# MS Word thinks I've changed a doc, but I haven't

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-thinks-ive-changed-a-doc-but-i-havent/231132>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 25, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-thinks-ive-changed-a-doc-but-i-havent/231132 "2004-02-25T17:04:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-thinks-ive-changed-a-doc-but-i-havent/231132/1 "2004-02-25T17:04:16Z")

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I have a Word document (Word 2002 running on XP) in which I keep phone numbers, etc. For some reason every time I exit, Word insists on asking me “Do you want to make changes to Whatever.doc?” even if I just open and immediately close it. I’ve tried saying “Yes” and I’ve tried saying “No”, but still the next time I open it, it will ask me again.

It’s as though there is some “File has Been Updated” switch that is stuck in the on position, but I don’t know what it is or how to get to it. Has anyone else seen this behavior, and do you know how to fix it?

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**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-thinks-ive-changed-a-doc-but-i-havent/231132/2 "2004-02-25T17:21:37Z")

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[Disabling Smart Tags](http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;816473) may fix the problem.

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**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-thinks-ive-changed-a-doc-but-i-havent/231132/3 "2004-02-25T18:52:06Z")

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Yep, that seemed to do it. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-thinks-ive-changed-a-doc-but-i-havent/231132/4 "2004-02-25T20:52:22Z")

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Word also counts a document as being changed if you’ve only altered the print settings, not the text.

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**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ms-word-thinks-ive-changed-a-doc-but-i-havent/231132/5 "2004-02-25T22:39:31Z")

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This can also happen if the document uses a font which Windows can no longer find on your computer (even if it’s still there). It will change the font to what it thinks is the nearest similar font, and display it to you that way. (Often you can hardly notice any difference.) But when you go to exit, the font has changed, so Windows asks if you want to save it.