When I save Word documents as templates (dotx) in a SharePoint document library I noticed that they always open up as the template file (dotx) and not as a new Word document (docx). I expect that this happens because SharePoint simply opens up the document "as-is" - disregarding the logic which would normally create a docx document in offline mode. But strangely this works fine when opening the file in explorer view. Does anyone know if it is possible to use dotx files as intended in SharePoint? Was this behavior introduced when SharePoint 2007 was launched or was it perhaps included with a CU or SP?

The reason that SharePoint behaves this way is because it has it's own mechanisms for creating new documents from templates and managing the templates used. Therefore when you click to open a dotx file in a library it is assuming you just want to edit that template It is possible to use dotx files as your templates. The way to do it is not to store it as a regular document in the library. You have to make the .dotx file the template for that library, then when you press the "New" button in the library it will create a new .docx file from that .dotx file. To do this go to the library settings, and then go to the advanced settings page. You will then see options to set the path for the template or to edit the existing template. If you want to use multiple different templates in the one library you will need to allow the management of content types and then create a different content type for each template you want to use.

Hi What if I would really want a list with template files, which I can only open so that they automatically create a normal file? I wanted to put these in a document library but as this is not possible, what could be a workaround? Thanks

Hi Steven, Thanks for your reply (and thanks for the tip). Unfortunately my Windows Live email was not confirmed so I did not receive any alerts when you replied. Just happened to browse by and saw your reply...