If I double-click on a Word file from Explorer, Word opens, but instead of opening the actual file for viewing or editing, it opens multiple copies, and they're named Document1, Document2, etc.
If I right-click on the file and pick "open" then the file will properly - that file, that name.
How do I get the "expected" behavior from Word, so that double-clicking on a file will open that file with that name?
Hmm interesting. When I double click on a word document, it opens it up correctly. I have no idea why mine works and yours doesn't ? What app do you have set for ".doc" files ? They should be set to MS Word.
It sounds to me as though the files you are trying to run have been saved as template files [.dotm or .dotx].
Open them and save them as normal documents instead [.docm or .docx].
Denis
I actually had thought that a template issue might be to blame here.
But no, the files in question are all .docx files, and, as I said, if I pick "open" from the context menu, they do open correctly. It's only when I double-click the file that a "document1" (etc.) copy of the file is opened.
Then I am sorry but I have no other suggestions.
I just played around with renaming a .dotx to a .docx to see how it behaved but Word detects the tinkering and displays an error message when it is re-opened.
Denis
I should have suggested running Office diagnostics. I do not know what version of Office you are using but for Office 2007 they are run from Word options, Resources, Run Microsoft Office Diagnostics. For Office 2007 the procedure completes with an offer to go online for further tests but that is no longer relevant [the online tests for Office 2007 have been taken down].
This seems to be the same problem and the advice involves fixing aspects of file associations. The article is a bit out of date [as you'll see from the illustrations] but it could provide food for thought.
Can't Open a Word Document in Windows - TipsNet
Denis
That is what leads me to believe that the ".docx" file type is not set in "Settings" to open using Microsoft Word. Go into settings -> APPS -> Default Apps (at the bottom of that page there will be a selection named "Choose Default Apps by File type". When it presents the list, scroll down to .docx and make it default to MS Word.
I have run the Office Diagnostics (repair), including the lengthier and more detailed online repair.
My file associations are correct. .docx and .doc and .doc[any letter] files are all associated with Word. And I'm running Office Professional Plus 2016.
If I double-click on a Word (.docx) file, two document COPIES of that file (document1.docx and document2.docx) are opened. The same thing if I pick "open with > Word" from the context menu. This applies to any .docx file, be it one I saved to my computer after downloading from email, or be it one I just created from scratch on this machine only, using my activated and licensed Word copy, and saved.
If I open a .docx file from the context menu by using "open" (NOT "open with > Word"), it opens correctly.
Any other possible ideas?
OK if everything is set correctly in windows, then it has to be a WORD problem ie: setting. Now I'm not a word expert, but I know that if you open a NEW document, the file name is "Documentx" as a file name. I wonder if there is a setting that tells word to open an existing document as a NEW document ? Just a guess on my part.
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