Multiple instances of Word 2016 opening on startup

Anonymous
2017-11-27T00:15:35+00:00

I currently run Windows 10 Home 64-bit, version 1709, OS build 16299.64.

Whenever I boot into Windows, Microsoft Word 2016 opens up 4 blank documents. I checked under the startup folder and Word is not there.

I have not tried uninstalling Word but I am trying to figure out what is making Word open up 4 blank documents.

Thank you in advance for the help.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Vijay A. Verma 104.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2017-11-27T02:16:25+00:00

The issue is caused by last Windows update which corrupted the current user profile.

The solution is to login through another Windows user profile.

Microsoft is in the process of getting this issue fixed. Though no timeline is committed but this should get fixed in next Windows update which will flow in.

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Anonymous
2018-04-21T12:01:29+00:00

This problem was resolved within a few weeks after the Fall Creators update was released.  If you have all of the updates after that fall release, you should not be experiencing the problem any more.  If your issue is similar and not the same, but you have all the updates, I suggest that you start a new thread for a new problem.  The original workaround for this problem was to use task manager to kill the background Word processes before rebooting.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-10T14:37:35+00:00

    This does not appear to be a problem for around a month now.  It appears that Microsoft fixed the issue.  If you have the latest updates, you should no longer experience the problem.  I published the same solution in early December, but the problem was resolved shortly after.  I'm on Version 10.0.16299.192 right now, but it was resolved prior to this version.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-10T09:47:38+00:00

    This actually applies to any office related application which might still be active in the background.

    it’s really so much fun to run into microsoft’s developper’s ideas of how they try to make our life easier by messing it up for us. Takes a lot of work out of our hands.

    wonder if they use microsoft products themselves ;)

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-01-10T09:40:51+00:00

    I've come across this a couple of times following the Win 10 Fall Creators Edition upgrade.

    One solution that worked for me was to ensure that there were no 'hidden' instances of Word running before re-booting the machine.

    1. Close all visible instances of Word
    2. Start the Task Manager (Ctrl-Shift-Esc)
    3. If the Task Manager is in it's minimalist view (simple list of programs) click on the More Details option
    4. Click on the Start-up tab and check that Word is not listed. If it is listed, right click on it and select Disable
    5. In the Processes tab, sort the list of processes by Name (click on the Name label at the top of the column)
    6. Look for any instances of Microsoft Word in the list
    7. For each instance or Word that you find, right click on it and select End Task
    8. Close Task Manager and any other running applications
    9. Re-boot and login as normal

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