Why does Word keep asking if I want to save when there has been no change?

[Hubby]

Sometimes Word (2002) asks if I want to save the document, when all I
did was open the document and print it out.
Why does it do that?
It's really nuisance.

 

[Helen Tasky]

The document may contain fields (even something trivial as date/time in
footer) and it wants to know if it should update it.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Generally speaking, the document might have changed even if it doesn't
appear to. For example, certain fields -- such as the SEQ fields
inserted whenever you use the Caption feature
(Insert>Reference>Caption) -- are updated on print. When fields are
updated the document is indeed modified and Word (consequently)
prompts you to save the changes. (Whether the field actually displays
a
different result after the update is irrelevant in this context.)

The following KB article describes an issue specific to Word 2002:

WD2002: You Are Prompted to Save Changes When You Close a Document
Even Though You Have Made No Changes
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;816473&Product=wd2002

 

[Graham Mayor]

I think you will find that Word will *always* prompt if you print the
document. Printing sets a property change in the document that Word sees as
change.

--
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Graham Mayor - Word MVP


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[Stefan Blom]

Hi Hubby

Graham has the relevant answer for you.

Clearly, my response answered the following question: "I *opened* a
document and made no changes; still, when I try to close it I'm
prompted to save changes. Why?" which wasn't what you were asking.

 

[Stefan Blom]

The property set by printing is simply the print date (and time), I
suppose?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

More to the point, however, if there are any fields in the document (or
possibly even if there aren't) and you have "Update fields" checked on the
Print tab of Tools | Options, Word will update the fields and "Update
Fields" will appear on the Undo list. Even when you don't have "Update
fields" checked, fields in the header and footer are updated (because the
document is repaginated at print time), but this seems not to dirty the
document.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Thank you for the clarification.