Word 16.31 turning server files invisible

Anonymous
2019-11-20T17:12:10+00:00

Microsoft Word 16.31 for macOS seems to be turning server files invisible.

This has been observed in mulitple locations with multiple Macs (macOS 10.13.16 and 10.14.6) saving to macOS Server 10.12.

The file's UNIX chflags bit is turned to "hidden" and to make it visible we have to find the file using "ls -la" and then "sudo chflags nohidden file/path.docx?" to fix the file and make it visible again.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2019-11-24T15:20:28+00:00

With help from Adam Berti or Berti Group we have found that this script can fix a folder or share's invisible word documents:

find basedir/ -name '*.docx' -exec chflags nohidden {} ;

Where "basedir/" is the full path to a server share (including the trailing slash)

Adding -print will list what is happening.

find basedir/ -name '*.docx' -exec chflags nohidden {} ; -print

But it would be far more helpful if Microsoft would just fix Word 16.31 !

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-07-10T06:26:31+00:00

    Hi DC11OG,

    As we can't reproduce the issue and we haven't received reproduce video from any customers, it's hard for us to push the related team investigating further. If you still have the issue after trying all the suggestions, we would like to invite you click the feedback button on the top right corner of the app to report it directly to them. Appreciate your report and understanding.

    Regards,

    Rena

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-07-09T17:34:30+00:00

    This is an ongoing and widespread problem. I am dealing and have been dealing with this for many months now. It has been fully described by multiple people. Can one of the highly paid geniuses at Microsoft fix this already?!

    I am not tech savvy so I don't know how to run a script, etc. And it really should not be my job to fix a Microsoft issue, should it? Come on people. Please.

    OS Mojave 10.14.6

    Microsoft Word 16.37

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-06-24T10:01:14+00:00

    I've encountered the same issue and seem to have found a (temporary) solution

    Office version 16.38

    Client Mac OS 10.15.5

    connecting through AFP/SMB (both encountered the issue) with a OSX server 10.15.5

    Issue:

    I create a new document in Word and try to save it to my network share but the file appears only for a split second to then disappear.

    Checking the network share I found that the file became invisible.

    Solution:

    • Uninstall Office from the client Mac

    • Download Office version 16.30 through Macadmins and install on client Mac

    I have been testing with version 16.30 and the issue seems to be resolved, the newly created documents now just appear as you'd expect.

    Hopefully this issue will be fixed in one of the following updates...

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-06-18T02:06:14+00:00

    Hi All,

    We tried to report the issue, but we need the reproduce video so that we can know how the issue looks like. If it's convenient, we will appreciate if you can provide us the video.

    In the meantime, you can also report it with the smiley face button within the app to show more impact.

    Regards,

    Rena

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