How can I restore the Save As file name automation?

[Pmmm]

In Word 2003, until recently I would see an auto-generated suggested filename
and extension when I selected File - Save As. This worked very well for me,
and I had been starting many of my documents with the data I wanted in the
filename upon Save As; then the suggested filename was usually the first line
of my document.

For some unknown reason, this function has been altered. There still is an
automated name suggestion, but it is always the name of a file I used quite a
while ago. I would like to be able to change this feature back to the way it
was.

Please, if you know how to do this, let me know. I have searched the
microsoft.com areas, and as usual I couldn't find an answer to my specific
question - or anything near it - usually several combinations of search
terms. I don't know what I would do without this forum! I have found many
answers here in the past.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The suggested filename in Word (all recent versions) is:

1. The content of the Title field on the Summary tab of File | Properties.
This can be filled in explicitly by the user; otherwise it is inherited from
the template.

2. If the Title field is empty, the first few words of the document, up to
the first punctuation mark or paragraph/line break.

In your case, it would appear that the filename of an old document is saved
in the Title property of the template on which your document is based. If
this is Normal.dot (that is, you created the document using the default New
button or by selecting Blank Document from the New or Templates dialog), see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/BlankDocNotBlank.htm for instructions on
finding and editing Normal.dot. If it is based on a different template,
that's the one you need to open and edit.