Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Saving All Open Documents.

Saving All Open Documents

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 30, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021

Word allows you to open multiple documents at the same time. You can even view all of these documents at the same time. This makes it very easy to work on several files at once. After a long editing session, it is hard to remember which files you have changed and which you haven't.

One solution to this problem is to add a "save all" command to your Quick Access Toolbar. Follow these steps:

Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 and later versions, display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
At the left of the dialog box click Customize (Word 2007) or Quick Access Toolbar (later versions of Word). (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Quick Access Toolbar portion of the Word Options dialog box.

Using the Choose Commands From drop-down list, choose All Commands.
In the list of commands find and select Save All.
Click the Add button. The command moves to the right side of the screen.
Click OK.

Now, whenever you want to save all your open documents, click the Save All tool and the job is done, fast and simple.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (2561) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Word in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Saving All Open Documents.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Turning Off Highlighter Display

You can use the highlighter tool to add all sorts of color to your document. If you want to turn off those colors so that ...

Discover More

Full Path Names in Headers or Footers

Using a macro to add the full path name into a header or footer in an Excel worksheet.

Discover More

Jumping to the End of a Word

Using shortcut keys to navigate through your document is really handy. One navigation shortcut that Word doesn't provide ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Finding Out the Folder for an Open Document

If you work with a lot of documents at the same time, it can be difficult to remember the folder in which any given ...

Discover More

An Automatic File Name

Do you have a set "standard" for how you name new documents? If so, you may be interested in implementing the technique ...

Discover More

Read-Only Embedded Fonts

If you receive a document from somebody else, you might not be able to edit it if the document contains fonts that you ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 8 - 2?

2023-05-31 22:43:10

sunny

Thanks, I think Save All is superior AutoSave because AutoSave:
(1) especially when Web App is involved, can fail causing me to lose not only data but also Undo item; I suspect Cloud complication because iPhone has same issue when Document is set to Cloud location.
(2) I switch same document between Web App and Desktop App because they have different features.

Is there a Word Script to AutoSave All?

2023-05-31 12:26:44

Andrew

Corey, see Tomek's post below yours. What works for me is to make sure I open multiple documents directly from within Word using the Open command (and not via Windows using File Explorer).

Andy.

2023-05-30 16:31:45

Corey DeFrancesco

It doesn't work when opening multiple documents via networked drives. Why is this, and is there a way to fix it?

Thanks!

2022-05-03 22:57:41

Tomek

Beware that sometimes when you open multiple documents they may actually open in separate instances of Word. In such case one instance is not aware of the documents open in other instances. This happens primarily when you open the documents by selecting several of them in File Explorer and then either press enter or right click on one of the selected files and chose Open. In such case SaveAll will only save the documents in the particular instance of Word, but not in the others.

Update: This issue/bug has recently disappeared from my computer, probably as an effect of an update of either Office or Windows (365 Family under Win 10 Pro). I just renewed the subscription to the Office. But it still may exist on some computers that were not updated. the issue was not specific to just this one computer. It was also that way on several computers I used at work with the Enterprise versions of Office and Win10 Pro..

2022-05-03 16:06:35

April Ellis

This is beautiful! Thank you!

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.