Unable to delete Word file in an Android Device

Just figured out that I can delete files that are only saved/stored on my phone. If the file was saved to cloud, or was opened/downloaded from email, etc., the file is shared and can not be deleted. However, does not seem to be using phone storage. And, can be removed from list vs deleted, which removes from phone.

Thank you for your input.

Its hilarious how all of this could have been solved by one Microsoft egghead weighing in on the topic.

Wonderfully simple! Thanks for working it out and posting. Grinning now.

I think the reason is that, what we open from email or browser is a COPY in a cache folder in the system location, which we don't have the access if the phone isn't "rooted". The main problem is that, how we can clear the cache files so that it won't take up more and more storage, and can't we just open the original files instead of a copy???????!!!!!! @Microsoft Office engineers!!!!

Ok found a solution:

1. Go into your Word app
2. Click on the user icon on the top right corner
3. Go to setting
4. Scroll to the bottom and click 'Reset'

What this does is to remove all app data from Microsoft Word. It will reset and search for your word files. If they are anywhere on your phone then it will reappear (these are easy enough to delete through your file explorer. Just search and delete). If nothing comes up then there was only a copy on the Word app and it's now removed.

Hope that helps.

Hi Christine,

Just like Jelu Cal mentioned in his post above, there's a possibility that it's your device's permission settings that prevents you to delete the said files. To isolate your concern, we'd like to verify if you're saving the files directly to your device or do you save it to your OneDrive? Also, we'd like to know if you've tried any troubleshooting steps yet.

We look forward to your response.

I Am Using One Drive For My Storage Of Word Documents.

Same Problem As These Guys Have With Their Tech Issues.

Can't Remove The "Notice Of Dispute Verizon PDF".