Files Opening Slowly If Many Files Exist

Lew has some directories that have a lot of document files in them. When he opens a document from that long list of files, Word seems to take a long time to actually do the opening. He wonders if this is a problem with Word or a problem with Windows.

If all you want to do is discover whether the problem is related to Word or Windows, there is an easy way to figure it out: Copy one of the files to its own directory. Grab a watch with a second hand and time how long it takes to open the copy in its own directory. Then, time how long it takes to open the original file in the directory with all the other files.

If it takes just as long to open both files, the problem is most likely with Word. If the file copy opens quicker than the original one, then the problem is most likely with Windows.

If you determine that the problem is with Word, then chances are good that the problem is related to either the size and complexity of the documents you are opening or the document (if the problem only happens with one of two of them) may be on the verge of corruption. The only thing you can do if the issue is size and complexity is to simplify the document, perhaps by breaking it into multiple documents instead of one large document. If you suspect the document is flirting with corruption, you can search through the WordTips website to figure out how to deal with document corruption.

If you suspect the problem is with Windows, then you should reduce the number of files in the original directory. Check to make sure that the directory with all your documents doesn't have any non-document files in it. Get rid of any temporary files and move any backup files to a different directory. You may also want to restructure your directory into multiple directories. It is also a good idea to defragment your hard drive; the slowness could be related to a severely fragmented disk.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (11590) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Files Opening Slowly If Many Files Exist.