File explorer attempts to open two instances of word docs

An update: I'm pretty sure that this is occurring when File Explorer Preview is on. Since I have turned it off (a few days ago), it hasn't happened. This makes sense since I have had preview turned on on my last three computers and the issue happened with all of them.

This is squarely a Microsoft issue since it has to do with File Explorer Preview and Word. It's been happening for at least a couple of years and it's not specific to any one computer. I'm surprised to not see the issue cropping up more widely in a web search.

Thank you Mia. Replies in green below.

Kindly check this official article and confirm the situation on your side with the details provided: "The document is locked for editing by another user" error message when you try to open a document in Word (microsoft.com). I haven't gone through all the steps in this article, but it did say to look out for files that "begin with a tilde (~), followed by a dollar sign ($)," however, I've never seen any file names like this.

As you mentioned the same issue is happening on three different PCs, kindly compare if there have any settings which are similar on these devices that caused the same issue behavior.

They were previous PCs so they are no longer available (I may be able to access one of them), but the Office settings would have been the same.

Also, to troubleshoot the issue further, you can test with the following scenarios.

1.Create a brand new Word document and save it to desktop, then reopen it to see if the same issue will happen.

This may be interesting.

1. Opened the file via File Explorer and it DID attempt to open it twice.
2. Then opened it by double clicking the icon in the desktop. It did NOT open it twice.
3. Repeated both routes and had the same results.
4. But then further tests of opening via File Explorer did NOT open it twice. (As I've noted, the issue is inconsistent.)

2.It is suggested to test in Windows Safe Mode or Clean Boot to exclude any possible influences from the background programs. Since the problem is inconsistent, I'd have to do this for a while which is problematic while working.

3.If the issue persists, please test again in a new user profile so that we can have a brand new system environment and further locate the issue. See: Create a local user or administrator account in Windows (microsoft.com) OK, will try to do this, but have to find some free time to do it.

If the issue persists, please share us the following details for further investigation.

1.As the private information has been masked in your original post, may I ask if the second mask part is showing the name of yours or any other people that you know? I am the only user on this laptop. I have asked the university's IT folks if they have encountered this problem, but they hadn't heard of it.

2.If the same issue will happen for Excel or PowerPoint files? No, it doesn't it.

3.Please share us the full screenshot in Word>File>Account.

[Some related PII has been masked by Mia Zhao MSFT Support to protect your privacy]

Still experimenting. The problem does not seem to happen when I open the file by right clicking the file name in File Explorer and then clicking Open, as opposed to just double clicking the file name.

Hi,

Thanks for sharing the detailed information,

So as the issue is kind random and only happens on Word app, before you have time to test with Safe Mode/Clean Boot and new user profile, you can give it a try with the Repair an Office application (microsoft.com). I didn't share this troubleshooting step for you as the issue was happening on other devices also, but you can give it a try and feel free to post back anytime when you have spare time to test.

Best Regards,

Mia

Hi,

Kindly check this official article and confirm the situation on your side with the details provided: "The document is locked for editing by another user" error message when you try to open a document in Word (microsoft.com).

As you mentioned the same issue is happening on three different PCs, kindly compare if there have any settings which are similar on these devices that caused the same issue behavior. Also, to troubleshoot the issue further, you can test with the following scenarios.

1.Create a brand new Word document and save it to desktop, then reopen it to see if the same issue will happen.

2.It is suggested to test in Windows Safe Mode or Clean Boot to exclude any possible influences from the background programs.

3.If the issue persists, please test again in a new user profile so that we can have a brand new system environment and further locate the issue. See: Create a local user or administrator account in Windows (microsoft.com)

If the issue persists, please share us the following details for further investigation.

1.As the private information has been masked in your original post, may I ask if the second mask part is showing the name of yours or any other people that you know?

2.If the same issue will happen for Excel or PowerPoint files?

3.Please share us the full screenshot in Word>File>Account.

Best Regards,

Mia