Close document closes word

In this article, we intend to introduce you 4 quick and effectual ways to keep Word program open while closing the only active document.

Normally, to concentrate on a task, we tend to open only one document in Word. However, after editing or revision, there is the matter of closing the document while keeping the program running. To be precise, this is an issue that users of Word 2010 may run into, for in Word 2003, there is the “Close Window” button on the upper left enabling you to close the document only.         

Therefore, the content below involves 4 methods for you to choose.

Method 1: Reveal the “Close Window” Button

As mentioned above, in Word 2010, there is no “Close Window” button for a single document. Nevertheless, we can make it appear.

1. First off, click “File” tab.
2. Then click “Options” to trigger the “Word Options” dialog box.
3. Next click “Advanced”.
4. Continue to scroll down to the “Display” and uncheck the “Show all windows in the Taskbar” box.
5. Lastly, click “OK” to save the change.

Now you can notice the “Close Window” button is available, such as below:

Here is the effect:

Method 2: Close the File instead of Word

1. Firstly, click “File” tab too.
2. Next click “Close”.

Or you can choose to add the “Close” command to “Quick Access Toolbar” for quick use.

1. Go to the “Word Options” dialog box taking the steps in method 1.
2. Then click “Quick Access Toolbar” this time.
3. Next choose “File Tab” for the category.
4. Find and select “Close” command.
5. Next, click “Add” button.
6. Finally, click “OK”.

Method 3: Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Certainly, in case you prefer using keyboard shortcuts to clicks, you can press “Ctrl+ W” or “Ctrl+ F4”. Either of it can close only the document.

Method 4: Run a Macro

1. To start with, click “Developer” tab then the “Visual Basic” to open the VBA editor.
2. Next click “Normal” and “Insert”.
3. Choose “Module” then.
4. Double click on the new module to display the editing area.
5. Then paste the bellowing codes there:

'Close the only document open but keep Word running.
Sub CloseFileKeepWordOpen()
  ActiveDocument.Close
  Word.Application.Activate
End Sub

1. Ultimately, hit “Run” button.

It’s suggested to assign a button or keyboard to the macro for easy use. For detailed information, you can look up this article: How to Remove the Formatting of Pasted Texts with Macro and VBA in Your Word

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MS Word or Microsoft Word is a software used to create documents such as reports, PDFs, pictured-document, assignments, etc. Microsoft provides features like Adding Images, Adding Visual effects, adding charts and graphs, etc. to a word file. 

Closing a Document

Closing of a document after the desired work to it is done or there is a need for a break in between completing the content of the file, is a very important task, as it helps to prevent the undesired changes to occur to the content. Closing a document doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a need to close the entire MS Word, one can easily close a specific file that is currently open in the MS Word and then continue working with another file. There are multiple methods to close a document/file in MS Word.

Method 1: Using the File Menu

MS Word provides a specific option to close the Word Document after the work to it is done. Following are the steps to do the same:

Step 1: Click on the File Menu Tab.

Step 2: Click on the Close button provided in the options under File Menu.

Step 3: If the file is not saved, a pop-up will arise asking you to save the file. You can choose either to Save the file and perform the save operation or if there is no need to save the File, choose the Don’t Save button.

Step 4: In case, the Close button is pressed by mistake, MS Word gives you a second option to cancel the close operation.

Note: These options provided in the pop-up menu will only arise for the Unsaved Files. Saved files will close directly.

Method 2: Using the Window Close button

If you do not want to use the File Menu tab, then MS Word document can also be closed by the Close button provided in the File Window. 

Step 1: Click on the ‘X’ button provided in the Top-right corner of the File Window.

Step 2: If the file is not saved, then a pop-up will arise to either Save the file or Don’t Save and Close the file as it is.

Step 3: If the ‘X‘ button is pressed by mistake, then the Cancel button can be used from the pop-up to avoid the file from getting closed.

Method 3: Using the Shortcut Keys

If you don’t want to use the mouse and want to close the file, then use the shortcut keys that are provided by MS Word to close a file.

Step 1: Press the ‘CTRL + F4’ keys simultaneously to close the Word File.

Step 2: If the File is an existing file and the changes are unsaved, then you can press ‘CTRL + S’ before performing Step 1. 

The answer that you are looking for is Microsoft Word’s FileCloseOrExist command.

It does exactly what you want. If you have 2 documents open and you execute the FileCloseOrExit command, then only the active document closes. When you execute the FileCloseOrExit command a second time now when only 1 document is open, it will close the last document and then terminate Microsoft Word.

Whenever I install Microsoft Word on a new computer, one of the first things I do is change the hotkey, Control+W from FileClose to FileCloseOrExit. To be honest, I don’t know why they even have FileClose. FileCloseOrExist is the same thing but adds terminating Microsoft Word with the last document. It’s much better.

To change the Control+W hotkey to this command, you need to:

1. Select File which is the first menu selection located at the top left.
2. Select Options that is the last selection in the File menu.
3. The Word Options window appears with a list on the left. Select Customize Ribbon that is located 4th from the bottom.
4. 2 lists will appear in the window. Click Customize that is at the bottom of the left list. It’s immediately right of the text that says, «Keyboard shortcuts:».
5. Under Categories, scroll all the way to the bottom. Click «All Commands» and the Command list to the right will show all possible commands. Scroll down the alphabetized list to FileCloseOrExit.
6. Input Control+W as the hotkey. Click the Assign button at the bottom left.

There you have it. Now, every time you press Control+W in Microsoft Word, the program will automatically exit the program when you close the last document instead of leaving an ugly blank Word program.

In this chapter, we will understand how to close a document in Word 2010. When you finish working with a document, you will proceed to close the document. Closing a document removes it from your computer screen and if you had other documents open, Word displays the last document you used otherwise, you see a blank Word window. Here are simple steps to close an opened document −

Step 1 − Click the File tab and select the Close option.

Step 2 − When you select the Close option and if the document is not saved before closing, it will display the following Warning box asking whether the document should be saved or not.

Step 3 − To save the changes, click Save, otherwise click Don’t Save. To go back to the document, click Cancel. This will close the document and if you have other documents open, Word displays the last document you used, otherwise, you see a blank Word window as shown below −

When you’re done working with a file, it’s a good idea to close it so you don’t bog down your computer with unused programs.

Close a Document

Each document window must be closed individually. If you only have one file open, you can close it from the File menu and keep Word running.

1. Click the File tab.

   

2. Click the Close.

   

The file is closed, but Word is still running. You can still browse for a file to open, create a new document from a template, and access Word’s options.

If you have multiple Word documents open, clicking the Close button on the title bar will close each document individually.

If you have not saved the document since making changes, a dialog box will appear asking if you want to save the changes to the document. Click Save if you wish to save your changes, click Don’t Save Save if you do not want to save your changes, and click Cancel if you do not want to close the document.

Close Word

If you only have one Word document open, closing the document window will also quit Word entirely.

1. Click the Close button.

   

Word quits as the window closes.

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