Microsoft Word is deleting files with capitalized extensions or # in the title

Microsoft Word users may be experiencing a concerning issue in version 2409. If Word users save a file with a title containing a capitalized file extension (like .DOCX, .RTF) or the symbol #, the file may be deleted.

This issue happens when a user edits a file, saves it when prompted, and tries to close Word.

Thankfully, there are a few workarounds available. For one, they can manually save their document before closing it or find and restore the deleted file from the recycle bin.

In a support page, Microsoft says it is aware of the problem and is investigating and says current tests show the issue occurs after saving when prompted by clicking X to close Word. If you manually save the file before closing it, this error doesn’t occur.

Users can also enable the option “Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files with keyboard shortcuts.”. This can be enabled by going to File > Options > Save > Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files with keyboard shortcuts.

It’s unclear when the fix will be shipped, but we’ll update you.

Do you save files with capitalized extensions or # in the title? Have you had any issues?