Word .plist continues to rise from the dead

Sonoma 14.7.2. Most recent Office 365. I did add Word to the privacy settings. I logged out of Word. I logged back into Word. After...no apparent reason, Word now asks for permission when opening a file from the recents tab. (It also hangs for 30+ seconds when opening any .docx from the finder and/or clicking on the file when it opens, which is also great.) I've heard that I should delete the .plist. So I do that. Even empty the trash. And I open Word back up. And the recents is still there and the .plist is back from the dead. Nothing is solved and I cannot work on ANY FANFIC. Do you know how hard it is to get the ability mentally to write and then Word is all...lol no u. .plist you are NOT ASTARION. You are NOT A SEXY VAMPIRE. Please stay dead. :( Any ideas on what is happening?