WORD document appear not to respond to control-S

In the Customize Keyboard dialog, it is possible to remove or reassign shortcuts for specific documents. This may have happened -- although I'm at a loss to explain how -- in some of your documents.

To check out this theory, open one of the documents that don't save when you press Ctrl+S. Go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon and click the Customize button at the bottom left of the dialog.

In the Customize Keyboard dialog, first set the "Save changes in" dropdown to the name of the document -- not Normal.dotm.

In the Categories list, select File. In the Commands list, select FileSave. If Ctrl+S doesn't appear in the Current Keys box (along with Shift+F12 and Alt+Shift+F2, which are other default assignments for the same command), then click in the "Press new shortcut key" box, press Ctrl+S, and click the Assign button. OK both dialogs and save the document.

If that works, you need to repeat it in each document that has the problem.

Thank you for your prompt reply. I followed your instructions but found control-S already listed in the box that gave the shortcuts. Just to make sure, I removed it and then reinstalled it. The behavior was unchanged.

My original impression of the problem was not that control-S wasn't working but that whatever bit was supposed to get set to signify that the document had been saved (and cleared when a change was made) was not getting set. To verify that, I just now tried the experiment of adding some junk at the end of the document, pressing control-S, clicking X to exit, and replying DO NOT SAVE to the question. When I reopened the document, my added junk was, indeed, there.

If this malfunction happened in all documents I would uninstall WORD, reboot, and reinstall it. But as it only happens with a small number, I am at a loss what to do. The situation is hardly fatal -- I have no actual problem saving my work -- but my programmer's esthetic sense is affected by such misbehavior.