Getting "Want to save your changes" in Word without my having made any changes

PurpleQ 135 Reputation points
2025-10-21T21:08:55.3566667+00:00

On 2 Windows 11 computers in the past few weeks, when closing a document in Word I've been getting "Want to save your changes" without my having made any changes. The Save pop-up appears if I've had the document open for 1 minute, but not for open times that are much less than one minute.

Various workarounds have been suggested for this problem over the past decade, but this problem has only recently showed up for me, and on 2 computers, so there may be a new problem created by an update. I've tried the workaround of going to File > Options > Advanced > General and verified that the box for "Prompt before saving Normal template" is not checked. I'm using version 2509 (Build 19231.20194 Click-to-Run).

Word offering to save is a problem for 2 reasons:

(1) If one choose Save when NO changes have been made, the file will now have a new save timestamp, which makes the content seem more recent than it is.

(2) If the prompt to save is ignored and there ARE changes, these will be lost.

The prompt is most useful if it alerts the user if and only if there are changes to be saved.

Are others finding this is starting to happen to them too? Are there workarounds to stop it?

Moderator note: Locking this thread after the original poster has indicated that the issue has been resolved in version 2506. See the Recommended Answer. Anyone who still sees the issue or later finds that it has returned, feel free to start a new thread (include a link to the current thread).

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows

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Answer recommended by moderator
PurpleQ 135 Reputation points
2026-06-19T09:42:36.5166667+00:00

This problem seems to be fixed in Version 2605 (Build 20026.20168) on Windows 11 version 25H2 (Build 26200.8655).

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-10-21T22:53:41.3266667+00:00

    Hi @PurpleQ, 

    Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.        

    About your issue with Word prompting to save changes even when none were made, it may be linked to subtle background changes triggered by Word or Windows updates. Even if no visible edits are made, Word can interpret certain automatic actions, like field updates, printer repagination, or style recalculations, as changes. 

    There're some workarounds you can try to reduce or eliminate the save prompt: 

    1/ Disable automatic field updates: 

    • Click on the field to select it (you’ll see it highlighted in gray). 
    • Press Ctrl + F11. 
    • This locks the field, so it won’t update automatically anymore. 

    2/ Change your default printer:  

    Word sometimes repaginates documents based on the default printer. Setting it to Microsoft Print to PDF can help avoid this. 

    • Press Windows key + I to open the Settings app. 
    • Click on Bluetooth & devices, then select Printers & scanners. 
    • Find and select Microsoft Print to PDF. 
    • Click Set as default. 

    3/ Check for active add-ins:  

    Some add-ins may trigger background changes. You can review and disable non-essential ones. 

    • Open Word. 
    • Click File > Select Options.  User's image User's image
    • Choose Add-ins 
    • At Manage dropdown (usually set to “COM Add-ins”) > Click Go  User's image
    • Uncheck any add-ins you don’t need > Click OK.  User's image

    I truly hope Microsoft will consider reintroducing this functionality in future updates. In the meantime, I encourage you to share your feedback through Microsoft’s Feedback Portal. The product team actively reviews suggestions to guide future improvements, and your input could help shape the experience for many users.  

    You can submit your suggestion to our product team via the Microsoft 365 Feedback Hub > Send Feedback > Describe your proposal in detail.   User's image

    Sharing your experience through Microsoft’s official feedback portal is the most impactful way to advocate for changes that could benefit you and many others.   Thank you again for your patience and for bringing this to our attention. While I’m unable to change the product’s design, I’m always here to help clarify its current functionality or assist with any other questions you may have.  

     

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".   User's image

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  2. PurpleQ 135 Reputation points
    2025-10-22T01:22:22.3966667+00:00

    It looks like #2 is correct: printer repagination.

    I created a one word file. It didn't suffer from the gratuitous saving problem.

    I then pasted the same word on many lines to create a 2-page document. It did suffer from the problem.

    I set the default printer to "Microsoft Print to PDF". The 2-page file now didn't suffer from the problem. To set to default I needed first to unselect "Let Windows manage my default printer".

    This bug should be fixed, but since I only print every few weeks the workaround is not much bother.

    Thanks.

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  3. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-10-22T08:22:07.92+00:00

    I set the default printer to "Microsoft Print to PDF". The 2-page file now didn't suffer from the problem. To set to default I needed first to unselect "Let Windows manage my default printer".

    This bug should be fixed, but since I only print every few weeks the workaround is not much bother.

    As a long term fix, reinstall the driver for your physical printer. Go to the printer manufacturer's web site. The documentation may suggest a newer version of the driver which would be worth trying.

    Note from author: This reply was previously a Recommended Answer. I removed that recommendation because the reply doesn't seem to be a reasonable solution in this case.

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  4. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-10-28T17:39:59.2633333+00:00

    @Stefan Blom do you know if Microsoft is working to fix this bug?

    @Kevin,

    The symptoms discussed here aren't necessarily caused by one specific bug.

    Word has a long history of requiring you to save after printing, and sometimes there is a good explanation, and sometimes there isn't. With cloud storage, this has become even more complex, I suspect.

    I would recommend that you send feedback to Microsoft, especially if you are experiencing an issue that leads to loss of data.

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