How can I disable this feature all together? When I click on File New
Document the taskpane opens up automatically on the right side of the screen.
I just want it to open a blank document like when I click on the blank
document icon. The Taskpane is just annoying.

Hello-

Since the New Blank Document button is even more convenient than the choice
that seems to annoy you so, I'm not sure why you insist on doing it that way
in the first place. No offense intended, but it just kinda reminds me of the
old (Henny Youngman?) "Doc, it hurts when I do that..." line.

AFAIK, there is no way to disable the Task Pane, itself, but what you can do
is go to ToolsCustomize and remove the offending 'New...' command from the
menu altogether or replace it with the 'New' command(without the elipsis).

HTH |:)

"Shadodncr" wrote:

How can I disable this feature all together? When I click on File New
Document the taskpane opens up automatically on the right side of the screen.
I just want it to open a blank document like when I click on the blank
document icon. The Taskpane is just annoying.

Thanks. Unfortunately that feature is disabled (gotta love the IT division
when they bind you hands for simple things). I was using the New Document
thing as an example. The Task Pane popup feature is what I find annoying.
Frankly I can't stand Word (or MS in general), I much prefer WordPerfect
because it doesn't assume you want to do this or that (which 99.99% of the
time isn't what I want to do), but MS Office is what I'm stuck with at work
so I've got to live with it.

Shado

"CyberTaz" wrote:

Hello-

Since the New Blank Document button is even more convenient than the choice
that seems to annoy you so, I'm not sure why you insist on doing it that way
in the first place. No offense intended, but it just kinda reminds me of the
old (Henny Youngman?) "Doc, it hurts when I do that..." line.

AFAIK, there is no way to disable the Task Pane, itself, but what you can do
is go to ToolsCustomize and remove the offending 'New...' command from the
menu altogether or replace it with the 'New' command(without the elipsis).

HTH |:)

"Shadodncr" wrote:

How can I disable this feature all together? When I click on File New
Document the taskpane opens up automatically on the right side of the screen.
I just want it to open a blank document like when I click on the blank
document icon. The Taskpane is just annoying.

Whether or not you prefer another application is immaterial, but it is
hardly fair to blame Word for problems created by your own IT department.
You can retake control of the application and make it work for you .... but
only if your IT department will allow you to do so. Software is supposed to
help you to do your job and not to hinder it. Someone should remind your IT
department of that.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




Shadodncr wrote:
Thanks. Unfortunately that feature is disabled (gotta love the IT
division when they bind you hands for simple things). I was using
the New Document thing as an example. The Task Pane popup feature is
what I find annoying. Frankly I can't stand Word (or MS in general),
I much prefer WordPerfect because it doesn't assume you want to do
this or that (which 99.99% of the time isn't what I want to do), but
MS Office is what I'm stuck with at work so I've got to live with it.

Shado

"CyberTaz" wrote:

Hello-

Since the New Blank Document button is even more convenient than the
choice that seems to annoy you so, I'm not sure why you insist on
doing it that way in the first place. No offense intended, but it
just kinda reminds me of the old (Henny Youngman?) "Doc, it hurts
when I do that..." line.

AFAIK, there is no way to disable the Task Pane, itself, but what
you can do is go to ToolsCustomize and remove the offending
'New...' command from the menu altogether or replace it with the
'New' command(without the elipsis).

HTH |:)

"Shadodncr" wrote:

How can I disable this feature all together? When I click on File
New Document the taskpane opens up automatically on the right
side of the screen. I just want it to open a blank document like
when I click on the blank document icon. The Taskpane is just
annoying.

Getting my IT dept. to unlock a feature isn't a problem. My problem is not
being able to disable a program's feature that I don't want to utilize. I
used to use Word (Mac) and even if I disabled, say the autoformat feature,
the program would still do it and I'd have to spend 20 minutes or so fighting
with the progam to find an end run around the feature to do what I wanted to
do, rather than what the program "thought" I wanted to do.

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Whether or not you prefer another application is immaterial, but it is
hardly fair to blame Word for problems created by your own IT department.
You can retake control of the application and make it work for you .... but
only if your IT department will allow you to do so. Software is supposed to
help you to do your job and not to hinder it. Someone should remind your IT
department of that.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




Shadodncr wrote:
Thanks. Unfortunately that feature is disabled (gotta love the IT
division when they bind you hands for simple things). I was using
the New Document thing as an example. The Task Pane popup feature is
what I find annoying. Frankly I can't stand Word (or MS in general),
I much prefer WordPerfect because it doesn't assume you want to do
this or that (which 99.99% of the time isn't what I want to do), but
MS Office is what I'm stuck with at work so I've got to live with it.

Shado

"CyberTaz" wrote:

Hello-

Since the New Blank Document button is even more convenient than the
choice that seems to annoy you so, I'm not sure why you insist on
doing it that way in the first place. No offense intended, but it
just kinda reminds me of the old (Henny Youngman?) "Doc, it hurts
when I do that..." line.

AFAIK, there is no way to disable the Task Pane, itself, but what
you can do is go to ToolsCustomize and remove the offending
'New...' command from the menu altogether or replace it with the
'New' command(without the elipsis).

HTH |:)

"Shadodncr" wrote:

How can I disable this feature all together? When I click on File
New Document the taskpane opens up automatically on the right
side of the screen. I just want it to open a blank document like
when I click on the blank document icon. The Taskpane is just
annoying.

I am glad to hear that your IT dept is not as rigid as you originally
implied (as many are), for all the autoformatting that you complain about
may be switched off, and if it does not remain off then either you have not
switched it off, or there is some issue preventing it.
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/TameAutoFormat.htm should provide some
clues.

There is a separate newsgroup for Mac Word users that may offer more
insights into that version of the application.


--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




Shadodncr wrote:
Getting my IT dept. to unlock a feature isn't a problem. My problem
is not being able to disable a program's feature that I don't want to
utilize. I used to use Word (Mac) and even if I disabled, say the
autoformat feature, the program would still do it and I'd have to
spend 20 minutes or so fighting with the progam to find an end run
around the feature to do what I wanted to do, rather than what the
program "thought" I wanted to do.

"Graham Mayor" wrote:

Whether or not you prefer another application is immaterial, but it
is hardly fair to blame Word for problems created by your own IT
department. You can retake control of the application and make it
work for you .... but only if your IT department will allow you to
do so. Software is supposed to help you to do your job and not to
hinder it. Someone should remind your IT department of that.

--

Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site http://word.mvps.org




Shadodncr wrote:
Thanks. Unfortunately that feature is disabled (gotta love the IT
division when they bind you hands for simple things). I was using
the New Document thing as an example. The Task Pane popup feature
is what I find annoying. Frankly I can't stand Word (or MS in
general), I much prefer WordPerfect because it doesn't assume you
want to do this or that (which 99.99% of the time isn't what I want
to do), but MS Office is what I'm stuck with at work so I've got to
live with it.

Shado

"CyberTaz" wrote:

Hello-

Since the New Blank Document button is even more convenient than
the choice that seems to annoy you so, I'm not sure why you insist
on doing it that way in the first place. No offense intended, but
it just kinda reminds me of the old (Henny Youngman?) "Doc, it
hurts when I do that..." line.

AFAIK, there is no way to disable the Task Pane, itself, but what
you can do is go to ToolsCustomize and remove the offending
'New...' command from the menu altogether or replace it with the
'New' command(without the elipsis).

HTH |:)

"Shadodncr" wrote:

How can I disable this feature all together? When I click on File
New Document the taskpane opens up automatically on the right
side of the screen. I just want it to open a blank document like
when I click on the blank document icon. The Taskpane is just
annoying.

Getting my IT dept. to unlock a feature isn't a problem. My problem is not
being able to disable a program's feature that I don't want to utilize. I
used to use Word (Mac) and even if I disabled, say the autoformat feature,
the program would still do it and I'd have to spend 20 minutes or so fighting
with the progam to find an end run around the feature to do what I wanted to
do, rather than what the program "thought" I wanted to do.

You must not have disabled all of the features. I use MacWord and I don't
have to do that....and most of the experts here using WinWord don't have to
struggle with it all the time either. You do have to learn how to take
control of Word and force it to do your bidding, and that takes a little
energy and can be tricky to figure out.

Graham gave you the most important secret for that.

Since you should be able to easily translate the Mac/win differences, let me
recommend this long article, titled "Bend Word to Your Will" which you may
find useful.
http://www.word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Bend/BendWord.htm

In case you are still using MacWord at times, and you have problems with it
that seem to be Mac-dependent,
See here for gateway to Mac-specific ngs:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/community/community.aspx?pid=newsgroups