Can I stop Word from opening a blank document on start up?

  • Thread starter Thread starter michellew_719
  • Start date Start date
M

michellew_719

The majority of my time in Word 2007 is reading/editing already created
documents. When I open an existing file, Word first opens the blank template
document before it opens the existing file. Can I change this?
I looked through the Word Options with no luck.

Thanks,
Michelle
 
I just tested and mine does not seem to do that. When I open a pre-existing
Word document it opens a blank screen and then the file, but it's so quick
it's hard to notice.

Yours has two Word windows open? One blank and one of your file?

What I'd like to be able to stop, for example if I go into Word. Then let's
say I click labels or MailMerge. It makes those in a separate document, so I
still have that initial blank document open which is an extra step for me to
close. I'd like it to open in same doc.
 
Yes - when I open an existing document it opens a blank template and leaves
it open so I have 2 Word windows open.
 
If you start Word using a shortcut that uses the command winword /n, it will
open without a blank document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
 
Suzanne said:
If you start Word using a shortcut that uses the command winword /n, i
will
open without a blank document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
Click to expand...

OO..thanks Suzanne.
Because i saw this thread and i tried to open word like michell said t
us.
It show blank page.
And the standards is show blank page for click shortcut of Word.
Except we open the file word which we have saved
 
Thanks Suzanne it is good to know there is a way to do this.

I just need help making a shortcut that uses the winword/n command. I looked
at the properties of my shortcut on my toolbar and on my desktop and am not
sure how to do this.

Thanks,
Michelle
 
If your desktop shortcut is editable (and the ones created by Office
installation often aren't), you can do it directly:

1. Right-click on the shortcut and choose Properties.

2. On the Shortcut tab, if there is a box for Target (there often isn't), it
will show the path to the Word executable, which will be in quotes. At the
end, outside the quotes, type /n (note that there must be a space before the
forward slash), then click OK.

If your desktop shortcut doesn't have an editable target (and it likely
won't), you'll need to create a new shortcut:

1. Use Windows Search to look for "winword.exe."

2. When you find it, right-click and choose Create Shortcut.

3. Windows will tell you it can't create a shortcut in the Search Results
window and ask if you want it on the Desktop. Say yes. You will then be able
to edit that shortcut.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org
 
:bow:

I have been frustrated for the past 6-9 months, because word would always open a blank document, and then when I would close it, it would prompt me to save it because something was done to it (Normal template applied) and it was not saved yet. But 9 times out of 10, I am opening a previous document to edit or add to, so this was a constant frustration. Until a google search brought me to this thread, and the answer of shortcut with _/n remedied my woes.

Have a great weekend, and thanks!
 
I just want to say "You're beautiful!" that's the first thought I had when i typed in winword /r in the Start menu "search programs and files". Now my problem is solved. When I run MS Word 2007 I don't see a blank document - which is what I want.

Thanks again!
 
Suzanne: do you know why Word does this to begin with? It only started when we upgraded to Word 2010 from Word XP. We have a document management system and I'm not sure I can employ that /n trick so I'm trying to find the cause of the problem with 2 word documents opening.
 
I've just discovered this post. I've had the same problem with Word 2007 in Win7 for months now and it's driving me mad. I followed the advice on P1 but it hasn't solved my problem. Is there something else I can do, something else to look out for?
 
If you are running Document Management then you may have the ability to control where the .exe is and add switches to it. In iManage Worksite there is the Local Applications or in the App Setup Object in DBAdmin. Just add the /n to the existing Word Application Object in either of those 2 locations ("C:\Program Files...\...\winword.exe /n").
 
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