Citavi [056EN]: Word was still running in the background when you tried to start Word

Fix Word not opening: Close any running Word processes, Outlook, or Explorer preview. Use Task Manager to end Winword.exe, then reopen Word and your file.

Jul 30, 2026
Knowledge

Title

Answer

Problem

Word was still running in the background when you tried to start Word by double-clicking.

Possible Causes

In the Windows File Explorer a Word file was open in the Preview.
You first started Outlook 2003 and Word is set as your e-mail editor.

Solution

End Word and either Outlook and/or the Preview in Windows Explorer.
Open the Windows Task Manager by pressing CTRL+ALT+DELETE.
Click More details if necessary.
In the list of running processes, find Winword.exe or Microsoft Word . Select the process and click End task.
Start Word. On the File menu, select Open and open the Word file.

URL Name

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Citavi [056EN]: Word was still running in the background when you tried to start Word

Information

Problem

Possible Causes

Solution

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