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In Windows 7, most notably with Office 2007 documents, when you click Save As, the application opens the Save As dialog and puts the current filename + extension in the File Name field (perhaps it only adds the file extension because I have the explorer option turned on to view all file extensions...?).

I work in document control and must constantly save new revisions of current documents. It becomes a burden having to click Save As, then manually highlight the .docx or .xlsx (etc) and delete when I want to add to the file name.

For example:
I have a document titled Doc1.docx and click Save As. The File Name field shows Doc1.docx highlighted.

Now I want to revise Doc1.docx and note this revision in the file name. I must manually select the ".docx" portion of the File Name field and hit Delete, then type "-Rev1" so the file name now reads Doc1-Rev1.docx when I hit save.

I realize this is semantics for most people, but working in doc ctrl, this becomes a big time sink when saving many documents throughout the day. Is there a way to force Office, or all Win7 apps for that matter, to stop showing me the extension? It's completely useless information since below that field the drop-down specifies the file extension to be saved anyway.

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(perhaps it only adds the file extension because I have the explorer option turned on to view all file extensions...?)

Maybe try turning that option off.

If it's that large of a time sink, losing the extensions in Explorer is probably less trouble than having to manually delete an extension all the time.

Alternatively, modifying your workflow might help. Copy the document to the new file name first, then edit it and just use "Save" from Office. In Vista/7 Explorer, when you go to rename a file, the extension is not selected by default.

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  • Concerning your very last line: I know! It's so inconsistent that Windows 7 and Vista automatically select just the file name w/o extension in explorer, but this is outside the scope of Office. I guess turning off the extensions is the only way, but that makes it a bit more difficult to filter out my files by type just at a glance.
    – NoCatharsis
    Dec 9, 2010 at 18:21
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    I'd expect that the file type icons be "glance" enough, but that's just me. If you use the details in Explorer, it's pretty easy to resort your folder by type. Would saved searches perhaps be useful in filtering out documents? There may be some other places to look for workflow improvements that might let you have your cake and eat it too, once you get used to the change. :-)
    – afrazier
    Dec 9, 2010 at 18:25
  • Huh, interesting suggestion - I actually haven't played around at all with saved searches or any of that stuff, though it makes sense to set it up for a better workflow. Can you suggest any resources to help me organize things this way?
    – NoCatharsis
    Dec 9, 2010 at 20:12
  • Sorry, I don't know of any particular resources to help you out. I only know that the feature is available, but don't know much more about how to take advantage of it for you.
    – afrazier
    Dec 9, 2010 at 20:44

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