Can you describe what's happening? Are you closing Word rather than just the
document? To close just the document, click the document's X in the right
hand corner. It will be below the larger X that closes Word. Or, if you're a
keyboard person, press Ctrl+F4 to close just the document window, but leave
Word itself open. (Note, behavior will also depend on the Tools - Options -
View tab - Windows in Taskbar setting.)

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
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"annieI" wrote in message
...
How do I stop WORD 2003 from closing itself down when I don't have a
document
open?