# "Normal.dot.": What is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 21, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230 "2008-07-21T04:34:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230/1 "2008-07-21T04:34:28Z")
Freequently when I exit a MS Word file I find my screen (Dell Inspiron 4100 with Windows XP) still occupied, by something called “NormalX.dot,” where the X is an ordinary number (and I have to save this “file” to get the shtick off my screen). What is this and how do I get rid of it? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230/2 "2008-07-21T04:45:49Z")
Every document that’s opened in MS-Word operates off a document template (.dot) base. If you don’t choose to open or create your document from a saved template, Word automatically uses a standard template called Normal.dot from the installation files. Now, why this is getting left open when you close the program, that I can’t help you with. It sounds like it’s trying to save a copy for some reason (that’s the source of the number–when you do a ‘save as’ with an existing file in Windows into the same folderit adds a number to the filename to keep you from accidentally replacing the original). But I’ve never seen this happen myself. ---
**Author:** ![JustThinkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@JustThinkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustThinkin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230/3 "2008-07-21T11:51:28Z")
Unless you’ve purposely changed something in your Word interface (changed buttons, added styles, and such), you shouldn’t save the Normal.dot template when it prompts. Some add-ins can cause this. My partner’s Palm Pilot application came with an add-in for Word that drove us crazy asking us to save Normal.dot every time we opened Word. You can find a lot of good information about how templates work at the [Word MVP](http://word.mvps.org/) site. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230/4 "2008-07-21T13:20:27Z")
Uncheck it to turn it off in the options. Option - Save - Prompt to save normal templates ---
**Author:** ![JustThinkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@JustThinkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustThinkin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230/5 "2008-07-21T18:53:56Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Uncheck it to turn it off in the options. Option - Save - Prompt to save normal templates [/QUOTE] If you do this, be warned that it could cause problems later. It’s ridiculously easy to save a corruption in the Normal.dot template. If you uncheck that option, it saves automatically instead of giving you the choice. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230/6 "2008-07-22T04:40:26Z")
The only thing I want to do is clear the screen. I get the impression that the “Normal” won’t go away unless I save. And the boxes in the upper right (including the X to exit) don’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normal-dot-what-is-this/457230/7 "2008-07-22T05:14:53Z")
We went though this at my company a bunch of years ago. In our case it was a macro virus that caused the problem. [Here](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291352) is more info from Microsoft.