10-28-2008, 11:07 AM

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum... just wondering why there is a folder titled Microsoft User Data in my documents. It seems that a new one is created every time I open word. I really don't want it there. Can I just delete the folders each time they come up, or do I have to keep them? And if I have to keep them, can I put them somewhere else so they aren't right in the middle of my important documents (I just don't like the way it looks!)?


Thanks so much for any help!!

10-28-2008, 11:28 AM

This is where all your Microsoft Office settings are stored. If you use Entourage, all your emails are also stored here.

Word > Preferences > File Locations may allow you to change this. I have thousands of emails stored in there, so it isn't practical for me to test this.

Hope this helps.

10-28-2008, 01:08 PM

Thank you very much for your reply. If I am able to change where the user data goes, will it still create a new folder each time I open word? I already have three for some reason, and it is just very cluttered! I would think that it should file into one folder only....

Thanks again for any help anyone can provide!!

10-28-2008, 01:19 PM

You have three Microsoft User Data folders?

Tell us exactly what you did and exactly what the folders are called...

10-28-2008, 01:25 PM

If you change the location of that folder or remove it each time, you're going to wind up having to reinstall Office 2008. The User Data folder not only contains the Auto Recovery folder but also has all your identity information. And as the previous post pointed out, it contains the email data base for Entourage.

The User Data folder is updated each time you open an Office 2008 application, it just appears as if a new folder is being created. I recommend leaving that folder alone and learn to live with it. There are a myriad of folders throughout a Unix file system which may seem as if they're "cluttered" but most are not visible. It just so happens that the Microsoft User Data Folder gets stored in the documents folder and is visible.

Regards.

10-28-2008, 02:51 PM

I have 3 Microsoft User Data folders... one says it was created on Sept 10, one several days ago and one yesterday. I have just created one folder and I drag them each into the main folder once I see that they have been created. I will be fine just leaving them there, but I would prefer if I didn't have three and if they didn't keep showing up. Maybe I am doing something wrong if there should only be one folder.

Thank you for the advice... I definitely will not delete anything, but if anyone has any ideas why there are several User Data Folders...

10-28-2008, 03:25 PM

There should be just one User Data folder, in Documents as said. Just leave that one where it is, you can delete any others (unless you use Entourage for mail, in which case you may lose emails).

Just leave the one in Documents alone, it isn't doing any harm there, and will just be recreated if you open an office application at any time

10-28-2008, 10:08 PM

Sounds good... thank you all for the help :-)

02-22-2010, 06:20 PM

Its actually quite safe and easy-- simply move the Microsoft User Data folder into (username)>Library>Preferences. Microsoft office will automatically recognize this and will stop making copies of your user data.