How to Close a Word 2007 Document without closing Word
By Nerino Petro at 25 June, 2009, 4:07 pm
I've come to really like Word 2007 and the other Office 2007 applications. While the Ribbon toolbar took some getting used to, I know find it to be much more intuitive than the old Word toolbar. For those having difficulty or are afraid to upgrade to Office 2007 because of the Ribbon don't be dissuaded: think of it this way – we spent years being trained by Microsoft to use their old non-intuitive toolbar, with Word 2007 we have to 'unlearn' these bad habits.
There have been changes to Word 2007 one of which is that switching between open documents isn't as easy as it used to be. Another big change is that when you clicked the "X" in the top right corner it not only closed the open document but Word as well.I learned to use the"Close" command from the Office button at the top left, but hadn't thought about a keyboard shortcut until I was checking DailyRotation this week and came across Rick Broda's PC World post Close a Word 2007 Document without Closing Word You can also check thi out on The Industry Standard website here.
According to RIck:
"… just memorize a keyboard shortcut. Both Ctrl-W and Ctrl-F4 will close the current document without closing Word itself. No fuss, no muss."
What a great and simple tip to make working with Word 2007 easier
Thanks for the great tip. Now can you tell me what happened to
the arrow on the upper left which would allow you to go back to
the last screen?
I can still see it in explorer but I thought we also had it in word.
Am I mis-remembering?
Joyce Murphy
This was a very annoying, thanks for the tip. I had to close the whole doc and word.
What will it take to put that feature back?!!! You can still close an Excel 2007 file without closing the app. I think this must have been someone’s “oops”! Thank you for sharing this tip. Fortunately, I’m very much a keyboard shortcut person, Unfortunately, someone at Microsoft also forgot to put the keyboard shortcut in the description of the Close button.
I also added the Close button to my QuickAccess Toolbar. Anyone else have a QuickAccess that extends almost all the way across the top of the screen?
I honestly can't believe this.
I spend money, and word makes my life harder. How on earth is that anything but stupid ?
Why do i have to do this ?
How can you type over a word replacing it with new letters. Used to be the insert key left on. Thanks
You're a lifesaver! I kept searching Word Help – "close a file, "exit a file" – NOTHING! Thank you a million! And, thanks to the person that added that they added to the QuickAccess Toolbar – fantastic idea!
I have always hated Word but unfortunately many of my colleagues on my professional association use only word so I need to do the minutes in word. This is just one more "improvement" I could do without. The so called "help" is rarely a help. We should not have to rely on other users to find out how the program functions. As pati said, searching help for closing a file just gives you a lot of garbage you do not need.
Attempting to change the name of a document or delete the document, I get the message, "The action can't be completed because the file is open in word."
I have tried turning off the computer, closing all documents and files, changing the "Prompt for template" box in the Word Options/Advanced file. What can I do to close the document?
Right here is the right blog for anyone who wants to
find out about this topic. You know so much its almost tough to argue with you (not
that I really would want to…HaHa). You definitely put a
new spin on a subject that’s been discussed for ages. Great stuff, just great!