How to repair word

If an Microsoft 365 application such as Word or Excel isn’t working correctly, sometimes restarting it will fix the problem. If that doesn’t work, you can try repairing it. When you’re done, you might need to restart your computer.

Repair Office

The steps to access the repair tool vary depending on your operating system.

1. Right-click the Start button (lower-left corner), and select Apps and Features on the pop-up menu.

   

2. Select the Microsoft Office product you want to repair, and select Modify.

   Note: This will repair the entire Office suite even if it’s just one application you want to repair such as Word or Excel. If you have a standalone app installed, then search for that application by name.

3. Depending if your copy of Office is Click-to-run or MSI-based install, you’ll see the following options to proceed with the repair. Follow the steps for your installation type.

   Click-to-run

   In the window How would you like to repair your Office Programs, select Online Repair > Repair to make sure everything gets fixed. (The faster Quick Repair option is also available, but it only detects and then replaces corrupted files.)

   MSI-based

   In Change your installation, select Repair and then click Continue.

4. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the repair.

Running Repair didn’t help. Now what?

If running Repair didn’t help, use this tool to completely uninstall Microsoft 365 and then reinstall it.

1. Select the button below to download and install the Office uninstall support tool.

   Download

2. Follow the steps below to download the uninstall support tool according to your browser.

   Tip: The tool may take a few minutes to download and install. After completing the installation, the Uninstall Office products window will open.

   Edge or Chrome

   • In the lower-lower left corner right-click SetupProd_OffScrub.exe > Open.

     

   Edge (older) or Internet Explorer

   • At the bottom of the browser window, select Run to launch the SetupProd_OffScrub.exe.

     

   Firefox

   • In the pop-up window, select Save Fileand then from the upper-right browser window, select the downloads arrow > SetupProd_OffScrub.exe.

     

3. Select the version you want to uninstall, and then select Next.

4. Follow through the remaining screens and when prompted, restart your computer.

   After you restart your computer, the uninstall tool automatically re-opens to complete the final step of the uninstall process. Follow the remaining prompts.

5. Select the steps for the version of Office you want to install or reinstall. Close the uninstall tool.

   Microsoft 365 | Office 2021 | Office 2019 | Office 2016 | Office 2013 | Office 2010 | Office 2007

Quick Steps to Open and Repair a Corrupted Word 2016 File:

Step 1. Run EaseUS Word repair tool.

Step 2. Scan and repair corrupt, unreadable, won’t open Word 2016 file. 

Step 3. Preview and save the repaired Word 2016 document.

Have you ever had a troublesome case that Microsoft Word 2016 seems can’t open a .doc or .docx Word file? Are you having trouble opening a Word file as it says that «Word experienced an error trying to open the file» or «Word was unable to read this document? It may be corrupt»?

If you are experiencing the same issues on Windows PC, check out and find the right way to fix Word 2016 won’t open or unreadable issues on this page.

Related: Fix Word Not Opening on Mac

How Do I Open and Repair a Corrupt Word 2016 Document

Here, in this part, we’ll show you how to determine whether it’s the Microsoft Word application crash or the Word file won’t open issue.

If you met one of the following listed errors while trying to open a Word 2016/2019 or 2013, even older versions, you are having a problematic Word document file on your Windows computer:

Error 1 — «Word experienced an error trying to open the file»

When this error pops up, you can try the given suggestions to open and repair Word document on your own:

All these methods are covered on this page in Part 1 with detailed tutorial steps.

Error 2 — «Word was unable to read this document. It may be corrupt.»

The other typical Word document corrupt symptom is that Word document becomes unreadable. The error also comes up with the following suggested fixes:

Error 3 — «Word cannot open the document»

This error usually comes when a user doesn’t access privileges.

Check out and follow any one of the listed fixes in the next part, you’ll be able to repair and open a Word file in Microsoft Word 2016/2019/2013, or even older versions successfully.

Part 1. 10 Fixes to Open and Repair Word 2016/2019

Applies to fix: Microsoft word won’t open, open an unreadable Word document, access and fix corrupt Word 2016 document, etc.

So how do you fix a corrupted Word document file? And do you know how to open and repair a corrupt Word 2016 when any one of the above cases occurs? Here, you’ll unveil * practical fixes that will help you effectively repair and fix corrupt Word 2016/2019, etc., on your own:

1. #1. Use EaseUS Word Repair Tool
2. #2. Unlock Word File
3. #3. Use Text Recovery Converter
4. #4. Insert the File in a New Document
5. #5. Open Corrupt Word in Draft Mode
6. #6. Make Sufficient Free Memory and Disk Space
7. #7. Use Open and Repair
8. #8. Change the Word Document Format
9. #9. Open the Document with Notepad
10. #10. Find and Recover from Temporary Autosave File

Note that these fixes also work to fix and repair corrupted documents in Microsoft Office Word 2013/2010/2007, etc. Also, the former fixes are listed, the more efficient it will be to repair the corrupt Word file.

Pick up one and follow to learn how to make your corrupt 2016 Word document openable and readable again:

Method 1. Use EaseUS Word Repair Tool

Works to: Open and repair Word 2016/2019 in only 3 steps.

Best for: All levels of Microsoft users, especially friendly for beginners.

When your Word 2016 or 2019 Word file won’t open, the most urgent thing is repairing the file and finding all precious content. To make things easy for you, EaseUS data recovery D&R team has come up with a straightforward method to help you out by adding a new algorithm into the latest version of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, which makes it a powerful Word repair tool.

Unlike other Word file repair tools, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will automatically repair the corrupted, damaged, or unreadable Word file for you during the scanning and previewing process.

Download this software and follow to learn how to repair your corrupt Word document files on your own:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, and then scan disk with corrupted documents. This software enables you to fix damaged Word, Excel, PPT, and PDF files in same steps. 

Step 2. EaseUS data recovery and repair tool will scan for all lost and corrupted files. You can find the target files by file type or type the file name in the search box. 

Step 3. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard can repair your damaged documents automatically. After file preview, you can click «Recover» to save the repaired Word, Excel, and PDF document files to a safe location.

Besides support opening and repairing corrupt Word 2016/2019 files, you may also apply this software to repair other types of files, for example, to repair excel files, repair damaged videos, images, etc.

Method 2. Unlock Word File

Works to: Open Word 2016/2019 that was altered by a third-party software during the transmission process.

Best for: Beginners

When you try to open a Word 2016/2019 file, an error message with «Word experienced an error trying to open the file…», it’s usually caused by third-party software while transferring or gaining permission to access the file.

You can try to unlock the file with the following steps:

Step 1. Right-click the problematic Word file and select «Properties».

Step 2. On the General tab, uncheck «Read-Only» > «OK».

Now, you should be able to open this Word file on your computer without any further issues.

Note that if you met this error on many Word documents, try the following steps:

Step 1. Copy and move all problematic Word documents to the same folder.

Step 2. Open Word 2016 and click «File» > «Options».

Step 3. Click «Trust Center» and then click «Trust Center Settings».

Step 4. Click «Trusted Locations» > «Add new location».

Step 5. Browse a new location to save those files, click «OK» > «OK» to complete.

Method 3. Use Text Recovery Converter

Works to: Fix Word document unreadable or won’t open issue.

Best for: Experienced Word 2016/2019 users.

Step 1. Open the Word 2016 application, go to File > Open.

Step 2. Click «Browse».

Step 3. Navigate to select the not opening Word 2016 file and select «Recover Text from Any File (*.*) from the dropdown menu.

Step 4. Click «Open» and wait patiently, the Word application will re-open and display your Word 2016 document content.

Step 5. Once you see the file content, we suggest you copy and content and save it as a new file in case of further issues.

Method 4. Insert the File in a New Document

Works to: Open a not opening Word document.

Best for: Beginners and experienced Word users.

Step 1. Open Word 2016 application and create a blank new Word document.

Step 2. On the menu bar, go to the Insert tab, click «Insert Object», and select «Text from File».

Step 3. In the Insert File box, locate and select the not opening, corrupt or damaged Word file, and select «Insert».

Step 4. Wait for the application to open and read the corrupt Word 2016 document content.

You may also copy and save the content to a new blank document.

Method 5. Use Open and Repair

Works to: Open and repair corrupt Word file in 2016/2019/2013, etc.

Best for: Beginners and experienced Word users.

Step 1. Open the Word 2016 application, go to «File» > «Open» > «Browse».

Step 2. Go to the location or folder where your problematic Word document is saved, and select the corrupted Word file.

Step 3. Click the dropdown arrow next to Open, and select «Open and Repair».

Wait for the process to complete, when you can see your Word content, copy and save the content to a new file.

Method 6. Open Corrupt Word in Draft Mode

Works to: Open a not opening Word file in 2016/2019/2013, etc.

Best for: Experienced and professional users.

Step 1. Open the Word application, go to the View tab, select «Draft» in the Views group.

Step 2. Select «File» > «Options» > «Advanced».

Step 3. In the Show document content section, select «Use draft font in Draft and Outline views» and «Show picture placeholders».

Step 4. Go to the Display section, uncheck «Update automatic links at open», select «OK» and close Word.

Step 5. Restart the Word application, go to «File» > «Open».

Step 6. Select the damaged or not opening Word 2016 file, then select «Open».

Method 7. Change the Word Document Format

Works to: Open and save a not opening or unreadable Word file in other formats.

Best for: All levels of Word users.

Step 1. Start Word 2016 application and go to «File» > «Open».

Step 2. Select the unreadable or corrupt Word document and select «Open».

Step 3. Go to «File» > «Save as» > Select «Browse».

Step 4. In the Save as file type list, select «Rich Text Format (*.rtf)».

Step 5. Select «Save». Then close Word.

Step 6. After this, you can double-click to open the RTF file and check out your Word 2016 document content.

If the file opens and your file content is safely saved in the file, you can repeat the above steps to save the file as a Word document in .doc or .docx file.

Method 8. Open the Document with Notepad

Works to: Open a not opening or damaged Word file in Notepad.

Best for: All levels of Word users.

Step 1. Open the folder where you saved the damaged Word document in File Explorer.

Step 2. Right-click the damaged Word 2016 file and select «Open with».

Step 3. Select «Notepad» as the tool to open Word.

Step 4. Wait for the Notepad to open the Word document.

Method 9. Make Sufficient Free Memory and Disk Space

Works to: Open a not opening Word file caused by insufficient memory and disk space.

Best for: Experienced and professional users.

Sometimes, when the memory and disk space is insufficient, Windows operating system will not allow the Word application to open a file or even create a new document. So the best way is to increase memory and disk space.

Fortunately, there are many ways that can work to increase memory and disk space on your computer. Some of them are easy, but some are not.

For a more detailed guide, please refer to: Five Fixes for «There is not enough memory or disk space to run Word» Error.

Method 10. Find and Recover from Temporary Autosave File

Works to: Alternative way to open or repair a not opening/damaged Word file from Temporary Autosave File.

Best for: All levels of Word 2016/2019, etc., users.

The last efficient way you can try is to open the Temporary Autosave File folder and find the temp file of the not opening or damaged Word file.

Here are the steps:

Step 1. Open Word 2016 application and go to «File».

Step 2. Click «Manage Document» and select «Recover Unsaved Documents» from the dropdown list.

Step 3. Check and select the temporary files of your problematic Word document saved with .asd extension.

Step 4. Wait for Word application to open the recovered Word document and click «Save As» to save it as a new document.

Part 2. How to Open and Repair a Corrupt Word File on Mac

Applies to: Fix and repair a corrupt Word 2016/2019/2013 and even older versions of Word file on Mac.

Best for: All levels of Word and Mac users.

If you are having a similar issue of being unable to open a word document on Mac, you can apply the Mac version of EaseUS repair tool — Data Recovery Wizard for Mac for help.

It also works to help you repair a Word document that is corrupted on Mac in only 3 steps. What’s more, it even supports fixing corrupted Excel files, repairing corrupted MOV files on Mac.

Make sure you download the right version and follow the tutorial steps below to open and repair Word 2016 on your Mac computer:

Step 1. Select your disk

Select the disk location where you lost the corrupted files. Click the «Search for lost files» button.

Step 2. Scan for corrupted files

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected device and scan for lost Word/Excel documents, videos, PDF files, and photos on the left pane.

Step 3. Repair and recover corrupted files

In the scan results, select the files to preview. If the file is corrupted, the software will automatically repair the corrupted file, and then you can preview it. Then, click the «Recover» button to recover the repaired files.

In The End

On this page, we covered the symptoms that can help you identify if a Word file is corrupted or not opening. And we also collected 10 practical fixes to help you effectively open and repair Word document files in Microsoft Office 2016/2019, etc.

For a quick and secure way, EaseUS Word repair tool — Data Recovery Wizard is a must-have tool that you can’t miss. Besides fixing corrupted Word file, you may also use it to repair excel, videos, images, etc., with ease.

Further FAQs about Corrupted Word File Repair

1. How to define if it’s the Word application or the Word document corrupted?

On this page, we’ve listed the symptoms and error messages that may show up on your computer when a Word document is not opening or corrupted.

Here are some symptoms that you can apply to determine whether it is your Word application that crashed:

Error 1 — «Microsoft Word has stopped working»

If you see the error message that says“A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Please close the program», you will need to find methods to fix the crashed Word program.

You may also interest in: 8 Fixes for Microsoft Word Has Stopped Working.

Error 2 — «WINWORD.EXE — Application Error» or Error Code

If «The application was unable to start correctly (0x000142). Click OK to close this application» or similar error codes pop up while starting up Microsoft Word, you are having an issue on your Word application.

2. Where is open and repair in Word?

As we know that the Open and Repair option can fix corrupted Word document. So how to find it? You can follow this path to find it:

Open Word App > File > Open > Browse > Select the corrupted Word file > Besides Open, click the dropdown arrow to bring up «Open and Repair».

3. Why is my word document not opening?

Whether networked or stand-alone, documents may fail to open because the data file itself is corrupted or because the file is being loaded from a damaged disk. The key to getting data out of Word documents that won’t load is not to panic.

Searching and trying practical Word recovery and repair methods is your next move. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard with other 9 fixes are recommended on this page in Part 1 are ready to help. Just revert and pick up one to make your Word openable and work again.

Is this article up to date?

This post introduces some online tools to help you repair corrupted/damaged Word documents for free. Easy methods to help you recover deleted/lost Word files and backup files/folders are also provided. For more computer tools and help guides, you can visit MiniTool Software official website.

If you can’t open a Word file or meet a corruption error when opening the Word file with the Microsoft Word app, you can try some free Word repair tools to repair the corrupted/damaged Word document. In addition, if you want to recover your lost or deleted Word documents, you can try the best free data recovery software: MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Check the detailed information below.

1. https://word.recoverytoolbox.com/online/

This free online word file repair service helps you easily repair damaged Word documents.

You can click the Select File button on the website to select a corrupted Word file to upload. Enter your email address and click Next Step. It will automatically repair the Word file. You can download the recovered Word file to your computer after it finishes repairing it.

The repaired file is saved to a new file with a *.docx extension. You can then open the file with the Microsoft Word app again to see if it can open.

2. https://online.officerecovery.com/word/

To repair damaged Word files online, you can also try this free online Word repair service. It helps fix the Word file when it can’t be successfully opened in Microsoft Word or you see errors or warnings while opening it.

You can go to this website in your browser. Under the Data Recovery tab, you can click Choose File button to upload the corrupted Word file. Next, you can click the Secure Update and Repair button to let it fix the broken Word document.

The recovered data is saved into a new Word document. You can download the repaired file to your computer after the repair process.

3. https://onlinefile.repair/rtf

This free Microsoft Word recovery software can also analyze the file, extract and save the maximum of text from the damaged doc, docx, dotx, or rtf file. It can extract texts from all versions of Microsoft Word documents. Fix corrupted Word files with ASCII or Unicode encoding.

Go to this website and click the Select File button to select the corrupt Word (.doc/.docx) file, and type your email address to upload the file. It will start the file repair process instantly. At last, you can download the fixed (.docx) file to the local drive.

This online service helps fix various Microsoft Word errors:

• The document name or path is not valid.
• Word cannot open the document: users don’t have access privileges.
• Word was unable to read the document. It may be corrupt.
• “FileName.doc” file cannot be opened.
• The file is corrupted and cannot be opened.
• Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close.
• There is not enough memory or disk space to complete the operation.
• A file error has occurred.
• And more.

4. https://onlinefilerepair.com/word

You can also try this online file repair tool to repair corrupted Word documents online. It supports the recovery of various file types.

Go to its website, click the Select File button to select the source damaged Word file. Click the Email button to enter your email address. Click Next to let it repair the file for you. Preview the repaired file to see if it is satisfying. Download the repaired file after payment.

1. GetData Word Repair

You can download and install Word Repair software on your Windows computer and use it to repair your Word document. This program is designed to recover text from damaged or corrupt Word files that cannot open normally. It lets you preview the recoverable text and save it to a new Word file.

2. Wondershare Repairit

The File Repair feature in Wondeshare Repairit allows you to repair your corrupted or inaccessible Word, PDF, Excel, and PowerPoint files. It helps fix various kinds of file corruption, e.g. files not opening, distorted file layout or content, unreadable data, etc. It provides an easy fix option for text, images, font, header, footer, etc. in the Word file. It supports MS Word 2019, 2016, 2013, and earlier versions.

You can launch the program and add the corrupted Word file, click the Repair button to start repairing the file, then preview the file and save the file to the desired location.

3. Remo Repair Word

You can also use this program to repair corrupt Word documents easily. It creates a new good document copy while keeping the original file unchanged. It repairs and recovers text, formatting, hyperlinks from the corrupt DOC files. You can preview the recovered data once the repair process is finished and save it to a new Word file.

4. Stellar Repair for Word

Stellar Repair for Word is an easy-to-use free Word repair tool that helps you repair corrupted/unreadable Word (.doc, .docx) files without modifying the original text, images, fonts, etc. It allows you to repair multiple Word documents in a batch. It offers three repair options: Simple, Advance, and Raw Recovery. You can preview the recoverable Word document data before saving it. It supports Word documents in Word 2019 and earlier versions.

Possible Causes for Word File Corruption

• Virus/malware infection.
• Computer system crashes.
• File transfer issues.
• Word app crashes and other problems.
• The unexpected power loss of the device.
• Improper ejection of the USB device.
• And so on.

Other Tips to Fix a Corrupted Word File

Fix 1. Restart computer

If the Word document cannot open on your computer, you can restart your computer and try to open it again.

Fix 2. Use the Open and Repair feature

• Open Microsoft Word app.
• Click the File tab and click Open -> Browse. Go to the location where the damaged Word file is stored.
• Select the target file and click the down-arrow icon next to Open and choose Open and Repair. It will try to repair the problematic Word file automatically.

Fix 3. Start Word app with default settings

Press Windows + R, type winword.exe /a in the Run dialog, and press Enter.

Fix 4. Update MS Word app

• Open Microsoft Word app.
• Click the File tab and click Account.
• Click Update Options under Product Information. Click Update Now. If you don’t see the Update Now option, then you may need to choose Enable Updates first.

Alternatively, if you purchased Office from Microsoft Store, you can also open the Microsoft Store app and click the three-dot icon at the top-right corner and click Downloads and Updates -> Get Updates to update MS Word app.

Fix 5. Update Windows

Click Start -> Settings -> Update & Security -> Windows Update -> Check for updates to update Windows 10.

For more tips to repair damaged/corrupted Word documents, you can check the official help guide from Microsoft: How to troubleshoot damaged documents in Word.

How to Recover Deleted/Lost Word Files for Free

If you mistakenly deleted a needed Word file and empty the Recycle Bin, you can use a professional data recovery program to easily restore it.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery supplies secure data recovery services for Windows. It lets you recover any deleted or lost files, photos, videos, etc. from Windows PC or laptop, USB flash drive, SD/memory card, external hard drive, SSD, etc. This program helps you deal with various data loss situations. You can even use it to recover data from a formatted/corrupted hard drive or recover data when the PC won’t boot.

Download and install MiniTool Power Data Recovery on your PC or laptop and check how to recover deleted/lost Word documents below.

Free Download

• Launch MiniTool Power Data Recovery.
• On the main UI, choose a hard drive under Logical Drives and click Scan. If you don’t know the exact location, you can click the Devices tab and select the whole disk/drive and click Scan.
• Once it finishes the scan, you can check the scan result to find the target files, tick them and click the Save button to choose a new location to store the recovered files.

If you only want to scan for Word (.doc, .docx) files, you can click the Scan Settings icon in the left column on the main UI. Then choose Document and choose the Office Word document (*.doc, *.docx) file type to scan.

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Always Have a Backup for Important Word Files and Other Documents

In case the Word document is corrupted and cannot open, the best way is to always have a backup of the important files.

MiniTool ShadowMaker is a professional free PC backup program that helps you back up Windows data and system with ease.

This program lets you choose files and folders to back up to an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or network drive. It also supports schedule automatic backup and file sync. You can even choose the whole partition or the whole disk to back up.

You can also use it to create an image backup of your system and easily restore the system with the image backup when needed. Many other features are also included in this PC backup software.

Free Download

Clean and Free Video Repair Software for PC

If you can’t open a video file due to corruption issues, you can try a professional video repair tool to repair corrupted videos.

MiniTool Video Repair, a 100% clean and free video repair program for Windows, lets you repair any corrupted MP4/MOV/M4V videos. It also allows you to add a reference video to analyze and repair the severely damaged video. You can preview the repaired videos before you save them.

Free Download

Conclusion

This post teaches you how to repair corrupted Word documents for free. Some free (online) Word repair tools and other Word repair tips are provided for your reference. You can also find the tool to make SSD data recovery, SD card data recovery, external hard drive data recovery, and more.

MiniTool Software also provides MiniTool Partition Wizard, MiniTool MovieMaker, MiniTool Video Converter, and more software programs. You can try them. If you have any problems with using MiniTool Software programs, you can contact [email protected].