OFF95: File Extension Display Settings Not Updated (130388)

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Windows Explorer, when you change the view option that allows you to choose whether to display file extensions for files that are registered, the change may not be reflected in the Microsoft Office applications listed above.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when you either select or clear the "Hide MS-DOS File Extensions For File Types That Are Registered" check box on the View tab in the Options dialog box (View menu) in Microsoft Explorer. The change you make is not immediately reflected in the Office applications. For example, if you change the option from displaying file extensions to hiding file extensions, and then switch to Word, the file name in the document window title as well as in the Window menu still appears with the file extension.

When you change the file extension setting, the change is not immediately reflected in the Office applications in the following locations:

The document window title
The Window menu
The "recently used file list" on the File menu

The change IS immediately reflected in the Open dialog box (File menu).

Note that this behavior does not occur if you start the application AFTER you make the view change in Explorer.

RESOLUTION

To work around this behavior, do the following:

Microsoft Excel

Choose another workbook from the Window menu. If there are no other files open, you can either open another file, or close and reopen the current file.

Microsoft Word

Close any one of the documents that are open. This will cause the document window title and the Window menu to reflect the new extensions view.

Note that files that you open AFTER making the view change reflect the proper setting.