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

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:

• How to troubleshoot damaged documents in Word
• You are prompted to save the changes to the global template every time that you exit Word 2007 or Word 2010
• How to reset user options and registry settings in Word