Why do visual tags not match tags panel in the PDF I made since the October Office 365 updates?

Hi @Stacy H,  

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.   

Thank you for sharing your experience regarding the issues you’ve encountered since the October 2025 Microsoft 365 update. I truly appreciate you taking the time to provide such detailed information.  

This can occur because Acrobat’s Reading Order tool relies on a visual interpretation of the page content, whereas the Tags Panel displays the underlying logical tag structure. In situations where the exported document contains complex formatting or nuanced tagging patterns, these two views may not align perfectly even when the document itself is valid. 
 
Given this situation, here are my recommended workarounds, which I hope will be helpful to you:   

1/ Switch between export methods 
Results can vary depending on whether you use Word’s built‑in “Save as PDF” or the Adobe PDFMaker plug‑in in the Acrobat tab.  

Option 1: Save As → PDF. 

Option 2: Save as Adobe PDF (PDFMaker). 

Some users find one method produces more accurate tags than the other: Saving an accessible PDF from Word » Accessibility 

2/ Use built‑in heading styles in Word 

• Custom heading styles or heavily modified built‑in styles sometimes fail to map correctly to <H1>, <H2>, etc. in PDF.  
• Using Word’s original Heading 1/2/3 styles can lead to cleaner tagging.  
• Word PDF Accessibility | Microsoft Learn 

3/ Try Acrobat’s “autotag document” 
For large documents where the structure becomes heavily misaligned, this can sometimes restore the general hierarchy before you fine‑tune the tags.  

• Enhance document accessibility with cloud-based auto-tagging. 
• How to Autotag a PDF : IT Solutions Center 

4/ Run Word’s Accessibility Checker before exporting 

Microsoft Support stated that the Accessibility Checker remains the primary tool for identifying issues before exporting to PDF. 

• This helps ensure your document is structurally sound before the PDF is created, which improves tag accuracy in the exported file: Improve accessibility with the Accessibility Checker - Microsoft Support 

Note: Microsoft is providing the above information as a convenience to you. Some of the websites are not under Microsoft's control. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link.    

5/ Submit Feedback to Microsoft 

As a forum moderator, I hope you understand that I don’t have the ability to modify or escalate product issues directly. However, I strongly recommend submitting your feedback through the Word · Community. This is the most effective way to ensure your voice reaches the product team and can be considered for future improvements.  

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility.  

Additionally, since many other users have expressed similar concerns but may not know where to submit feedback, if my response has helped you better understand the situation and guided you toward a possible next step, please mark it as the “Accepted Answer.” Your action will help pin this post to the top, making it easier for others in the community who are experiencing the same issue to find your feedback and support it.  

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to assist you. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. 

Warm wishes to you and your family for a delightful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".  

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