But since saving a file this way depends on your work habits, its not entirely reliable (no offense intended).

You load your word processor, and it either freezes up or closes down.

Replacing it with a backup or letting Word recreate it from scratch will probably get things working again.

The first thing that youll need to do is to open the Template folder.

If youve customized Word considerably--changing styles or writing macros (especially writing macros)--a restored backup is your best bet.

Word - When Editing, Must Save Under New Name Windows 7 Users May

Windows 7 users may be able to do this even if they havent been consciously backing up.

Right-click the file Normal.dotx (or Normal.dotm) and select Restore previous versions.

Try restoring one of the versions that comes up and see if it helps.

Otherwise, if you have another backup, see if you can restore the file from that.

If not, rename the Normal.dotm file.

It doesnt matter what you name it.

Abnormal will do.

When you relaunch Word, it will recreate a new Normal.dotm file containing Microsofts default settings.

Depending on how corrupt your Normal template is, you may still be able to load it after Word is up.

In Word, click the Office orb (Word 2007) or the File ribbon tab (Word 2010), and click New.

Select My templates, then Abnormal (or whatever you named the file).

If the new document you just created doesnt crash Word, you can continue to use Abnormal.

Like every other computer program ever written, Word occasionally crashes.

And hardware can crash too, taking both Windows and Word down.

Whatever the cause, the reality is unavoidable: Word will occasionally go down without giving you a chance to save your work.

But how much will you actually lose and how can you lessen this disaster.

Use them both wisely, and youll minimize the loss when disaster hits.

The first time you do it with a new file, you have to give the document a name and tell Word where to store it.

Its a good idea to get in the habit of pressing CTRL-s frequently.

Do it when you get up to stretch, when you pause for a thought, or when you write a good sentence.

Word For Mac - When Editing, Must Save Under New Name