Updated to Office 2013 Pro: Word (Desktop) vs Word 2013

PrimetimeHero · 09 Dec 2014

Good morning,

I recently upgraded from Office 2010 Pro to Office 2013 Pro. However, after the install, all of the office products are showing as <NAME> (desktop) - i.e. Word (desktop), Powerpoint (desktop). Yet, when they are opened, the program is shown as Word 2013, Powerpoint 2013, etc. When I try to pin a file to the taskbar, it pins it under the Word (desktop) program, but when I open that file, it opens in Word 2013.

I am able to pin both Word 2013 and Word (desktop) to my taskbar. I am ONLY able to pin files to Word (desktop), but files only open using Word 2013. Both options open the same program. It is frustrating to have one program pinned just to have files pinned, only to have those files open in another taskbar "tile."
Why are they separate? Is there any way to get rid of one?

Any assistance is GREATLY appreciated!

-Andrew

Ranger4 · 09 Dec 2014

Hi PrimetimeHero welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

It does seem that you have a duplicate set of short cuts to your Office products.

Normally it is best to store your Office product files in your Documents Library, under their various Folder titles such as Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets etc. This keep them all in the one area for easy location.

Check to see whether you have duplicate copies of the actual files & if so make sure they are up to date & correct & delete one of them. Then delete the duplicate Shot Cuts then open your Documents Folder in your Documents library. Then locate a file in Documents such as Word xxx & if you want to have a short cut to it on your Desktop, right click on it & use Send To (create Desktop short cut).

As your information is not really clear, perhaps you could post back with more info on where your various Office files are actually located.

Below is a screen shot of my Documents Folder to expalin what I have been saying.

Updated to Office 2013 Pro: Word (Desktop) vs Word 2013-document_location_in_document_library..png

PrimetimeHero · 11 Dec 2014

Ranger4 said:

Hi PrimetimeHero welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

It does seem that you have a duplicate set of short cuts to your Office products.

Normally it is best to store your Office product files in your Documents Library, under their various Folder titles such as Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets etc. This keep them all in the one area for easy location.

Check to see whether you have duplicate copies of the actual files & if so make sure they are up to date & correct & delete one of them. Then delete the duplicate Shot Cuts then open your Documents Folder in your Documents library. Then locate a file in Documents such as Word xxx & if you want to have a short cut to it on your Desktop, right click on it & use Send To (create Desktop short cut).

As your information is not really clear, perhaps you could post back with more info on where your various Office files are actually located.

Below is a screen shot of my Documents Folder to expalin what I have been saying.

Thanks for the response and the warm welcome.

I apologize for the unclear information. The issue is kind of difficult to explain clearly. If you can tell me what you'd need to help out further, I'll be happy to get whatever you need.

I don't have duplicates of my files. It's as if the Office 2013 install installed two icons/shortcuts to get to Word 2013. One is Word (desktop) and one is Word 2013.

Ranger4 · 11 Dec 2014

Thanks for getting back. It does seem that you have 2 short cuts so it appears that a duplication has occurred. The easiest thing to do would be to just delete one of them. Of course make sure that the one you keep actually works & opens your Word document.

Having re-read your first post it seems that the short cuts are not showing the correct identification, is this the case?. If so delete all the short cuts & then locate the actual Document in your Word Document folder, Right Click on it & use the Send To to create a new Short Cut on the Desktop. If you wish you can change the name of the short cut on the Desktop.

To have the Short Cut pinned to the Task Bar just drag it from the Desktop to the Task Bar. Conversely if you want to unpin it from the Task Bar, Right Click on it & select Unpin.

Does this help you get this fixed. Post back if necessary.

PrimetimeHero · 21 Dec 2014

Ranger4 said:

Thanks for getting back. It does seem that you have 2 short cuts so it appears that a duplication has occurred. The easiest thing to do would be to just delete one of them. Of course make sure that the one you keep actually works & opens your Word document.

Having re-read your first post it seems that the short cuts are not showing the correct identification, is this the case?. If so delete all the short cuts & then locate the actual Document in your Word Document folder, Right Click on it & use the Send To to create a new Short Cut on the Desktop. If you wish you can change the name of the short cut on the Desktop.

To have the Short Cut pinned to the Task Bar just drag it from the Desktop to the Task Bar. Conversely if you want to unpin it from the Task Bar, Right Click on it & select Unpin.

Does this help you get this fixed. Post back if necessary.

I've tried this. They aren't shortcuts. They act like shortcuts, but deleting one does not fix the issue. Pinned files still go under one and open under the other.

Ranger4 · 21 Dec 2014

It seems that the Word documents in question are located in the Office Root Directory, whereas they should be located in your Documents Library, under a folder named by you.
Can you copy the Word document in the root directory & then paste it into your Document Library in a folder of your desire.
If the Word document now opens when clicking on it your Documents folder & seems OK, delete the one in the Root directory. Then delete the short cuts that pointed to it.
If you now wish to have a short cut for the relocated Word Document on your desktop, right click on it in your Documents directory & select Send to Desktop (create short cut).

PrimetimeHero · 22 Dec 2014

Ranger4 said:

It seems that the Word documents in question are located in the Office Root Directory, whereas they should be located in your Documents Library, under a folder named by you.
Can you copy the Word document in the root directory & then paste it into your Document Library in a folder of your desire.
If the Word document now opens when clicking on it your Documents folder & seems OK, delete the one in the Root directory. Then delete the short cuts that pointed to it.
If you now wish to have a short cut for the relocated Word Document on your desktop, right click on it in your Documents directory & select Send to Desktop (create short cut).

The office files are located in the user's folder. Issue still occurs.

Ranger4 · 22 Dec 2014

You could try copying the Word documents in question to a USB thumb drive, then delete them from your computer together with those short cuts as well. Then using the USB thumb drive, copy those Word documents back into a folder in your Documents Folder & see if that works.

FerchogtX · 26 Dec 2014

Don't mess your mind, Office 2013 does that all the time, Word 2013 is the same as Word (desktop) except that the last one enables the pinned documents feature, I guess that has something to do with registry and how MS mannages shortcuts now for Office.

Just pin Word (desktop) and work with it, they are essentially the same executable file, I have the same thing in my PC even after doing a full clean and uninstall of Office 2010, this also happens on clean installs of Windows.

Take care

Ranger4 · 26 Dec 2014

FerchogtX said:

Don't mess your mind, Office 2013 does that all the time, Word 2013 is the same as Word (desktop) except that the last one enables the pinned documents feature, I guess that has something to do with registry and how MS mannages shortcuts now for Office.

Just pin Word (desktop) and work with it, they are essentially the same executable file, I have the same thing in my PC even after doing a full clean and uninstall of Office 2010, this also happens on clean installs of Windows.

Take care

This does not happen in my case. I think the problem may be caused by not setting where your Word documents are saved to.
In Word 2013, open a document & select File, then Options & then Save as shown in the attached screen shot. If you have special Word Templates that you use then save those to a named folder as well.