAQ: "More than one file necessary to do TC/SC translation is missing" in MS Word

Can't run Simplified-Traditional
Chinese character conversion in Word?

FAQ: In Microsoft Word I found menu options for converting Chinese Simplified characters to Traditional, another for converting Traditional to Simplified, and a "Chinese translation with options" tool too. But when I select Chinese text and try to run these features I get an error message: "Word is unable to proceed. More than one file necessary to do SC/TC translation is missing." How can I fix this?

Why on earth would the good folks at Microsoft include icons or menu items for these features if they won't work??? I don't know, but they did. The items in the green box below do work (except "Translation ScreenTip" does not include Chinese yet), but the items in the red box simply do not work even if you place them on the Word 2010 or 2007 Quick Access Toolbar or in a Ribbon. You'll find a similar problem in Word 2003 and older.

I once assumed that anyone who found these icons in their copy of Word must have once had these features installed but lost them during an upgrade or due to some Registry problems. But no, they are there in new installations too!

One might accuse Microsoft of some vast conspiracy, a ploy to entice you into purchasing something you expected to receive as part of your original purchase, but I think that's giving them far too much credit. I think this is simply a mistake, or an easy (for the engineers) workaround to some installation problem, and they just can't be bothered to clean this up.

Whether you have a fresh copy of Windows and Office, or if you used to have these features and they disappeared at some point, the solution is the same: install or reinstall the Office Proofing Tools.

Depending on your version of Word, these are bundled with Office Language Packs, offered as free downloads separately, or both. See the following Frequently Asked Questions page for more info:

About the Microsoft Office Chinese Language Packs, and a
related FAQ: where to download the Office Proofing Tools

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