Hi Larry,

Yeah, but you have to locate "General templates" on the tak pane and click on it
(... no keyboard shortcut available or customizable), and close the task pane
when you're done.

For a simple task like creating a new document, two additional steps are a lot
of bother.

Also, after many months of use, I'm still confused when I click on "File New"
and nothing happens (since the task pane is already visible).

So Laura's question ("Is there a way I can avoid this task pane altogether?")
and Suzanne's advice make a lot of sense.

Regards,
Klaus