I would like to be able to close a word file and return directly to the
directory, ideally, in exactly the same spot I left it, and not return to a
blank page and have to click on open again and scroll back through the
directory to the next file. Also, are there any alternatives to the
directory/file arrangement offered in word? I find them very difficult to
work with.

Word doesn't have a "directory" view that remains open. It has a File Open
dialog that disappears when you choose a file to open. You'll probably find
it easier to keep a copy of Windows Explorer open all the time, and use that
to choose document files. If Word is already open when you double-click a
file in Explorer, the document will appear in the existing Word window.

In both Windows Explorer and the Word File Open dialog, there are multiple
views to choose from -- right-click a blank area of the list and choose View
from the popup menu, then select one of the items from the submenu. One of
them may be better than what you see now.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org
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corby773 wrote:
I would like to be able to close a word file and return directly to
the directory, ideally, in exactly the same spot I left it, and not
return to a blank page and have to click on open again and scroll
back through the directory to the next file. Also, are there any
alternatives to the directory/file arrangement offered in word? I
find them very difficult to work with.