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
    2020-01-14T19:22:20+00:00

    Has there been any progress on this issue?

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-12-24T10:06:55+00:00

    Hi jscooper22,

    Thanks for the updates. Sorry about the late reply.

    We have already involved the related resources for further investigation on this issue.

    I understand that it's hard to record on an inconsistent issue, however, it will be a great help on the investigation if anyone who have the same issue could provide us with a video recording on this issue.

    Your assistance is highly appreciated.

    @Luc, Thanks for sharing us the detailed steps to reproduce this issue, we will forward this information to our related resources.

    Regards,

    Alex Chen

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-12-19T19:39:45+00:00

    Thanks. Unfortunately, as it's inconsistent there is no way to record a file in the act of disappearing without running screen recorders full-time on all computer and wait. Best I can do is, when a file goes invisible, get you the file and/or whatever logs  you need if they'll help.

    Thanks,

    Jeff

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-12-18T15:47:39+00:00

    Hi Jeff,

    Thanks for the reply. I checked the new video, it does shows a file for a second then it will disappear quickly. But this kind of file seems like a temporary file when Office tries to save as a copy, and when the save action completes, it then automatically removed so it looks like disappears. But it seems it doesn’t affect anything. In the video, I see you have saved Document/Document2/Document3.

    Additionally, after unticking the “always save backup” option, something really has been changed. Before ticking that, you will see a real copy of file version saved locally. After disabling this option, it only shows a temporary file for a second.

    However, this problem is not the very same issue in this thread. This original thread is that the real saved file can’t be visible on server. Considering they are in different scenarios, if you still have concern about the temporary file, I can split the question for you and we will continue involve more resource to check that behavior for you separately. We appreciate any reported problems from all of you.

    Regards,

    Rena

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