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MS Word scroll jumps around when switching windows

Anonymous
2015-01-06T01:15:41+00:00

When using Microsoft Word on Windows 7, if I have a long Word document open and I scroll down or up to a different page without setting the cursor there and switch to a different window, when I switch the focus back to Word, it will jump back to (or scroll back to) where the cursor is rather than staying where I last left it.

When returning to the Word window, I want to return to it exactly like I last left it regardless of where the cursor is.

For example, I open a 75-page document and write something on page 15. Then I use the scroll-wheel to scroll down to page 65 without clicking anywhere. Then I switch to a Chrome window that has text I want to copy and paste into page 65 of the Word doc, which I highlight and copy. When I switch back to Word, it will jump back to page 15 because that is where I last left the typing cursor. Then I proceed to curse at my computer as I try to find the spot I was at before.

I usually try to remember to put the cursor on my active page before I switch to something else, but this seems like an unnecessary workflow chore. When I forget to do this , it is incredibly frustrating - especially in 100+ page documents.

I've looked for a fix all over. Does anyone know of a settings / tweak / anything that would fix this behavior?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-01-06T19:51:11+00:00

    Do you have "smart cursoring" enabled? See https://support.office.com/en-za/article/Editor-Options-Advanced-a861312b-b05d-421a-b5c8-9f2c6b65e751 (the setting is at File | Options | Advanced: Editing options).

    Thank you! This solved it!

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-01-06T16:50:20+00:00

    I believe this is by design.  Word takes you back to the point of the last edit.  As you have discovered, the answer is to click where you next want to edit before changing the window focus.  If there is a way to alter this behaviour I haven't found it.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-01-06T15:09:30+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Office Community.

    Please provide additional information to help you better.

    1. Is the computer connected to a network / domain?
    2. Where are the Word documents saved? Locally or Shared Drive?

    Let us refer to the steps mentioned in the following article and check if it helps.

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541

    Hope it helps. Reply with the result and I'll be happy to help you further.

    Thank you.

    1. The computer is connected to a domain. However, this behavior is reproducible 100% of the time even when it is offline. 
    2. The Word file is saved locally. However, this is reproducible 100% of the time with every single Word file, regardless of where it is saved.

    That article was not helpful. Since this is reproducible on every computer I have tried, I think its a bug or design mistake, and I am looking for a workaround / tweak / settings / anything to change it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-01-06T14:57:50+00:00

    Hi,

    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Office Community.

    Please provide additional information to help you better.

    1. Is the computer connected to a network / domain?
    2. Where are the Word documents saved? Locally or Shared Drive?

    Let us refer to the steps mentioned in the following article and check if it helps.

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541

    Hope it helps. Reply with the result and I'll be happy to help you further.

    Thank you.

    0 comments