# Microsoft Word problems **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 16, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668 "2023-10-16T20:25:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/1 "2023-10-16T20:25:36Z")
Several times in the last few weeks I’ve gotten up in the morning, opened my laptop, and discovered that Word documents I’d left open had been closed. There were “recovered” copies I could open and resave, but when I opened them I got a “pick up where you left off three hours ago” (or similar timeframe". Three hours ago? I was in bed sound asleep three hours ago! This morning it happened again, but when I looked at one of the files I had supposedly been viewing four hours earlier, it was a version that was saved Thursday 12 October. This is the file I use to keep track of my diet (what I’ve eaten, calorie counts, &c), and I know damn well I saved it again on Friday – and again on Saturday, and again on Sunday. Now my records for the last three days have disappeared into the bit-bucket somehow, with apparently no way to recover them. Can anybody give me answers: 1. Why does the computer keep closing files, and saying that I’d been using them in the middle of the night when I was asleep? 2. How did it come up with a four-day-old version of a file that had been saved over at least three times? (And it’s not just that the last three days’ worth of data is missing from the file – the save time and date of the file show as last Thursday afternoon.) It’s a Samsung laptop, using whatever versions of Chrome and Word were loaded on it when I bought it 13 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/2 "2023-10-16T20:43:02Z")
My guess is that your laptop goes into sleep mode for a while. Then, if nothing happens, it actually logs off and shuts down (rather than going into hibernate. So, Word thinks you were still using it until it actually powered down, which happens in the middle of the night. Maybe check the Power & Sleep settings (that’s what it’s called in Windows 10, not sure about 11). Or, maybe there’s an update that’s failing and you have Windows set up to automatically install updates in the middle of the night, so it restarts as part of that, rinse and repeat with the failing update. So, those are possible causes. I would recommend saving your work before closing the laptop, or using Google Docs, which updates as you go and would be impervious to the above. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/3 "2023-10-16T20:58:09Z")
My guess would be the windows update one. Probably not failing, but often they will come up with a prompt which says something like “Windows needs to restart to complete your update” and which requires you to select when you want this to happen, with a countdown to a default restart if you don’t intervene. See [here](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/waas-restart) for instructions on how to deal with it. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/4 "2023-10-17T01:16:24Z")
Sleep and Hibernate and whatever have been a major PITA since day one. Go into Power Settings and turn them off when you are plugged in. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/5 "2023-10-17T23:40:00Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > How did it come up with a four-day-old version of a file that had been saved over at least three times? (And it’s not just that the last three days’ worth of data is missing from the file – the save time and date of the file show as last Thursday afternoon.) Any ideas on how this might have happened? ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/6 "2023-10-18T04:35:22Z")
On my Work computer, we have network drives that are synched to local drives. Sometimes that doesn’t work and you get weird issues with file versions. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/7 "2023-10-18T04:43:22Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > My guess would be the windows update one. That’d be my guess too. I agree hibernate has long been a problem. Sleep is much better these days. I’d turn both off though unless you are on battery a lot and need that power saving. Hibernate is meant for longer times when you are not using the laptop and cannot charge it. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/8 "2023-10-18T05:03:04Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > My guess is that your laptop goes into sleep mode for a while. Then, if nothing happens, it actually logs off and shuts down (rather than going into hibernate. So, Word thinks you were still using it until it actually powered down, which happens in the middle of the night. Thanks to @RitterSport for giving a better explanation than I could, but basically that’s the kind of thing I thought of. My computer does all kinds of rebooting-type nonsense when I leave it alone overnight. It’s stupid and annoying, but still better than life in the pre-digital era. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2023, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-word-problems/991668/9 "2023-10-18T11:30:04Z")
On my Mac work laptop, all the MS apps will sometimes close simultaneously. My co-workers have also had this happen. At least MS has Auto-Save.