How do I prevent Word from redisplaying multiple minimized open documents when opening a new document?

Anonymous
2010-04-01T09:17:27+00:00

When I have multiple Word documents open, but minimized and I open an already created document, all of the minimized documents will get redisplayed (ie. maximized) to the screen.  Additionally, I believe the last edited document will be displayed on top and its listing on the start/task bar will begin flashing and it will not turn off until the flashing listing is clicked.  I then have to reminimize all of the documents and navigate to the document that I originally wanted open.

As a user, I would want all of the open minimized documents to remain minimized and the document that I'm opening to be presented without having to click anything on the start/task bar.

dmurf

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2012-08-11T17:55:48+00:00

Try this:  Right-click on the lower taskbar (the dark band that runs across the bottom of your screen), in an empty space, not on an icon.  You should see a small window open up that gives you different options for displaying the documents you are working on.  Cascade windows is sometimes helpful if you are going back and forth between different documents.  You can drag the edges of a document so that you can see two documents at the same time.  You just need to click on one to bring it more to the  front.  Stacked windows is another option.  Then you will see all of the documents at once.  That may be what you have had selected.  Side-by-side windows is another.  Experiment with these options.  It may help you.

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Anonymous
2010-04-01T21:52:51+00:00

A newly opened document will not cause other minimized or open Word documents to come to the front. But the newly opened document will not come to the front itself, it launches as an open window. 

The easiest way to eliminate that is by using keyboard shortcuts:

To minimize all the windows and get back to the desktop:        Windows + D

To open a new word blank document                              :       CTRL + N

To open a word document from a location                       :       CTRL + O        

There's an option under Word Options / Advanced / Display, named Show all windows in the taskbar. Turning it off hides all Word icons in the taskbar but one. This way the described behavior disappears but at the same time goes the ease of restoring a minimized document.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-11-25T04:07:40+00:00

    [My comments in bold for ease of reading.]

    A newly opened document will not cause other minimized or open Word documents to come to the front.

    No, but that's not what dmurf is describing: this user is saying that opening a new document causes all minimised documents to openbehind the newly opened one and, yes, everything needs to be re-minimised.

    dmurf is describing behaviour that seems to be more widespread than MS is giving it credit for; I have exactly the same annoyance and - having tried every described solution I can find on the Net, I'm still stuck with this bug.  I assume it's a bug as you imply that this is not normal behaviour.

    But the newly opened document will not come to the front itself, it launches as an open window.

    No, it doesn't and this is the problem/bug.

    The easiest way to eliminate that is by using keyboard shortcuts:

    To minimize all the windows and get back to the desktop:        Windows + D

    Fair enough, this is probably the quickest work around, but it will still require more clicks/key combos than should be necessary as the default behaviour should be what the 20 'Had this question', too folks are after, i.e. stopping minimised windows from opening when another Word document is double-clicked.

    To open a new word blank document                              :       CTRL + N

    Not part of the problem.

    To open a word document from a location                       :       CTRL + O        

    This would mean that you're accessing Windows Explorer from the already open Word document and, then, when you open the new document, you'd still have the one from which you CRTL + O'ed open and would have exactly the same problem: too many open windows.

    There's an option under Word Options / Advanced / Display, named Show all windows in the taskbar. Turning it off hides all Word icons in the taskbar but one. This way the described behavior disappears but at the same time goes the ease of restoring a minimized document.

    Ya, not a fix for exactly what you say re, "...the ease of restoring a minimised document."

    So, please, have a look at this problem again as what dmurf describes is exactly what quite a few users seem to be experiencing.For interests sake, I'm running a fresh install of Win 7 Pro with MS Office Suite 2010 on a first gen Intel Core i7 set-up, so I don't think incompatibility issues are at fault.I have to set up Outlook to send a psr in relation to this, so, if/when I get that done, I'll come back and let you know that's sent.All the best,C64User

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-11-01T15:06:15+00:00

    I would just like to chime in and say that I am also experiencing this bug and would like a solution from Microsoft.  I've searched the web and found thread after thread of people with this same problem, but no workable solutions.  The Registry edit solution did not work for me either.

    Steps to reproduce problem:

    1.  Open Windows Explorer and navigate to a directory with a Word document

    2.  Double-click the Word document to open it

    3.  Minimize the Word document

    4.  Return to Windows Explorer and double-click on another Word document

    5.  Word restores the minimized window and then puts the newly-opened document on top

    System Specs:

    Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit)

    Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010

    Word Version 14.0.6123.5001 (32-bit)

    Intel Core i7-2600K

    AMD FirePro V4900

    16GB RAM

    Crucial M4 SSD Boot Drive

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-10-23T06:16:09+00:00

    Yes, this does work, however it is a work-around.  At least it's not an overly complex work-around.  It does however cause all your open Word docs to reside inside one Word process and one Word window so you can't easily look at multiple documents side by side or scattered around on your desktop, which I do quite frequently when comparing documents.  I know there are document comparison tiles and options inside Word but it's not the same user experience.

    To see your open documents using this method in Word 2007, you have to click on View in the top menu, then in the Window area, click Switch Windows.

    Even if you launch another instance of Word to try and get a new window, it won't work with this method.  The new Word document will pop right into the already opened docs window.

    Again tolerable but not a good work flow at all.

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