Resolve Footnote Macro Error in Confluence Cloud Word Import
Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Problem
When importing a Word document, the import fails and the following error is thrown:
The macro 'footnote' is unknown
The following appears in the atlassian-confluence.log
2015-10-05 08:02:17,843 ERROR [http-bio-8443-exec-224] [atlassian.confluence.servlet.ConfluenceServletDispatcher] sendError Could not execute action
-- referer: https://confluence.atlassian.com/pages/worddav/importword.action | url: /pages/worddav/doimportword.action | userName: admin
com.atlassian.confluence.api.service.exceptions.InternalServerException: com.atlassian.confluence.content.render.xhtml.migration.exceptions.UnknownMacroMigrationException: The macro 'footnote' is unknown.
at com.atlassian.confluence.api.impl.service.content.ContentBodyConversionServiceImpl.processMigrationResult(ContentBodyConversionServiceImpl.java:215)
...Cause
There is an issue with the footnote macro/plugin or it is disabled/not installed. In the Office Connector configuration, you can tell Confluence to use the footnote macro for Word footnotes when importing a document.
Workaround
Go to ⚙-> General Configuration -> Office connector
Under the 'Importing From Word' section, make sure the 'Use the footnote macro for Word footnotes' option is unchecked
Click 'Submit' at the bottom
Import the Word document once more
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