I'm trying to find a way to check if there's any Word instance running in the background, and if so, close it/them.
Does anybody know how to do it?

Thanks very much for your help.

This will close all open instances.

'Set reference to Microsoft Word x.0 Library

Sub CloseWord()

    Dim WordApp As Word.Application

    Const ERR_APP_NOTRUNNING As Long = 429

    On Error Resume Next

    Set WordApp = GetObject(, "Word.Application")

    ' If no instances running, exit sub.
    If Err = ERR_APP_NOTRUNNING Then
        Exit Sub
    Else
        WordApp.Quit
        Set WordApp = Nothing
    End If

End Sub

HTH,

Bob

Another option is to just avoid getting multiple background instances running (one is OK as far as I'm concerned).

Here's a snippet I find handy:

On Error Resume Next
    ' Dim apWord As Word.Application ' declare here or higher in scope
    Set apWord = GetObject(, "Word.Application")
    If Err = 429 Then Set apWord = New Word.Application
On Error GoTo Local_Err
...
Local_exit:
    Set apWord = Nothing

This code will try to use a running instance and if it fails create one.

You can show your instance:
    apWord.ActiveWindow.Visible = True

Not sure how you can easily force it to the top using apWord - if someone knows please post here.

BTW if you use Quit you may kill a session being shared with the desktop.