• Microsoft Office apps or files resetting every time you exit is a sign of permission trouble.
  • If you have admin privileges, it’s important to check that your template files, folders, and subfolders are accessible.
  • You can check this through the files themselves or in AppData.

You might be thinking that losing your work is the worst thing that can happen to you in Microsoft Office. Well, another strong contender for first place would be the loss of your settings and preferences every time you exit an Office app. If you’re experiencing this error, we’re here to help you fix it. In this article, we’ll show you what to do when Excel and Word automatically resets settings.

What Causes This Error?

If Word, PowerPoint, or Excel automatically resets settings on your app or document every time you exit, then there could be a few factors at play. The overarching cause behind all of them is permissions:

  • You do not have Administrator privileges to make changes to the apps on your PC. Your account might also not have access to the templates folder in AppData.
  • You might only have Read-only access to certain files you’re looking at.
  • Microsoft Office can’t write to the Registry because it lacks permissions.
  • Permissions aside, there could also be a problem or corruption with one or all apps.

What to Do When Word Automatically Resets Settings

If any app in the Office Suite resets regularly when shutting down, there are a few fixes to try:

Check File Permissions

If the file you’ve been working on seems untouched on a restart, then it could be an issue of file permissions. This is easy to check and change:

Step 1. Right-click on the file and select “Properties” from the dropdown list.

Office Apps Automatically Reset Settings on Exit 1 - 1

Step 2. In the window that opens, check that the “Read-only” box isn’t checked. If it is, uncheck it and click “Apply” and “OK.”

Step 3. Reopen the file, make changes, and see if they stay after a restart.

Check Template Permissions

If any file you’re working on doesn’t save its changes, then you could be dealing with Read-only template troubles. Depending on your app, you’ll need to find the basic template and check its permissions:

Step 1. Open a new Explorer window (Win + E) and navigate to the following: “C:\Users\your user-name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates”

Step 2. Look for the basic templates. “Normal.dotm” is the Word template, and “book.xltx” and “sheet.xltx” are templates for Excel.

Office Apps Automatically Reset Settings on Exit 2 - 2

Step 3. Right-click the template and select “Properties.”

Step 4. Check that “Read-only” is unchecked. If it isn’t, this is the problem, and you might need Admin privileges to disable it.

Office Apps Automatically Reset Settings on Exit 3 - 3

Confirm Your Folder Permissions

Another area that may cause a PowerPoint or Word settings reset on exit is the folders, especially for Microsoft 365. Here’s how to check:

Step 1. Open up an Explorer window (Win + E) and navigate to the templates folder: “C:\Users\your user-name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates”

Step 2. Right-click the “Templates” folder itself and select “Properties.”

Office Apps Automatically Reset Settings on Exit 4 - 4

Step 3. Select your user account, then look at the window below and see if “Allow” and “Full control” are both checked.

Step 4. If not (and you have the Admin privileges), click the “Edit” button to enable control. Click “Apply and “OK.”

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