Top 10 Word Issues (And How AsciiDoc Solves Them)

Why classic WYSIWYG editors are unsuitable for long documents

Microsoft Word, Google Docs and other WYSIWYG text processors (What-you-see-is-what-you-get) have become the standard. But they often turn into a nightmare for structured, technical, or long documentation. Here are the ten most common problems Word users face every day – and how AsciiDoc and adoc Studio solve them.

"Word constantly crashes or freezes."

The larger the document, the slower Word becomes – and eventually, it leads to the dreaded crash. This happens especially often with many images, formatting or comments.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc is a lightweight, text-based format. It doesn't require resource-hungry software and runs reliably in any text editor.

"I lost my work after a crash."

Anyone relying on AutoRecover can be in for a nasty surprise after a crash. Sometimes entire paragraphs are missing, or the document is unusable.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc files are pure text files and can be easily backed up with versioning tools like Git. Every change remains traceable, and old versions can be restored at any time. In addition, your document is always saved in adoc Studio, even in the event of a crash.

"My document looks completely different than before."

Word mixes content and formatting. Suddenly a heading switches to a different font, spacing changes, or the entire text is suddenly italicized.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc separates content and design. The formatting is done via stylesheets (CSS), so layouts do not change unintentionally. adoc Studio offers several templates for design. For changes

"My images keep jumping to the wrong place."

Images and tables in Word are unpredictable. Once moved, they often destroy the entire layout.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
In AsciiDoc, images remain exactly where they belong. Their placement is clearly defined, with no unwanted shifting.

"I can't open my document – it's corrupted."

Word files can be damaged by crashes or faulty saves. In the worst case, the entire document is lost.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc documents are simple text files – they can’t “break.” Even if something goes wrong, the content remains readable.

"Word is slow and lags with large documents."

From around 50 pages onward, Word becomes painfully slow, especially when images and tables are included. Scrolling takes forever, saving drags on.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc was developed for technical documentation. This means texts of any size – whether 5 or 500 pages – can be created. No waiting times, no stuttering.

"Subsequent changes are a nightmare."

Has a product name changed? Then you start manual search and replace – with the risk of missing something.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc uses variables for recurring terms like product names or URLs. If something changes, it is updated in one place – done.

"My table of contents isn’t working properly."

Sometimes the TOC doesn't update correctly or refers to the wrong pages.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc automatically generates table of contents, always error-free. It updates itself with every change.

"My document looks different in print than on screen."

Word can’t always render print layouts correctly. Spacing changes, page breaks disappear.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc defines formatting independent of the output form. Whether PDF or HTML – everything remains exactly as intended.

"The spell check isn’t working properly."

Sometimes Word underlines every other word, sometimes errors are ignored. The integrated grammar check is often unreliable.

🔧 AsciiDoc solves the problem:
AsciiDoc can be checked with external tools, such as specialized spell checkers that are far more accurate than Word. In adoc Studio, you can create dictionaries for projects or globally, to store unknown terms centrally and user-independently.

How adoc Studio makes AsciiDoc even better

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AsciiDoc alone is already a powerful alternative to Word. But with adoc Studio, it becomes even easier:

🚀 Mac, iPad & iPhone support
Finally, a native solution for Apple users who want to use AsciiDoc easily and comfortably.

🔎 Syntax assistance with adoc Coach
No more searching for commands: adoc Coach helps you write and automatically suggests matching commands.

📄 Live preview for different output formats
Whether PDF or HTML – with adoc Studio, you always see what your document will look like.

📂 Automatic management of modules and variables
Product names, warning notices, or recurring paragraphs can be managed centrally.