diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/Formatter/Formatter.cs b/zaaReloaded2/Formatter/Formatter.cs
index 83c2d02..cf62545 100755
--- a/zaaReloaded2/Formatter/Formatter.cs
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/Formatter/Formatter.cs
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2.Formatter
         /// current position of the cursor).</param>
         public void Run()
         {
-            if (!CanRun) throw new InvalidOperationException("No laboratory data to format.");
+            if (!CanRun) throw new NoLaboratoryDataException("No laboratory data to format.");
 
             CreateParagraphStyle();
             _secondaryBuffer.ParagraphStyle = zaaReloaded2.Properties.Settings.Default.ParagraphStyleName;
diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/Formatter/NoLaboratoryDataException.cs b/zaaReloaded2/Formatter/NoLaboratoryDataException.cs
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..df47011
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/Formatter/NoLaboratoryDataException.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/* NoLaboratoryDataException.cs
+ * part of zaaReloaded2
+ * 
+ * Copyright 2015 Daniel Kraus
+ * 
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+using System;
+using System.Runtime.Serialization;
+
+namespace zaaReloaded2.Formatter
+{
+    [Serializable]
+    class NoLaboratoryDataException : Exception
+    {
+        public NoLaboratoryDataException() { }
+        public NoLaboratoryDataException(string message) : base(message) { }
+        public NoLaboratoryDataException(string message,
+            Exception innerException)
+            : base(message, innerException) { }
+        public NoLaboratoryDataException(SerializationInfo info,
+            StreamingContext context)
+            : base(info, context) { }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/Ribbon.cs b/zaaReloaded2/Ribbon.cs
index 958e328..a556054 100755
--- a/zaaReloaded2/Ribbon.cs
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/Ribbon.cs
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ using zaaReloaded2.ViewModels;
 using zaaReloaded2.Importer.ZaaImporter;
 using zaaReloaded2.Formatter;
 using zaaReloaded2.Controller;
+using Word = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word;
+using Bovender.Mvvm.Actions;
+using Bovender.Mvvm.Messaging;
 
 // TODO:  Follow these steps to enable the Ribbon (XML) item:
 
@@ -79,7 +82,8 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2
         public void Ribbon_Load(Office.IRibbonUI ribbonUI)
         {
             _ribbon = ribbonUI;
-            Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.WindowSelectionChange += Application_WindowSelectionChange;
+            Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word.Application word = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application;
+            word.WindowSelectionChange += Application_WindowSelectionChange;
         }
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -152,9 +156,19 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2
             }
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Returns true if there is at least one paragraph selected.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// The Selection object in Word is a bit tricky: Its Length property
+        /// is never 0, because even if no text passage is selected, the character
+        /// after the cursor is the content of the Selection.
+        /// </remarks>
         public bool CanFormat(Office.IRibbonControl control)
         {
-            return Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.Selection.Paragraphs.Count > 0;
+            Word.Selection s = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveWindow.Selection;
+            return s.Paragraphs.Count > 1 || 
+                (s.Text.Length > 1 && s.Text.EndsWith("\r"));
         }
 
         #endregion
@@ -182,12 +196,23 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2
         void DoFormat(Settings settings)
         {
             ZaaImporter importer = new ZaaImporter();
-            importer.Import(Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.Selection.Text);
-            Formatter.Formatter formatter =new Formatter.Formatter(
+            importer.Import(Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveWindow.Selection.Text);
+            Formatter.Formatter formatter = new Formatter.Formatter(
                 Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveDocument);
             formatter.Settings = settings;
             formatter.Laboratory = importer.Laboratory;
-            formatter.Run();
+            try
+            {
+                formatter.Run();
+            }
+            catch (NoLaboratoryDataException)
+            {
+                NotificationAction a = new NotificationAction();
+                a.Caption = "Formatieren nicht möglich";
+                a.Message = "Die aktuelle Markierung scheint keine Labordaten zu enthalten.";
+                a.OkButtonLabel = "Schließen";
+                a.Invoke();
+            }
         }
 
         void DoChooseSettings()
diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/ViewModels/SettingsRepositoryViewModel.cs b/zaaReloaded2/ViewModels/SettingsRepositoryViewModel.cs
index 2c1b155..f96350c 100755
--- a/zaaReloaded2/ViewModels/SettingsRepositoryViewModel.cs
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/ViewModels/SettingsRepositoryViewModel.cs
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ using zaaReloaded2.Controller;
 using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
 using System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Soap;
 using System.IO;
+using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word;
 
 namespace zaaReloaded2.ViewModels
 {
@@ -314,7 +315,12 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2.ViewModels
 
         bool CanUseSettings()
         {
-            return LastSelected != null && LastSelected.IsSelected;
+            Selection selection = Globals.ThisAddIn.Application.ActiveWindow.Selection;
+            return LastSelected != null && LastSelected.IsSelected &&
+                (
+                    selection.Paragraphs.Count > 1
+                    ||  (selection.Text.Length > 1 && selection.Text.EndsWith("\r"))
+                );
         }
 
         void DoAddSettings()
diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/zaaReloaded2.csproj b/zaaReloaded2/zaaReloaded2.csproj
index c2c542e..37e1ccc 100755
--- a/zaaReloaded2/zaaReloaded2.csproj
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/zaaReloaded2.csproj
@@ -213,6 +213,7 @@
     <Compile Include="ExceptionHandler\SubmissionSuccessView.xaml.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Formatter\DanielsStyle.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Formatter\DocumentWriter.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Formatter\NoLaboratoryDataException.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Ribbon.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Thesaurus\ThesaurusBase.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Formatter\IItemFormatterDictionary.cs" />