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
    2019-12-11T19:58:01+00:00

    Hi All,

    Thanks for your patience. We just got response from the related team, they require a reproduce video for further investigation. The latest version now has been updated to 16.32 (19120802), if you still meet the issue after updating to this latest version, we appreciate any of you can provide us a reproduce video here. Then we will deliver the video to the related team and post back new updates as soon as possible. 

    Regards,

    Rena

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-12-13T06:01:48+00:00

    I can confirm that this is happening for me too.

    When I save a file in Word 16.32 to a server, I see a temporary file or a temporary directory appear and then disappear. I then very quickly see my file appear, and then it is made invisible.

    If I save to the Desktop, I can't then drag it back to the server as it says:

    The item “My Word Document Name” can’t be replaced because it’s invisible.

    Running the chflags command temporarily fixes it - but this is not a viable solution.

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-12-13T17:34:54+00:00

    Here is the version I am using, which doesn't remove the flags on temporary files - and only executes the change for problematic files.

        find basedir/ -name '*.docx' ! -name '~*.docx' -flags hidden -exec chflags nohidden {} ;

    At the moment we are forced to run this in a cronjob on the server so users can work semi-normally.

    I've tried wiping all ACLs in the affected folder and rebuilding them using the OS X server app, but the problem persists.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-12-13T22:39:10+00:00

    Hi All,

    Thanks for the updates to let us know that the issue persists in 16.32. As the related team requires a reproduce video for further investigation, can you provide us a video when you have time? We will appreciate that!

    Regards,

    Rena

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