How do I eliminate that loading symbol in WORD with my name in it? Prior suggestions don't work

Martha Sue Denson 0 Reputation points
2025-11-10T04:34:15.81+00:00

Whenever I start a new WORD document, a symbol in red appears with my name in it. I believe it is called a loading symbol. How do I eliminate this from happening? Prior suggestions on other threads don't work.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Other

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  1. Randy Baroja 20,810 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-13T00:54:27.85+00:00

    Hi,

    I’m sorry the issue is still persisting, You can also try this: open Word, go to File > Options > Advanced, scroll down to the Display section, and uncheck "Show presence flags for selected items." Then go to File > Account > Manage Settings, and turn off any options related to "Presence" or "Connected Experiences." Finally, sign out of your Microsoft account in Word, close it completely, and then sign back in, this can refresh your profile link and remove that red symbol.

    Kind regards,

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  2. Randy Baroja 20,810 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2025-11-10T05:10:05.87+00:00

    Hi,

    Were you able to try and check if the symbol is linked to your Microsoft account presence or Word’s collaboration features? You can try these steps: first, go to File > Options > General, then under "Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office," remove or change your name to see if the symbol disappears. Next, disable connected experiences by going to File > Account > Manage Settings, and turn off "Connected Experiences" that may display online status or profile presence. Lastly, try starting Word in Safe Mode by holding Ctrl while launching Word, if the symbol doesn’t appear, an add-in might be causing it, so you can disable add-ins one by one under File > Options > Add-ins.

    Does the red symbol appear only when opening new documents, or also when editing existing ones? And have you noticed if it disappears when you sign out of your Microsoft account in Word?

    Kind regards,

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  3. AI answer

    2025-11-10T04:34:28.14+00:00

    To eliminate the loading symbol with your name in it when starting a new Word document, you may want to check for any automatic macros or add-ins that could be causing this issue. Here are some steps you can follow:

    1. Check for Automatic Macros: Open the Macros dialog box in Word and look for any macros that start with "Auto". If you find any, you can delete them to see if that resolves the issue.
      • To do this, go to the View tab, click on Macros, then select View Macros. From there, you can delete any unwanted macros.
    2. Disable Add-ins: Sometimes, add-ins can cause unexpected behavior. You can try disabling them:
      • Exit all instances of Word.
      • Navigate to the Office Startup folder and the Word Startup folder, and temporarily rename any files you find there by adding .old to their names. Restart Word to see if the issue persists.
    3. Reset Word Options: If the above steps do not work, you might consider resetting your Word options and settings. This can be done by renaming the Normal.dotm template file, which forces Word to create a new one with default settings.
      • You can do this by running the command ren %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dotm OldNormal.dotm in the Run dialog (Windows + R).
    4. Check for Updates: Ensure that your Microsoft Office is up to date, as updates can fix bugs and improve performance.

    If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to consult further resources or support for specific troubleshooting related to your version of Word.

    References:

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