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Old 06-03-2022, 08:38 AM
John9210 John9210 is offline Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Windows 7 64bit Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Office 2007
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Default Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document

I found a curious thing in Windows 11. If you want to edit Normal dotm you can't simply right-click it and click Open in the menu. This does not open it. Instead, it creates a new document!




You can however use this procedure: Right-click Normal dotm, choose Show more options (F2) and then click Open. It opens, ready for editing.


This probably applies to other templates as well, but I haven't tried it yet.
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Old 06-03-2022, 11:16 AM
Charles Kenyon Charles Kenyon is offline Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Windows 10 Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Office 2019
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I confirm your observations. It appears that Other Options opens up the old right-click menu from Windows 10.
I can see that I am going to have to update How to Open the Normal Template in Any Desktop Version of Word (except Mac 2008) although the primary vba method pointed out there works fine in Windows 11.


I do not know that this is a bug, but it certainly is a change. I've posted discussions in the Microsoft Windows 11 and Word forums about this. I am sending feedback using the feedback mechanisms because I do not think it is a good change.

Last edited by Charles Kenyon; 06-04-2022 at 10:19 AM.
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Old 06-07-2022, 04:40 AM
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Stefan Blom Stefan Blom is offline Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Windows 11 Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Office 2021
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I can confirm that I am seeing the same thing. It appears that the "Open" command on the simplified right-click menu (in Windows 11) runs the default command for the file type, and for templates that command is actually "New" (and not "Open," although the menu says "Open").

As Charles wrote, this could be an intentional change or it could be a bug. Using the VBA "trick" to open the Normal template remains the quickest way to open Normal for editing.
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Old 06-07-2022, 05:21 AM
wiganken wiganken is offline Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Windows 11 Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Office 2019
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This is a Windows 11 specific thing but it does not happen on my computer because I have tweaked the registry. Tweaking the registry can be dangerous so only do the following if you are confident. Changes happen as-you-type in real time. There is no option to save your changes or discard your changes so ensure the following steps are done correctly: -

In Registry Editor go to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID

New / Key and type (or paste this red text): {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}

Right click on this new key {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} then

New / Key (again)

Name the new key InprocServer32

Then, on the right you’ll see a registry key named ‘Default’ inside the InprocServer32 key. Double-click on that ‘Default’ registry in the right pane to open it.

In the Edit String dialog box, make sure the ‘Value data’ field is blank and click ‘OK’ or press Enter.


Remember the value field must be left empty and not 0.

Close registry editor then restart the computer.

.................................................. ..........................


After restarting the computer the full options menu will be available and this time the 'Open' command opens the template. It does not create a new document.

Be careful when following this. It is a well documented Windows 11 gripe on the web and I have simplified it here. It works for me.
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Old 06-07-2022, 05:41 AM
Charles Kenyon Charles Kenyon is offline Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Windows 10 Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Office 2019
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Thank you wigaken.
Stefan, this is true of all templates, not just the Normal template!


See also: windows 11 right click menu fix at DuckDuckGo


The registry hack returns the original longer right-click menu. My objection, though, is not to the short menu, but rather that "Open" acts like "New" in the abbreviated menu.
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Old 06-07-2022, 06:35 AM
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Charles, I didn't mean to suggest that only the Normal template is affected by this feature/bug. I mentioned default actions for file types. :-)
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Old 02-24-2023, 01:40 PM
Charles Kenyon Charles Kenyon is offline Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Windows 11 Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Office 2021
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Just to update. This still has not been fixed. In fact, it has been compounded.

The main context menu now includes an item for Open with.... That, also, creates a new document rather than opening the template. (The same is true of Open With on the expanded context menu.) Right-click > Open for a template in Windows 11 creates a new document; it does not open the template for editing!


I hope people will continue to post feedback on this.
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Old 02-24-2023, 11:59 PM
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You can always open the Normal template from within Word.
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Old 02-25-2023, 08:50 AM
Charles Kenyon Charles Kenyon is offline Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Windows 11 Opening normal dotm in Windows 11 - the Open command creates a new blank document Office 2021
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Graham, I know how to open the normal template or any template for that matter. So does the original poster, John.

The thing is that in Windows 11 the context menu is wrong.This needs to be fixed; it should not say "Open," contrasted with the New command directly above, and give you a new document in response to Open. For me, and most users, the only recourse is the feedback mechanisms. Windows: Right-click > Open for a Word template in Windows 11 creates a new document; it does not open the template for editing!
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