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MS Word doesn't hide under OSX 10.9

Frequently, I can't get MS Word (2011 version 14.3.8) to hide. Running 10.9 on MacBook Pro i7 non-Retina machine. Any one know what I can do to correct this issue?

Power Mac G5, Power Mac G4, Macbook Pro, G4 is running 10.3

Posted on Nov 7, 2013 4:00 PM

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27 replies

Nov 7, 2013 5:41 PM in response to PaulWith

Yes, this is the latest version of MS Office 2011. I really don't want to move to Office 365 as I don't need more features.


Every application can be "hidden." It is one of the choices when one clicks on the application name at the upper left side of the screen. Choices are always:

Hide application

Hide others

Show all

The problem shows up randomly. When the application has just been opened, one may hide it; later that ceases to work. Something changed in 10.9 that causes this, I suspect.

Dec 6, 2013 3:38 PM in response to PaulWith

I have this same problem. I am too running Mavericks and I have also tried the Option-click and that works for every other app as expected, but the Microsoft Word documents only go to the back. This is the exact same behavior I get for every method of hiding.


I take it that other posters in the blog doesn't have this problem and they thought it was an odd question and simply posted the appropriate answers for hiding an app. The problem does appear to be with Word and Mavericks, the issue is that Word does NOT hide as other apps do.

Dec 15, 2013 5:34 PM in response to VikingOSX

I am having this problem as well, and I have already installed the 14.3.9 Office update.


The problem has actually never occurred for me before tonight, and I've been using Mavericks for over a month now. It is happening with both Word and Excel - "hide application" causes open windows to go to the back, but not actually hide (meaning I can't quickly clear the way to view my desktop).


I wonder if it's due to the condition at my last re-start - usually I have apps closed by the time I re-start, but this time I had quite a few windows open in Word and Excel, so I re-started and chose the "re-open windows at start" option. Thus Word and Excel both launched immediately after the re-start and brought all my documents back up, but I wonder if this somehow led to the problem I'm having? I have tried re-launching the Finder and the problem persists.

Dec 16, 2013 7:23 AM in response to PaulWith

I'm also having this problem, but it predates Mavericks, which I'm not running.


I'm using Mountain Lion, 10.8.5 on a 17" Macbook Pro (pre-Retina), and Word 14.3.9 (131030). And I concur that it happens with both Word and Excel.


I suspect Shelia Addison is on to something. My last startup was also after a non-graceful shutdown, where my battery had run out. Word and Excel were both running, and they may not have properly shut down.


What happens specifically is that Word (for example) catches the Option-H keystroke, and does indeed relinquish the active-app status, but its documents are not removed (hidden) from the screen.


I've just verified that quiting Word when it's in this funky state, and then restarting, restores the proper Hide behavior.

MS Word doesn't hide under OSX 10.9

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