Word 2007 prompts to save unchanged files

[srtriano]

Why does Word 2007 ask to save unchanged files when I try to close them?

When I close files in Word 2007, *most of the time* Word prompts me "Do you
want to save changes to (filename)?" whether or not I made any changes to the
file.

It happens even if I just opened the file and immediately closed it. At
least the problem is consistent. It ALWAYS happens to certain files (most of
them) and NEVER happens to others. Still, I cannot figure out what is
different between these files. The files that prompt saving do not seem any
more complex than the files that don't prompt the save dialog! It happens to
Word 1997-2003 files as well as to Word 2007 files.

This is annoying and may result in saving the wrong file or accidentally
discarding changes I made. Help!

 

[Yves Dhondt]

Could it be that there are certain fields in your documents which get
updated automatically when opening the file? If so, they might be
responsible for the changes.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/211629

Yves

 

[srtriano]

The problem *may* have something to do with automatically updated fields, but
I cannot figure out what to do about it. This is a freshly installed copy of
Office 2007 on a reformatted partition, so it is very pristine.

I just opened Word 2007, typed "Hi!" and saved it as file DELETE_ME.docx. I
closed Word and reopened the file. The very next click was on the RED X in
the upper right to close Word and the file. It asked me if I wanted to save
changes! What fields could there be in such a basic file?

 

[srtriano]

On a hunch, I renamed my normal.dotm to normal.dotm.old. I reopened Word to
let it automatically recreate normal.dotm. I then created a new file with
just the text "new normal" in it and saved it as NEW_NORMAL.docx. I closed
Word and then reopened it with NEW_NORMAL.docx. This new file DOES NOT ask to
have the file saved when I close it again, but all old files still do ask.

Next, I changed the *new* normal.dotm just a bit. I changed the font to
TIMES NEW ROMAN 12 point, and made the paragraphs single spaced. I saved it,
closed Word and reopened it. Then I created a new file with just the words
"modified normal" and saved it as MOD_NORMAL.docx. When I reopened this file
in Word and tried to close it, once again Word asks me if I want to save the
file.

This is frustrating! I cannot modify normal.docm without triggering this
behavor, and regardless of what I do, any file based on a normal.dot or
normal.dotm with ANYTHING different than the original will also give me this
behavior.

I hope this series of *experiments* will give someone enough clues to help me.

 

[Yves Dhondt]

Could it be that you have some kind of addin running which changes the files
(or template) on save? It could explain why it happens when you changed
normal.dotm and it didn't happen when Word recreated it after you deleted
it.

Yves