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Only able to convert math regions one by one #63
Description
I am working with a school that hopes to evolve from using MathType to OMML for the documents they provide to their students. They have provided me with this sample sheet so I can provide a step-by-step guide.
Exercise 8B N24PB.docx
I can convert individual expressions by following these steps:
- Select the expression
- Press Shift+F10 or right-click
- Choose Convert to Office Math
This works well—the math looks great and reads beautifully (especially in UK English, as I always remind Neil!). The formatting still needs adjustment because the worksheets are designed for all students, including those with low vision, so the content must be large and bold. But overall, the conversion process works.
The problem: Doing this for each expression manually isn’t practical. The Convert All option appeared once but I can’t get it back.
I tried searching for Convert math regions using the Microsoft search bar (Alt+Q), but that doesn’t work.
I’ve successfully converted several other documents, so I’m wondering:
- Is this issue specific to this document?
- Could it be related to my machine? (I’ve tested on two different PCs.)
- Has Word’s behavior changed?
- Is this feature buggy?
Activity
brichwin commentedon Dec 10, 2025
NSoiffer commentedon Dec 10, 2025
ways2read commentedon Dec 10, 2025
I have tried GrindEQ (thanks Joseph Polizzotto!). And WordToEPUB converts from MathType to OMML. But much better than this, I believe Word has this feature out of the box. But something isn't right.
I think I could write a macro to iterate over the objects and convert them, but I'm hoping I can find how the school can do this without installing anything. Or, worst case, confirm this is a bug that could be fixed in a future version.
jenmarsala commentedon Dec 18, 2025
As described by Peter Wu in our meeting with Microsoft on 12/15/25, there are different scenarios to convert from MathType to OMML depending on whether or not the user has the paid version of MathType installed.
If the paid version of MathType is NOT installed:
Double click on the MathType equation. A popup appears as shown below, where the user can either choose to convert that single equation to OMML, or can select a checkbox to convert all equations to OMML.
If the paid version of MathType is installed:
Double clicking on the equation opens the equation in MathType for editing -- so there is no option like the one described above (for non-MathType users) to convert all equations to OMML at once. The user can convert one equation at a time by right-clicking on the equation and selecting Object -> Convert to Office Math as shown below.
MathType Conversion Options (video provided)
@NSoiffer mentioned bulk conversion in MathType 7. MathType's "Convert Equations" option allows the user to convert all OMML equations (or a selected portion of equations) within a Word document to MathType format. However, I do not see a comparable option to convert MathType equations to OMML format. (Instead, MathType equations can be converted to OMML one-at-a-time using the right-click method described above.)
Since many people do not have MathType 7, I created a video to show how MathType can convert an entire document from MathType to OMML. I also show the single-equation conversion option for OMML to MathType.
Equation_Conversions_with_MathType_Installed.mp4
ways2read commentedon Dec 18, 2025
This ☝️ is excellent information, thank you @jenmarsala !
We could not find a way to use Word's built-in convert MathType equations to OMML feature using the keyboard. That's a problem for the school I am supporting because we need a solution for screen reader users.
We've worked around this by adding a keyboard accessible solution from one of DAISY's add-ins, but I believe we should log the lack of keyboard support as a bug in the EDAD system.