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Word is createing duplicate files in downloads folder

Once in a while, a word file will be duplicated and stored in the Downloads folder while using Word. Am running Catalina 10.15.5 on a 2012 imac. The filename, including extension, is exactly the same in both its home directory and Downloads. Am using Microsoft Word for Mac, version 16.39. I am certainly not doing a "Save As" and putting it there myself. My documents are stored in iCloud and i am running Time Machine to a local external disk.

Posted on Aug 2, 2020 7:25 PM

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Posted on Aug 25, 2020 12:12 PM

I found the answer! When my wife attaches word documents to her email, she regularly then opens the attached file to confirm its contents before she actually sends the email. When you open the attached docx file, a copy of the file is created and placed into the downloads folder. Thus, you now have two copies of the same file - one is the original and the second is the one created by word and stored in Downloads folder. Huh, who woulda thought.

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Aug 25, 2020 12:12 PM in response to glovere

I found the answer! When my wife attaches word documents to her email, she regularly then opens the attached file to confirm its contents before she actually sends the email. When you open the attached docx file, a copy of the file is created and placed into the downloads folder. Thus, you now have two copies of the same file - one is the original and the second is the one created by word and stored in Downloads folder. Huh, who woulda thought.

Word is createing duplicate files in downloads folder

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