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File in Use / Locked for Editing Error

Anonymous
2021-01-16T18:51:11+00:00

I’m having a problem that has occurred in the past and resolved itself, and is now occurring again.

Issue:  sometimes (not always) when I click on a Word file from File Explorer, the file opens, and then a second instance of Word opens, along with the popup message “File in Use”:

To fix this recurring issue, I have now tried:

**Deleting temporary files

**Installing Office updates

**Deleting the “Normal” file

**Doing a full repair of Office

**Uninstalling and reinstalling Office

NONE of the above steps have worked. Can anyone help me? Thank you!

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.

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  1. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-01-16T19:09:47+00:00

    Instead of clicking on the file in the File Explorer, use File>Open in Word and navigate to the file that you want to open and after selecting it (not double clicking on it), click on the Open button in the dialog.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2021-01-16T19:28:26+00:00

    Thanks, yes, I know I can do that. But I'm often navigating files in File Explorer, and click to open files from Explorer. Should I assume that File Explorer is bug-ridden and won't open a file correctly?

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  3. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 322.1K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-01-16T22:45:49+00:00

    You may be triple clicking.  Instead, right click and then left click on Open.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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