Word templates not opening as new documents

Anonymous
2020-11-17T00:37:36+00:00

This happened after a recent Windows update.

I've seen this issue written about and have tried the suggested solutions without luck.  First tried quick repair and then full reinstall of office 365. Also set related registry entries to "new."

All templates are just opening as .dotm instead of .docm or .docx.  Any other troubleshooting steps available?

[Moved from  Word/Windows 10/Microsoft 365 Apps or Office 365 Business]

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Stefan Blom 353.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-07-14T14:01:11+00:00

    Here's what I found

    1. If I select a template via FILE > NEW > PERSONAL, a new docx opens based on my template
    2. If I select a template via FILE > HOME, the template itself opens in dotx
    3. If I double-click a template from Explorer, a new docx opens

    If step (2) means that you are clicking the name of your template in the list of recent files, Word will open the template rather than create a document based on the template.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-08-04T23:53:37+00:00

    Here's what I found

    1. If I select a template via FILE > NEW > PERSONAL, a new docx opens based on my template
    2. If I select a template via FILE > HOME, the template itself opens in dotx
    3. If I double-click a template from Explorer, a new docx opens

    I get the same for 1 and 2, but not 3. That is the primary problem (noting I am using macro-enabled templates .dotm >> .docm

    Feeling like this is a registry thing, though I wouldn't know where to begin. What next? Again, 2 desktops don't have this problem, just my report writing laptop. Be nice to copy/paste some sort of config file from a desktop. Which?

    Another note is the desktops synchronize all document and template files with each other and the laptop. So the same .dotm files are getting different behavior on the laptop.

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  3. Stefan Blom 353.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-08-05T09:09:38+00:00

    In Windows File Explorer, what happens when you double-click a file will depend on what is set to be the default action. For Word documents (*.docx), the default action is to open the document for editing. For a Word template (*.dotx), the default action is to create a new document based on the template.

    If these actions are not working properly, running an Office repair would be the first line of attack (see https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/repair-an-office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b). Unfortunately, if the repair does not work, you may have to resort to registry editing which will be convoluted when dealing with file associations.

    Note that when you select an Word file in a list of recent files, Word will open the file for editing (no matter if it is a template or document file). You are explicitly choosing to open the file from within Word.

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