How to Close a Dialog Box in Word

If Word keeps saying a dialog box is open but you don’t see one, it is hidden behind another window. Press Alt+Tab to find it, then press Esc or select Cancel. To close a dialog box you can see, press Esc, or select Cancel or the X in its corner. Select OK instead to keep the choices you made in the box.

This guide covers Word for Windows in Microsoft 365 and recent desktop versions, with a short section for Mac. A dialog box is a small window that Word opens to ask a question or collect settings, such as Font, Paragraph, Page Setup or Save As. The keys below come from Microsoft’s Keyboard shortcuts in Windows and Keyboard shortcuts in Word pages.

How to Close a Dialog Box You Can See

Pick the button or key that matches what you want to happen to your changes.

Action	What it does
Esc	Cancels the command. Microsoft lists Esc as the key that dismisses a dialog box.
Cancel	Closes the box without applying what you changed in it.
X in the corner	Closes the box. It usually behaves like Cancel.
OK	Applies your choices and closes the box.
Close	Appears in boxes such as Find and Replace. It closes the box and leaves the work already done in place.

1. Look at the dialog box and decide whether you want to keep the settings in it.
2. To back out, press Esc or select Cancel. The box disappears and the document stays as it was.
3. To keep the settings, select OK. The box closes and Word applies your choices.
4. Click in the document and type a letter. If the letter appears, the dialog box is closed and Word is ready again.

Some boxes have other buttons, such as Insert, Print or Save. Those carry out the command and then close the box. Read any warning in the box before you answer it. A prompt that asks whether to save your changes is also a dialog box, and choosing not to save discards your edits.

If you closed a box with OK and do not like the result, press Ctrl+Z. It undoes the previous action. To get a box back, repeat the command that opened it. For example, Ctrl+D opens the Font dialog box and Ctrl+H opens Replace. The steps for applying small caps in Word and searching for a word in Word walk through those two boxes.

The Font dialog is one box where a single click can change every new document. For details, read about setting a default font in Microsoft Word.

Closing a dialog box with the keyboard only

Microsoft’s Windows shortcut list includes keys that work inside dialog windows. Press Tab to move forward through the options and Shift+Tab to move back. Press Spacebar to select or clear a check box. Press Alt plus the underlined letter on a button to choose that button. When you are done, press Esc to leave without changes.

Word also has Alt+F6. It moves from an open dialog box back to the document, for dialog boxes that support this. It is useful with a box such as Find and Replace that can stay open while you edit.

Warning: be careful with Alt+F4. It is the shortcut that closes the active window. If the main Word window is active instead of the dialog box, you start closing Word itself. Esc is the safer habit.

Dialog Box or Task Pane?

Not every panel in Word is a dialog box. A task pane is a panel that sits at the side of the Word window, such as Navigation, Styles, Clipboard or Editor. Esc may not close a task pane.

• With the mouse: select the X at the top of the pane.
• With the keyboard: Microsoft’s steps are to press F6 until the task pane is selected, press Ctrl+Spacebar, use the arrow keys to select Close, and press Enter.

How to Find a Hidden Dialog Box

Word may show a message that says you cannot close the document, or that Word cannot do something, because a dialog box is open. An Office MVP on Microsoft Q&A explains that this means a dialog box is open, probably behind the document. Word is waiting for an answer in a window you cannot see. Try these steps in order:

1. Select OK on the message.
2. Press Alt+Tab. Keep holding Alt and press Tab again to cycle through the open windows. Look for a small Word window, such as a save prompt or a Print box, and release the keys when it is highlighted.
3. If that does not show it, press Windows key+D to show the desktop. Then select the Word icon on the taskbar to bring Word back up. The hidden box often comes up with it.
4. Point to the Word icon on the taskbar. If Windows shows more than one preview, select the small one that is not your document.
5. When you see the box, press Esc or select Cancel, or answer the question it asks.

The hidden box comes to the front so you can close it. The message stops appearing and Word responds normally again.

If the dialog box is on another screen or off the screen

This can happen when you use two monitors, or after you unplug one. The box opens where you cannot see it.

1. Check every connected screen first.
2. Press Alt+Tab until the dialog box is the selected window.
3. Press Windows key+Shift+Left arrow or Windows key+Shift+Right arrow. These shortcuts move the active window to the monitor on the left or right.
4. If the box still does not appear, press Alt+Spacebar. This opens the menu for the active window. If that menu offers Move, choose it, press an arrow key, and then move the mouse to bring the box into view. Not every dialog box has this menu.
5. Close the box with Esc or Cancel.

If none of that works, plug the second monitor back in, close the box there, and unplug the monitor again.

If Word Is Completely Stuck

Use this only when the buttons do not respond and you cannot find any hidden box. First wait a minute or two. Word may be finishing a save or a print job, and the box may start working again by itself.

Warning: ending Word this way can lose changes you made since the last save. If the document window still responds, press Ctrl+S to save before you continue.

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Select Microsoft Word in the list of apps.
3. Select End task. Word closes completely, along with any stuck dialog box.
4. Open Word again and reopen your document.

Word starts fresh with no dialog box open. If you lost work, try to recover the unsaved Word document. For other ways to reach Task Manager, read how to open Task Manager.

To lower the risk next time, Microsoft’s crash protection article suggests saving files to OneDrive with AutoSave turned on. It also says to check File > Options > Save and make sure Save AutoRecover information every x minutes is selected.

If a Dialog Box Keeps Coming Back

A box that appears every time you open Word, or gets stuck again and again, may be caused by an add-in. An add-in is an extra tool installed into Word. Microsoft’s safe mode article says Office Safe Mode helps you identify an add-in or extension that may be causing a problem on startup.

1. Close Word.
2. Find the Word shortcut icon.
3. Press and hold Ctrl and double-click the shortcut.
4. Select Yes when a window asks if you want to start Word in Safe Mode.

You can also press Windows key+R, type winword /safe, and select OK.

Word opens in Office Safe Mode. A few things are limited while you are in it. For example, toolbar customizations are not loaded and preferences cannot be saved. If the dialog box does not appear now, an add-in is a likely cause.

If Word won’t start at all, even in Safe Mode, follow these fixes for when Microsoft Word won’t open.

Turn off the add-in

1. In Word, select File > Options > Add-ins.
2. At the bottom, open the Manage list, choose the add-in type (often COM Add-ins), and select Go.
3. Clear the check box next to an add-in and select OK. A COM add-in is inactive when its check box is cleared.
4. Close Word and open it normally. That also ends Safe Mode.
5. If the box is gone, you found the cause. If not, select the check box again and test the next add-in.

Add-ins from the Office Store are handled in a different place. Microsoft’s add-ins article says to select Home > Add-ins, open My Add-ins, right-click the add-in, and select Remove. On a work or school computer, your organization may control these settings, so some options can be missing or grayed out.

How to Close a Dialog Box in Word on a Mac

In Word for Mac, press Esc or select Cancel to back out, or select OK to apply your choices. If Word stops responding, press Option+Command+Esc, select Word, and click Force Quit, as described in Apple’s force quit instructions.

Troubleshooting

• Esc does nothing. Esc works on the active window. Click the dialog box, or use Alt+Tab to select it, and then press Esc.
• Cancel is grayed out. The box needs an answer first. Fill in the required field or pick one of the offered choices. If no button works at all, treat Word as stuck and use the Task Manager steps.
• There is no X or Cancel button. Look for Close, OK, Yes or No. A box with only OK is a message, and OK dismisses it.
• The message returns right after you select OK. The hidden box is still open. Go through the hidden dialog box steps again and check each monitor.
• The panel is at the side of the window and will not close with Esc. It is a task pane. Use the X at the top of the pane.
• The box shows up in Excel or other Office apps too. The cause is likely shared by Office, not one document. Try Safe Mode, then follow Microsoft’s Office repair steps.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Step

Press Esc first. If Word still complains about an open dialog box, use Alt+Tab to find it before you reach for Task Manager, and save your document as soon as Word responds again.