Word 2007 Files Are Automatically Created in Compatibility Mode

[KarenG]

When my Office 2007 was installed, the option to create files in Word 2007
was set to compatibility mode. Does anyone know how to change this back
permanently to create files in xml mode (the default Word 2007 format)? I
can't find it in the Word options.

 

[Jay Freedman]

When my Office 2007 was installed, the option to create files in Word
2007 was set to compatibility mode. Does anyone know how to change
this back permanently to create files in xml mode (the default Word
2007 format)? I can't find it in the Word options.

Go to Office button > Word Options > Save. The first box, "Save files in
this format", sets the default format.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[KarenG]

Thank you. I set the "Save files in this format" option to the .docx format,
but for some reason Word still opens in compatibility mode to create a new
document. Do you know a way I can create a new document in the Word 2007
format without having to upconvert the blank document first?

 

[Jay Freedman]

There's definitely something wrong.

First go to Start > Run and enter

winword.exe /a

(note the space before the slash) to run Word without the Normal.dotm template,
add-ins, or registry entries. Does Word now open without compatibility mode?

If so, try renaming the Normal.dotm template (in the folder
%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates) to some other name and restarting Word (without
the /a switch), which will rebuild a new template from scratch. If that fixes
it, you're done.

If not, then disable any add-ins in the Word Options > Add-ins dialog. If that
does the job, start re-enabling the add-ins one at a time and restarting Word
until you find the one that causes the problem to start again.

There are a few more troubleshooting tips at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541.

 

[KarenG]

Even in safe mode, Word still opened in compatibility mode. So I figured it
had to be a Registry entry that was causing the problem. After some
searching, I found the cause. In case anyone else's Word 2007 installs in
compatibility mode, you can edit the Registry (carefully) to fix the problem.

- Click Start > Run, type regedit and click OK
- Select My Computer
- Click Edit > Find
- Type CompatMode and click Find Next
- It should find the first instance in:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word\Options
- Delete the CompatMode entry (should be highlighted)
- Click Find Next once again
- It should find a second instance in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\12.0\User Settings\
{B8F49D5A-E0DF-465C-9EF0-AF2F95944228}\Create\Software\Microsoft\
Office\12.0\Word\Options
- Delete that CompatMode entry also
- Exit the Registry

Word 2007 should open in its native XML mode.

(NOTE: The string in {} in your Local Machine Hkey above may be different)

Thanks for your help, Jay. Eliminating the possible causes you suggested
led me to this fix.