Starting up with no document

As far as I know, unlike WinWord, and unlike MacWord 5.1a, more recent versions of MacWord do not have a switch or any other mechanism for starting the application without a blank document ("Document1" in English versions). If you prefer to start Word without "Document1" staring at you, load this add-in.

This won't prevent you from starting Word by double clicking a document.

Of course, you could always just use CMD-w to close the document, but what would be the fun in that?

If you're not familiar with add-ins, or global templates, take a look at my global template page.

How it works

When it's loaded, an AutoExec macro looks to see how many documents are open. If there's only one, it's based on the Normal template, and it hasn't been saved, the document is closed. It then unloads itself, after which you can open a file normally.

Note that checking for the file being based on Normal still allows you to choose a template from the Project Gallery, if desired.

The code

The add-in is unprotected so you can make modifications if desired. This macro is in a regular code module:

  Public Sub AutoExec()
     On Error Resume Next
     If Documents.Count = 1 Then
        With ActiveDocument
           If .Name = .FullName Then _
              If .AttachedTemplate.Name = "Normal" Then _
                 .Close
        End With
     End If
     AddIns(ThisDocument.Name).Installed = False
  End Sub

This page last updated on Wednesday, 23 June 2004.

McGimpsey & Associates

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Starting up with no document

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