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All apps closed, but when shutting down it tells me there is still a Word doc open. Why?

Anonymous
2023-08-25T17:37:17+00:00

All apps, documents, etc. are closed.

But when shutting down, sometimes it tells me there is still a Word doc open. Why?

And sometimes when restarting after that shutdown it open a blank word doc.

Word, Excel, etc. are not set to open or start anything automatically upon restart or shutdown/restarts.

Not sure if related, but...

Sometimes I will 'save' my documents, but when I come back the next day my none of my last 1 to 4 saves aren't there.

I save multiple times manually due to this, have tried turning autosave off/on, changed where it is supposed to autosave backups, etc.

Ex.

-On 8/23/23 I saved all 3 of my word documents before leaving.

-I have 'File Explorer' open and wait for that doc to change the saved time/date stamp before I actually close the document.

-On 8/24/23 I go to the 'File Explorer', find my documents.

  • But 1 of the 3 did not save.
  • It had an 8/22 last save time/date stamp.

Sometimes I click 'Save', it shows save time/date updated in 'File Explorer', but when I click to close it, the box pulls up saying it wasn't saved. Then asks if I want to save or not. Then it's a **** shoot whether it's actually saved and there right after, let alone the next day .

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-08-26T08:00:22+00:00

    Occasionally, for various reasons, an instance of an application may be running in the background.

    When you become aware of such an issue when shutting down, Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to activate the Task Manager and scroll down through the Background Processes for an instance of Microsoft Word and if found, right click on it and the click on End Task.

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-26T03:34:33+00:00

    Dear ADM34

    Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community.

    According to your description, firstly, we apologize for the inconvenience caused to you due to this situation.

    Regarding your post, it seems that Word always open documents automatically after shut down or restart, and the saved contents in files gone next day.

    Given this situation, to help you better, we would like to collect more information from your end so that we can clarify your situation.

    1. May I know if only Word documents will open automatically and lost the saved changes? What about other files? Such as Excel workbooks?
    2. Where are your files save location? In OneDrive or in your local location on the computer?
    3. When did this situation happen? Can you recall any action you may do cause this behavior? Such as update?
    4. Can you tell us your Word product information? Open Word>File>Account and share a screenshot to us.

    Please feel free to reply back, we're looking forward to your reply and will help you all the time!

    Your understanding and patience will be highly appreciated. Hope you have a good day and keep safe!

    Sincerely,

    Stacey | Microsoft Community Moderator

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-28T18:48:01+00:00

    I do this when Word freezes up while working.

    When shutting down for the night it only flashes briefly before it shuts down the computer.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-28T18:46:18+00:00

    I do not feel comfortable posting the screenshots as it shows personal data, etc. Is there a Microsoft e-mail I may send it to?

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