Keeping the Task Pane Closed (Word 2003)

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I’ve done the obvious things so the task pane won’t show up every time I start Word. I thought it was just as simple as unchecking the box for Startup Task Pane in Tool –>Options and then the View tab. But it doesn’t work for some reason. Even though the box is unchecked, I keep geting the Task Pane which is pain.

I tried deleting Normal.dot thinking making there was a corruption. That didn’t work. I tried starting with none of the added .dot files running. That didn’t work.

I’m stumped.

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The Task Pane usually appears when you want to use a feature like creating a new document (other than a blank document using the toolbar button), changing a style, etc. You should be able to start Word or open an existing document without the Task Pane showing. Perhaps a global template or add-in is opening the Task Pane?? If there’s nothing obvious, you can try this post: Systematic Approach to Behavioral Problems in Word.

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There’s a free add-in that will let you set the behavior of the task pane: Controlling the Task Pane, even when add-ins are present. There’s also a version for Excel.

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Thanks for all the suggestions. Turns out it’s a MicroSoft boondoggle. I had just installed the program and didn’t understand why they sent along Office SP2. Therein lies the secret. Apparently there’s some registry screwup that keeps the Task Pane open even if you don’t have it checked in Tools/Options/View. Office SP2 corrected it.

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