BriefCatch Troubleshooting

BriefCatch tab does not appear within Word after installing or updating.

Issue: BriefCatch tab does not appear within Word after installing or updating.

This can occur if the software was installed using administrative privileges, and the current user does not have the same administrative privileges. It can also occur if it was installed by a different user account then the current user. BriefCatch installs to the current user account and is only accessible by that user account.

This can also occur due to an misconfiguration while running the installer. It may happen if Word was open while BriefCatch was installed or updated. But it can also occur if Word was closed while installing or updating. There is generally no error message or indication that there was an issue with the installation.


Solution 1

BriefCatch requires the .NET Framework 4.8 or newer. If an older version of .NET is installed, BriefCatch will appear to install successfully, but will not display in the Word ribbon.

1) Make sure Word and Office are closed.

2) Download .NET Framework 4.8 from Microsoft.

3) Open and run the installer to update to .NET 4.8.

4) Restart your computer.

5) Open Word and see if the BriefCatch tab appears. (If it doesn't, attempt to reinstall.)

Solution 2

1) Ensure Microsoft Word is closed.

2) Try running Word as an administrator. When opening Word, right click and select "Run as administrator" as shown in screenshot below.

Open Word as Administrator

3) If the tab still does not appear, close Word then try uninstalling, and reinstalling BriefCatch.

4) After the installation is complete, open Word to see if the BriefCatch tab appears and the Catch functions works as expected.


Solution 3

If Solutions 1-2 are unsuccessful, follow the instructions below.

1) Ensure Microsoft Word is closed.

2) Uninstall BriefCatch for your computer. To do this, go to Add or Remove Programs. (Click the bottom left Windows button in the start menu, and start typing "add or remove" then click the system setting that comes up.)

Add or Remove Programs

Find BriefCatch in the list of "Apps & features," either by searching or scrolling down the list. Click on BriefCatch, then click Uninstall. (You may need to click Uninstall again, as shown in the below screenshot). Select Yes on any prompt that appears.

BriefCatch App Search

On the next window, click Uninstall to complete the process.

Uninstall BriefCatch

3) Within the same "Apps & features" list, search for Office. Click on "Microsoft Office 365" (or whichever version you have installed) and select Modify.

Microsoft Office App Search

Select Yes on any prompt that appears.

4) A window similar to the below screenshot will appear.

Microsoft Office Repair Start

Select Quick Repair, then click Repair. Confirm you would like to start the repair by clicking Repair again on the next prompt.

Microsoft Office Repair Confirm

The repair process will start and should only take a minute or two to finish.

Microsoft Office Repair Progress

When the process is finished, click Close.

Microsoft Office Repair Done

5) Restart your computer. (Note: Please do not skip this step. A restart is necessary.)

6) After your computer starts up again, ensure Microsoft Word is closed.

7) If you need to download the latest version of BriefCatch, visit our download page to access the software. (You will be required to log in)

8) To avoid any permission issues, run the BriefCatchInstaller.exe installer as an administrator. You can do this by right clicking on the file and selecting "Run as administrator."

Install BriefCatch as an Administrator

Select Yes on any prompt that appears. Click Install to finish installing BriefCatch.

9) After the installation is complete, open Word to see if the BriefCatch tab appears and the Catch functions works as expected.


Solution 4

If Solutions 1-3 are unsuccessful, follow the instructions below.

1) Repeat steps 1-3 from solution 2 above.

2) This time, select Online Repair and click Repair.

Microsoft Office Online Repair

Confirm you would like to start the repair by clicking Repair again on the next prompt. (Please Note: You must be connected to the Internet to proceed.)

Microsoft Office Online Repair Confirm

This will start the Online Repair process and show various prompts while Office is repairing.

Microsoft Office Online Repair Progress

Microsoft Office Online Repair Downloading

The process will take longer than quick repair, but should finish within 5 or 6 minutes depending on the speed of your Internet connection. When the process is finished, click Close.

Microsoft Office Online Repair Done

3) Repeat steps 5-9 from solution 2 above.


Still not working? If you cannot get BriefCatch to load after attempting the above solutions, please submit a support ticket.