# Word has two copies of Normal opened at the same time **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-has-two-copies-of-normal-opened-at-the-same-time/671340 "2013-10-15T19:49:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-has-two-copies-of-normal-opened-at-the-same-time/671340/1 "2013-10-15T19:49:07Z")
I am using Word 2013 on Windows 7. When I open Word and hit ALT-F11 to access the VBA development window, I see two copies of Normal open in the Project Explorer. I have the user Templates folder option set to a folder under my “My Documents” folder that has Normal.dotm. That is one of the versions that is open. This folder does not contain Normal.dot, Normal.dotx, or any other Normal.\* file. In C:\Users\CookingWithGas\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates there is no file named Normal.\* Where is this second Normal file coming from and how do I keep it from loading? The problem is that that I have macros in my custom version of Normal but Word attempts to resolve macro calls through the other version, so they fail. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-has-two-copies-of-normal-opened-at-the-same-time/671340/2 "2013-10-15T19:55:53Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I am using Word 2013 on Windows 7. When I open Word and hit ALT-F11 to access the VBA development window, I see two copies of Normal open in the Project Explorer. > > I have the user Templates folder option set to a folder under my “My Documents” folder that has Normal.dotm. That is one of the versions that is open. This folder does not contain Normal.dot, Normal.dotx, or any other Normal.\* file. > > In C:\Users\CookingWithGas\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates there is no file named Normal.\* > > Where is this second Normal file coming from and how do I keep it from loading? > > The problem is that that I have macros in my custom version of Normal but Word attempts to resolve macro calls through the other version, so they fail. Have you checked your Word startup folder? (C:\Users\CookingWithGas\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\Startup) If you have a Normal in there it might open twice. That’s a long shot, I really came to the thread to suggest that you not store macros in the Normal template. It’s much better to store them in a global template and place the global template in the Startup folder. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-has-two-copies-of-normal-opened-at-the-same-time/671340/3 "2013-10-15T20:14:23Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > Have you checked your Word startup folder? (C:\Users\CookingWithGas\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\Startup) If you have a Normal in there it might open twice. > > That’s a long shot, I really came to the thread to suggest that you not store macros in the Normal template. It’s much better to store them in a global template and place the global template in the Startup folder. That folder is empty. Thanks for the suggestion, I will take you up on it. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-has-two-copies-of-normal-opened-at-the-same-time/671340/4 "2013-10-15T20:47:33Z")
Hmm, I created a new template called CookingWithGasMacros.dotm and put it in STARTUP and it does load, although it is shown as “Normal (CookingWithGasMacros)”. When I try to edit code it gives me a pop-up that says “Project unviewable.” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-has-two-copies-of-normal-opened-at-the-same-time/671340/5 "2013-10-16T12:37:46Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Hmm, I created a new template called CookingWithGasMacros.dotm and put it in STARTUP and it does load, although it is shown as “Normal (CookingWithGasMacros)”. That is very strange. I’ve never seen that happen, I wonder if it’s a Word 2013 thing. I have Word 2010 so I’m not sure. When you see the “Normal(CookingWithGasMacros)”, do you still also have two copies of Normal? > [@](#): > > When I try to edit code it gives me a pop-up that says “Project unviewable.” The only way to edit the VBA on a global template is to open the template itself (right-click and select Open, don’t double click on it.) If you just open Word, or another document, it doesn’t let you edit global templates, although you can see them in the Project Manager.