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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  2. Anonymous
    2019-11-20T18:10:12+00:00

    Happening saving to macOS Server 10.13.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-11-21T09:29:22+00:00

    Hi Anarvey,

    Sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused you.

    To troubleshoot this issue, firstly, I would like to suggest starting your Mac in Safe Mode and open Word from there to isolate issues, then check if the issue persists. Because when starting your operating system by using a normal startup, several applications and services start automatically and then run in the background. These programs include basic system processes, antivirus software, system utilities, and other software. These applications and services can sometimes cause interference when you run Office for Mac. You can refer to this article for more details.

    Besides, we’d like to collect some information to further check the scenario:

    1. Is this a problem with all Word documents? Or some specific documents?
    2. When did this problem occur? For example, after upgrading Office to 16.31.
    3. Are other Office applications such as Excel and PowerPoint affected?

    Best regards,

    Madoc

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-11-24T03:01:49+00:00

    Hi,

    I"m so glad I'm not alone. We are having this issue too. Files vanish sometimes when user Saves. Additionally, Office's supposedly hidden temp folder/files are visible. User sees them appear then vanish. 

    Occasionally, users will save files and they will seem to vanish. They turn invisible but keep their names. When a user calls to tell me his file disappeared, I have him press shift-cmd-period to show hidden files. If he reports that it's there but "gray" then I know what to do.

    The current workaround is to open a new email in outlook, then drag the "hidden" file into it as an attachment. Then drag the file back out of outlook to save the attachment. The final file has [1] appended to it if saved in the same location as the original. I have the user then delete the original and rename the new, removing the "[1]". 

    Light years from ideal with an office full of people trying to get work done and meet deadlines, but it is what it is I suppose until it's fixed.

    Clients are MacOS 10.13 or 10.14, latest minor release on all. Server is MacOS 10.12 (RAID 1+0).

    Office version is 16.31.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

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