How do I control what happens when I start Word?

You can control the startup behavior in Word (and most Windows programs) by adding one or more switches to the command line that points to the executable file. For Word, this file is Winword.exe, found in the Program Files folder where you have installed Microsoft Office. To change Word's startup behavior, you have to locate a Word shortcut icon that points to Winword.exe. These icons may be found on your Programs menu, on your Desktop, on the Quick Launch toolbar on the Taskbar, or on the Office Shortcut Bar. Some Word shortcut icons cannot be modified using the procedure outlined below.

1. Click the shortcut icon using the right mouse button, click Properties, then click the Shortcut tab.
2. In Microsoft Windows NT, click the Word program icon, then click Properties on the File menu.
3. In the Target box or the Command Line box, you should see the path to Word. This path is usually "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe", but this may be different in your installation.
4. At the end of the path, outside of the quotes, type one or more of the switches shown in the table below.

(no switch)	Start Word with a new blank document. If you start more instances of Word, they will all have the same list of documents on the Window menu.
/n	Start Word without a new blank document. If you start more instances of Word, they will all have their own list of documents on the Window menu.
/w	Start Word with a new blank document. If you start more instances of Word, they will all have their own list of documents on the Window menu.
/ttemplatename	Start Word with a new document based on a template other than the Normal template.
/a	Start Word and prevent add-ins and global templates (including the Normal template) from being loaded automatically. The /a switch also locks the setting files so that they cannot be read or modified.
/m	Start Word without running any AutoExec macros.
/mmacroname	Start Word and then run a specific macro. The /m switch also prevents Word from running any AutoExec macros.