Hello,
I have many years of experience troubleshooting PC issues (either hardware or software issues). Would you mind sharing with me a copy of that Word file so I can have a look at it, As there are several reasons that may cause that problem ... such as:
1) Manual modification: If footnotes have been manually edited or rearranged, it can lead to incorrect numbering. Ensure that you haven't made any manual changes to the footnote numbering.
2) Section breaks: If your document contains section breaks, Word may restart footnote numbering at each section. To change this, go to the Page Layout tab, click on "Breaks," and select "Continuous" under Section Breaks.
3) Formatting issues: In some cases, formatting issues within the document can affect footnote numbering. Try selecting the entire document (Ctrl+A) and applying the default formatting style to reset any formatting inconsistencies.
4) Corrupted document: If the document itself is corrupted, it may cause issues with footnote numbering and other formatting. In such cases, you can try copying the contents of the document into a new, blank Word document and see if the footnote numbering works correctly there.
5) Word settings: Check your Word settings to ensure that the footnote numbering is set up correctly. Go to the "References" tab, click on "Footnote & Endnote," and review the options there to make sure they match your desired numbering style.
Looking forward to working together to fix that problem.
Best regards.