MS Office desktop icons move after I modify and save them.

Anonymous
2010-02-25T23:36:10+00:00

My MS word and excel documents that I have on the upper right hand area of my desktop move after I modify and save them.  If I open them and don't save them nothing happens, but if I modify and save them, they move to the far left aligned with other icons.  They do not appear to be temp or hidden files.  They just move to the far left arranged with other icons.  I want to modify and save them and the files to stay in the upper right hand area...  Help???

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Anonymous
2010-02-26T17:12:02+00:00

Turn off the “Auto Arrange” option for icons on the desktop, and then place icons on the desktop where you want them.

To turnoff the “Auto Arrange” feature,

For windows 7:

Right click a blank area on the desktop and select View and uncheck Auto arrange icons.

For Windows XP:

Right-click a blank area on the desktop, and then click Arrange Icons. Click the command that indicates how you want to arrange the icons (by Name, by Type, and so on), uncheck Auto Arrange.

Niranjan I K Microsoft Answers Support Engineer.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-10-07T19:04:36+00:00

    I have this same problem with all of my Windows7 Office 2007 machines.  It is really annoying.  The issue has nothing to do with "auto-arrange", "align by", or "sort".

    Microsoft office apps move their icons on save, all other apps save and retain their desktop position.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-06-04T19:40:44+00:00

    None of these suggestions work.  I recently received a Windows 7 machine at work, and every time I modify an excel or word document from my desktop it moves it to the right.  Very frustrating.  To save you plenty of time in asking "no" auto arrange is not checked, "no" auto grid is not checked.  I have been searching for a solution for over a week.  Also, I do not have the icons arranged, by Name, Type etc.... not a NOVICE user....  that is why this is frustrating in not finding a work around.

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-29T18:18:47+00:00

    Have you tried my solution?  It's near the bottom of the thread.  I'll copy it here:

    I had this same problem, and I fixed it based on Morg's suggestion.  If you are using Office 2007 (maybe 2010 as well, but I have 2007) and the file in question is in the .doc format, this issue will result when you save the file, because the original file is deleted and a new copy is saved on your desktop.  Here is the fix:

    1.  Open the file that is causing an issue.
    2.  In the main menu (top left, the "office button"), choose "Save As".
    3.  In the dialogue box that opens, change the "Save As Type" option (it is a drop-down list) to the most current file format (e.g. in MS Word, change "Word 97-2003 Document" to "Word Document").
    4.  Click "Save", and click "Okay" on the warning message that pops up.
    5.  Close the file; now you should have two icons for the file on your desktop: the original file in the older format, and a new file in the newer format.  Make sure you can open the new file and that nothing has changed that you can't fix.  If all is well, delete the original file and put the new one where you want it on the desktop.

    Now the problem should be solved.  To double check, open the new file and change something small, then save and close the file; it should have remained in the same place on the desktop.  Be aware that updating the file format may cause changes to your file, so be sure to scan through it and make sure nothing important has changed.  This seems to be the simplest and most permanent fix (better for me than making a shortcut and placing the file elsewhere).  Hope this helps!

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-11-04T20:56:01+00:00

    Ditto.  Only MS Office files (I use 2003) that are saved on the desktop.  The desktop icon moves to the next available position on the left after saving the document after making modifications.  Auto arrange is turned off (why would it be turned on?), nothing selected in Sort by.

    If anyone has found the cause please post.

    Thanks.

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