Critical Word Bug Deletes Documents Instead of Saving Them

For those who frequently use Microsoft Word to create documents, there’s a peculiar glitch that could lead to the unintended deletion of files instead of saving them. Microsoft has publicly acknowledged this issue, which specifically pertains to Word documents that possess particular file names and formats.

If you typically save your documents locally, it’s crucial to pay close attention to their file extensions. According to Microsoft, documents saved with uppercase file extensions (.DOCX rather than. docx) or those containing the “#”symbol are at risk. Attempting to save these files when closing Word could lead Windows to delete them entirely.

Word deleting a file instead of saving it

The good news is that the deletions are not irreversible; you can often recover the lost files from the Recycle Bin. Additionally, Microsoft recommends manually saving your documents before closing the application to avoid this mishap. Another viable workaround includes:

Activating the setting to “Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files with keyboard shortcuts.”

Navigate to File > Options > Save > Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files with keyboard shortcuts to enable this feature.

Moreover, you can verify whether your Word files are using uppercase extensions by activating the “File name extension”setting. In Windows 11, click the View button on the toolbar and choose Show > File Name Extensions. For Windows 10 users, access Folder Options and deselect the “Hide extensions for known file types“checkbox in the View tab. If you find a document with a capitalized extension, select the file, hit F2, and modify the extension to lowercase.

It’s important to mention that this glitch does not affect files stored in the cloud.

According to Microsoft, the Office team is currently looking into this concern. In the meantime, users can explore the suggested workarounds available in the official support documentation.

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