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

Had this problem myself since switching to Win7 with Office 2007 so decided to look into it. Whilst some of the other solutions that appear in this thread may work for other, I think you have a similar problem to me. I've tried all of the suggestions to no avail. There isn't any pattern to the moving icons on my desktop. I copy files from our computer network to my local drive (I work remotely from the office so this speeds things up for me). When saving the file it may leave the icon in the same place or decide to move it to the next available location. There isn't any pattern to this (file type, auto arrange, grid align etc) so therefore it must be a timing thing.

What appears to be happening, is that when I save the file, MSWord is sometimes trying to carry out a background save simultaneously. Saving the same file simultaneously has to cause a conflict with the icon location. This is the reason the icon moves. The reason for the icon not moving is simple. MSWord isn't trying to carry out the background save at that particular moment and hence no conflict, so the icon stays in the same place. This is why it all appears so random.

The solution is to switch off background saves (Click the office button from within Word, then Word Options, then Advanced. In the Save section you should find the "allow background saves" box ticked. Untick and it should resolve the problem. This does mean that background saves aren't carried out, but looking at forums etc. no-one actually really seems to know what this function does. It isn't auto recover, so I think you are safe in case of a system crash. My advice though would be to monitor this over a period of time and carry out plently of manual saves especially when working on large docs.

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.

• We appreciate your participation in MS Forums, Help us understand your needs better. To share your valuable Feedback please Click here.

This Does not Work My Auto arrange has been deselected forever and it still happens.

I am having the same problem (Windows 7 machine with Office 2002, I believe).  Office worked fine on my last computer running XP.  I've changed all the settings suggested (re: align to gird, etc.) and those options don't make a difference.  This is really irritating so I hope we get a suggestion soon.  I haven't seen a suggestion since Feb '10.

On Fri, 4 Jun 2010 19:40:44 +0000, pyrluvr wrote:

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.

If you perform a clean boot, does that make a difference?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Gérard