Share via

Normal.dotm error when opening Word.

Anonymous
2013-02-04T16:03:05+00:00

When opening Word, getting an error message "Word cannot save this file because it is already open elsewhere. (Normal.dotm)"  I have deleted the old file so it can be recreated.  Did not work.  This occurs when opening Word.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

13 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2013-02-04T22:06:47+00:00

    When you don't have Word running, use Ctrl+Shift+Esc to display the Windows Task Manager Processed tab and check to see if there is an instance of WINWORD.EXE in the list.  If so, select it and then click on the End Process button.

    Also, make sure that there is no "left-over" lock filed ~$Normal.dotm in the templates folder or another Normal.dotm in some other location on the computer.

    Was this answer helpful?

    40+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2016-07-09T15:22:54+00:00

    I'm still not getting this to end. I've deleted every Normal.dotm I've got on here and it's still showing the error. I feel like its an issue with my add-ons I installed a while back, but I removed or disabled them, so what's going on?

    Was this answer helpful?

    5 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Stefan Blom 342.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2016-07-13T22:15:50+00:00

    The fact that Safe mode works suggests that the problem is with a poorly designed add-in, a damaged Normal template or damaged registry entries for Word. All of this can be troubleshot by working through the steps in the article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/921541.

    The exclamation point on the icon for Normal.dotm simply indicates that it is a macro-enabled template, that is, a template which can contain macros.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2016-07-11T15:26:59+00:00

    Ok, but can you tell me how to disable all my add-ons. It looks like several Japanese Language Add-ons didn't get disabled, so one may be glitching out the template.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Charles Kenyon 167.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2016-07-11T01:02:36+00:00

    It doesn't occur as far as I know of, but Safe mode doesn't let me type, so I'm not positive. I forgot to mention I use word 2016, but have the same issue as Word 2010 users.

    Safe mode certainly lets you type, but it doesn't automatically create a blank document. Press Ctrl+N for a new document.

    How to Find the Normal Template

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments