My word program will not open

Our solutions work for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Office 365

by Milan Stanojevic

Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he… read more


Updated on October 31, 2022

  • If your Microsoft Office files aren’t opening, you have the option to restore and repair them.
  • Alternatively, you can get your Word, Excel of PowerPoint file to open using the Task Manager or entering Safe Mode.

windows-10-word microsoft office not opening

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Windows 10 users have reported an issue regarding Microsoft Office versions 2010 and 2013, where products like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint will not open and return no error or prompt.

In the reports submitted by Windows 10 users, Microsoft’s Office suite worked fine for a period of time, and for no apparent reason, the shortcuts of the different Office components stopped launching the program.

Microsoft Office didn’t return any error or give any prompt when this issue presented itself. But, by following the steps below, let’s hope that you will be able to solve your problems.

Why is my Office 365 not opening?

Sometimes the applications might encounter bugs, and this can result in We’re getting things ready Office error while trying to run certain apps.

Few users reported that MS Office shortcuts are missing from the Start Menu thus making them unable to run any of these apps.

Issues with your Microsoft account can also lead to various problems, one of them being There are problems with your account Office error.

How do I fix Microsoft Office not opening?

In this article

  • Why is my Office 365 not opening?
  • How do I fix Microsoft Office not opening?
  • 1. Use Task Manager
  • 2. Go to the source
  • 3. Use Safe Mode
  • 4. Use a Microsoft Office alternative
  • 5. Repair or Reinstall
  • 6. Install Windows updates
  • 7. Uninstall Windows updates
  • 8. Disable Add-Ins
  • 9. Make sure Office is activated
  • 10. Remove Word Registry Keys
  • 11. Remove old printer drivers

1. Use Task Manager

fix-office-not-opening-windows-8 (2)

If you’ve tried to open Microsoft Office Word (for example) from your Windows 10 computer or laptop and it didn’t do anything, try opening the Task Manager.

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc or right-click on the Taskbar and select Task Manager and take a look either through the opened apps or under the Details tab, where you will find it as WINWORD.EXE.

If you see the process there, this means that Windows 10 thinks the program is open and will not do anything about it. In this case, try to create a new document and right-click it, and select Edit.

In some cases, this method has proven useful and might help you in a tight spot.

2. Go to the source

If your Microsoft Office shortcuts don’t do anything when you try to launch them, then there might be an issue of communication between the shortcut itself and the actual executable it should open.

Depending on what Office version you’ve installed, you should find them in one of these locations:

  • C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice14
  • C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficeOffice14

Try launching the tool you need from here, if it works, then your shortcut was to blame. Create a new shortcut for the Office components you use and replace the faulty ones.

3. Use Safe Mode

Starting an Office product in Safe Mode is pretty simple, as it was in previous Windows versions.

Just open the Run utility (Windows key + R) and type in the name of the product you want to follow by /safe.

For example, if you wish to open Microsoft Excel in Safe Mode, type in excel /safe.

4. Use a Microsoft Office alternative

In case you need to sidestep this Office issue, it might be useful for you to consider another document management suite.

WPS Office Suite is a legitimate alternative for Microsoft Office due to the effective management of documents across multiple devices. You can thus edit and manage your files on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, or iOS.

There are enough Office apps on the market capable to provide extra value. Hence, this alternative provides Writer, Spreadsheet, or Presentation document tools.

Plus, it supports 47 file formats and it’s available in many languages out there.

⇒ Get WPS Office

5. Repair or Reinstall

1. Press the Windows key and type apps in the search box, then click the Apps & features result.

apps-features microsoft office not opening

2. Here, type office inside the search bar, then click the Microsoft Office result.

advanced-office microsoft office not opening

Some PC issues are hard to tackle, especially when it comes to missing or corrupted system files and repositories of your Windows.
Be sure to use a dedicated tool, such as Fortect, which will scan and replace your broken files with their fresh versions from its repository.

3. Click on Advanced options.

4. Scroll down, then click the Repair button. By using this option, your app’s data won’t be deleted, but the app’s files will be checked for any damage or corruption.

repair-app-office microsoft office not opening

5. Alternatively, you can use the Reset button in case repairing the app didn’t work. In this case, your app data will be lost as well.

reset-office microsoft office not opening

The built-in Reset option for Microsoft Office will uninstall and reinstall the application, thus fixing the Microsoft Office not opening issue.

You can choose to fully reset the app or merely repair it, thus preserving your app data for later use. Choose the appropriate option according to your needs.

6. Install Windows updates

Microsoft regularly releases updates for Microsoft Office (and other in-house features and programs) through Windows Update.

So, if your current version of Office is disrupted in some way, there’s a chance a new update will fix it. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be an Office update.

Maybe some other features installed on your computer are interfering with Office, preventing you from accessing it. In both cases, installing fresh updates can resolve the problem.

To install the latest updates on your computer, simply go to Settings > Update & Security, and check for updates.

If you’re having issues opening the Setting app, take a look at this article to solve the issue.

7. Uninstall Windows updates

  1. Go to Settings. Now, go to Updates & Security, followed by Windows Update.
  2. Go to Update history > Uninstall updates.
  3. Now, find the latest Office update installed on your computer (you can sort updates by date), right-click it, and go to Uninstall.
  4. Restart your computer.

Now, let’s do the total opposite of the previous solution. If the problem started to manifest after you’ve updated your Office suite, then you can easily uninstall the latest updates and see if this fixes your problem.

8. Disable Add-Ins

disable Add-Ins
  1. Open the troublesome app.
  2. Go to File > Options.
  3. Click Add-Ins, and then disable all add-ins.
  4. Restart the program, and run it without any add-ins enabled.

Sometimes, damaged add-ins may block your Word/Excel/PowerPoint from opening any document.

Since you can’t know for sure which add-in causes the problem, we recommend uninstalling all of them and then installing one by one again.

Read more about this topic

  • FIX: Microsoft Publisher won’t open on Windows 10
  • The file couldn’t open in Protected View [Excel, Word]
  • Outlook keeps asking for your password? Here’s the fix

That way, you’ll be able to find out which one causes problems. The task is time-consuming, but you don’t really have too many choices.

9. Make sure Office is activated

make sure Office is activated

If your copy of Microsoft Office Suite is not genuine, you won’t be able to open any Office app. Technically, you’ll be able to open any program normally, but you can’t do anything with it.

You can’t create new documents, or open and edit existing documents. It’s just an empty shell. So, make sure your Office is properly activated, and try to run in once again.

10. Remove Word Registry Keys

Registry Editor
  1. Go to Search, type regedit, and open Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to one of the following paths:
    • Word 2002: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice10.0WordData
    • Microsoft Word 2003: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0WordData
    • Word 2007: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice12.0WordData
    • Word 2010: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice14.0WordData
    • Microsoft Word 2013: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice15.0Word
    • Word 2016: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0Word
  3. Now, just click on the Data key, and delete it.
  4. Restart your computer.

If you specifically have problems with opening Word, we’ll try to delete some registry keys. Hopefully, the program will work after that.

11. Remove old printer drivers

And finally, some users have also reported that having old printer drivers installed on your Windows 10 PC prevents Microsoft Office from working. You have to remove your old printer drivers and install up-to-date ones.

Alternatively, you can use dedicated uninstaller software to automatically remove old printer drivers from your PC.

Third-party uninstaller software can scan your PC for any leftover files related to your specific app and permanently remove them.

After you finish removing your old drivers, check to see if the problem persists.

That’s about it. We certainly hope at least one of these solutions helped you resolve the problem with Microsoft Office.

Keep in mind that this problem mainly occurs with Microsoft Word. However, we’ve detailed solutions that apply to all Office programs, nevertheless:

  • Microsoft Word not opening
    • There are times when trying to open any Word document leads to the same result: you just cannot get passed the opening blue box.
  • Word documents not opening
    • Users often complain that double-clicking a Word document (.doc or .docx) is useless. They cannot open a Word file or the file icon is blank.
  • Microsoft Office won’t open on Windows 10
    • Even more, you may face the unfortunate situation of having Office completely unable to open. Apply the above solutions and confirm the one that’s successful in your case.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, just let us know in the comments down below.

Still experiencing issues?

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Anisha Rawat

Read time 8 minutes

Imagine! You have put all your efforts and time into writing a great speech for an important event or a major meeting with the clients. But just a few minutes before the event, Microsoft Word shows you an error saying, “Word file won’t open.” Yes! This imaginary situation could easily become a reality for anyone, even you.

Microsoft Word continues to be the most used and reliable text processor developed by Microsoft way back in 1983 and includes various additional features like spell checkers, templates, layouts, and image formats. But it can also show an error ‘Word file won’t open.’ This error usually occurs when the user tries to open a Word document (initially created in an older version of the Word application) in the latest version. However, it could also take place due to corruption in the Word document.

Check the ‘Trust Center’ settings-

The Trust Centre settings of the Microsoft programs allow you to customize the privacy and security settings. With these settings, you can share the Word document with other users and even restrict some information. Disable the protected view settings; it can also resolve and open corrupt word DOC and DOCX files to fix the issue where the Word file would not open.

Change “Component Security” Settings

Sometimes Windows security levels prohibit users from opening the Word file. In such a situation, the user needs to set the “Component Security” settings to the default option.
Step 1- Go to the search box and type “dcomcnfg” and press the Enter key.
A new window will appear.
Step 2- Now select “Component Services” from the left pane.
Step 3- In the middle pane, go to the “Computers” and double-click over it to expand.
Step 4- Now go to the “My Computer” icon. Right-click over it and select “Properties.”
Step 5- Lastly, navigate to the “Default Properties” tab.
Step 6- Now, in the “Default Distributed Com Communication Properties,” set the “Default Authentication Level” to the Default option from the dropdown menu.
Step 7- Also set the “Impersonation level” from the to “Identify” from the Default impersonation level
Step 8- Finally, click the “Ok” button.

Utilize the ‘Open and Repair’ feature-

There is a chance that the Word file is damaged which is preventing it from opening in its usual way. But the ‘Open and Repair’ command in Word might be able to repair and recover the Word file. This feature can also Solved – A File Error has occurred in MS Word.

Convert Word file to a new format-

One of the reasons behind the issue ‘Word file won’t open’ could be the format of the document. The format could not be well compatible with a few elements of the Word file. In this case, converting the Word file to a different format could open prospects for the latest and additional features.

Change the Word file into a new format using this procedure-

Insert the document into a new one-

Any file can be inserted into a new Word document. The file that won’t open can be easily inserted into a new document, and it becomes part of it which can resolve the not opening issue. However, inserting a document leads to increasing the file size of the new Word document.
To insert the file, follow these steps-

Repair Word files using a professional approach-

If none of the methods help you to fix the ‘Word file won’t open issue, it can be concluded that the document has been severely corrupted. Repairing a corrupted file without losing any information is a critical task that needs a professional tool. Kernel for Word Repair is one such tool that can flawlessly complete the task in a jiffy. It has the ability to recover any Word file without any limitation of file size, number of files, and degree of corruption.

Follow these easy steps to repair the Word file-

Conclusion

Microsoft Word can work perfectly but suddenly display an error saying, “Word file won’t open.” However, certainly, there are methods to resolve this issue since it is a commonly used application for any type of work. There exist some ways within the Word application to fix the Word file won’t open error, including changing the Trust Center Settings, using the Open and Repair command and inserting the Word file into a new document. It can also be resolved by converting it into a new Word document format. But there is a high possibility that the Word file has gone completely corrupt. In such a situation, using a premium tool like this tool is recommended.

More Information

  • How to Repair Virus Infected MS Word Files?
  • How to Fix the “Document Template is not Valid” Error in MS Word?
  • Fixed: “The file is Corrupted and Cannot be Opened in Word”
  • 4 Methods to Recover MS Word Documents

Download PC Repair Tool to quickly find & fix Windows errors automatically

Microsoft has published an article that describes how to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Microsoft Office Word. The methods that are described can help you determine the cause of a problem with Word when you cannot identify the problem by another method.

Microsoft Word will not open

You may have to try one or more of these suggested troubleshooting steps and after every try, see if your Word starts and runs correctly. Before you proceed, create a system restore point first.

1. Delete the Word Data registry key

Open regedit and locate the following registry subkey, as appropriate for the version of Word that you are running:

For instance-

  • Word 2021/19/16: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0WordData
  • Word 2010: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice14.0WordData
  • Word 2007: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice12.0WordData
  • Word 2003: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0WordData
  • Word 2002: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoft Office10.0WordData

Similarly, check the path for your version of Office.

Click Data, and then click Export on the File menu. Name the file Wddata.reg, and then save the file to the desktop.

Click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes. Exit Registry Editor.

If Word starts and works correctly, great! If not, restore the original backed-up Word Data registry key Wddata.reg, by double-clicking on it.

Related: Microsoft Word has stopped working

2. Delete the Word Options registry key

To delete the Word Options registry key, open Registry Editor and locate the following registry subkey, as appropriate for the version of Word that you are running:

  • Word 2021/19/16: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0WordOptions
  • Word 2010: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice14.0WordOptions
  • Word 2007: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice12.0WordOptions
  • Word 2003: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0WordOptions
  • Word 2002: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice10.0WordOptions

Click Options, and then click Export on the File menu. Name the file Wdoptn.reg, and then save the file to the desktop.

Click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes. Exit Registry Editor.

If Word starts and works correctly, you have resolved the problem. The problem was a damaged Word Options registry key. If the problem is not resolved, restore the original Wdoptn.reg Word Options registry key.

3. Other troubleshooting suggestions

  • Disable the Startup folder add-ins
  • Delete the COM add-ins registry keys
  • Determine which COM add-in program is causing the problem
  • Rename the Normal.dot or Normal.dotm global template file

If nothing helps, repairing your Office installation is an option you may want to consider.

Read next: Microsoft Word keeps crashing.

Ezoic

Anand Khanse is the Admin of TheWindowsClub.com, a 10-year Microsoft MVP (2006-16) & a Windows Insider MVP (2016-2022). Please read the entire post & the comments first, create a System Restore Point before making any changes to your system & be careful about any 3rd-party offers while installing freeware.

What to Do When Microsoft Word Files Won’t Open

How to recover your files and keep working

Updated on September 17, 2020

Occasionally, Windows files get damaged or corrupted. This makes it difficult to open these files in Microsoft Word. If this happens to you, the below guide can help you recover the files and continue working.

Instructions in this article apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, and Word 2007.

How to Repair Microsoft Word File Associations

Windows file associations can change inadvertently. Follow these steps to fix the issue:

  1. Open Windows File Explorer, navigate to the folder that contains the file, then right-click the file.

  2. Select Open With.

  3. Select Microsoft Word from the list of options. The next time you select the file, it will open correctly.

How to Open a Damaged Word File

If your file is damaged, use the Open and Repair feature to recover it.

  1. Open Word, select File > Open > Browse, then navigate to the file location. Don’t open the file from the Recent section.

    In Office 2013, select the location, then select Browse. In Office 2010, you don’t need to select Browse.

  2. Select the file you want, select the Open drop-down arrow, then choose Open and Repair.

How to Avoid File Corruption

Files typically become corrupted when a computer crashes or loses power. If this happens, open a previous version of the file if you’ve turned on the AutoRecover feature in the Word preferences.

File corruption also occurs when the file is stored on a USB device that’s disconnected while it’s open in Windows. If the device’s activity light is flashing, wait a few seconds after it quits blinking before removing it. If it doesn’t stop, go to the Windows taskbar and select the Safely Remove Hardware icon.

Additionally, in Microsoft 365, store files on OneDrive and use the AutoSave feature as an extra layer of protection.

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Microsoft Office is used widely during daily work, but problems may occur while you’re using it. Microsoft Office won’t open (Word won’t open, Excel won’t open, PowerPoint won’t open) is a common issue that many users have ever met. MiniTool summarizes some useful solutions for you to fix

My Microsoft Word Won’t Open

Have ever met the Microsoft Word won’t open problem? It has been proved to occur on many people’s computers (running Windows operating systems or macOS). If you search online, you’ll find many users said that their Microsoft Word will not open by double-clicking or any other ways they use usually to try to open a Word document.

How to fix it when your Microsoft Word stopped working suddenly?

Common Error Messages for Microsoft Word Not Opening

Why won’t Microsoft Word open? To be honest, there are a lot of reasons for causing it. Therefore, users will receive different error messages when they find Word not opening.

Error message 1:

Word experienced an error trying to open the file.

Try these suggestions.

* Check the file permissions for the document or drive.

* Make sure there is sufficient free memory and disk space.

* Open the file with the Text Recovery converter.

Word experienced an error trying to open the file.

Error message 2:

Word was unable to read this document. It may be corrupt.

Try one or more of the following:

* Open and Repair the file.

* Open the file with the Text Recovery converter.

Error message 3:

Sorry, something went wrong and Word was unable to start. (6)

The error code at the end may change.

Something went wrong

Error message 4:

We’re sorry. We can’t open Normal.dotm because we found a problem with its contents.

Can’t open Normal.dotm

Error message 5:

Word cannot open the existing file. (Normal.dotm)

Error message 6:

There is not enough memory or disk space to run Word.

Not enough memory or disk space

Full Fixes For There Is Not Enough Memory Or Disk Space.

Error message 7:

Word couldn’t start last time. Safe mode could help you troubleshoot the problem, but some features might not be available in this mode.

Do you want to start in safe mode?

Sometimes, you may even receive this message asking you to start Word in safe mode to troubleshoot the problem. On this occasion, you’d better click on the Yes button to let it open your Word in safe mode and then repair errors for you automatically.

Error message 8:

Something went wrong

We couldn’t start your program. Please try starting it again.

If it won’t start, try repairing Office from ‘Programs and Features’ in the Control Panel.

Error message 9:

Word Document Won’t Open in the Program You Expect

Also, you may see many other error messages when you can’t open Microsoft Word.

How to Fix Microsoft Word Won’t Open Windows 10 (15 Ways)

In this part, we’ll provide some solutions to help when you can’t open Word document Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7. They are also useful for Microsoft Office won’t open (Excel won’t open and PowerPoint won’t open).

  • Fix 1 ~ 5 are available if you can still start the Microsoft Word program when certain Word documents can’t be opened.
  • Fix 6 ~ 11 are useful when you can’t even open Word or Microsoft Office.
  • You should also give a shot to fix 12 ~ 15 when the above methods failed.

#1. Disable Word Add-Ins

Disable suspect Add-ins:

  1. Open Microsoft Word.
  2. Click File from the menu bar.
  3. Choose Options from its submenu.
  4. Select Add-ins from the left pane of the Power Options window.
  5. Disable all the suspect add-ins.
  6. Click OK to confirm.

Also, you can follow this tutorial to disable all Add-ins:

  1. Open Microsoft Word.
  2. Click File.
  3. Choose Options.
  4. Select Trust Center from the left pane.
  5. Click on the Trust Center Settings button in the right pane.
  6. Shift to Add-ins in the left pane of the Trust Center window.
  7. Check Disable all Application Add-ins (may impair functionality).
  8. Click OK.

Disable Add-ins

#2. Open and Repair in Word

  1. Open Microsoft Word.
  2. Select File from the menu bar.
  3. Choose Open from the submenu.
  4. Browse your drives and folders to select the target Word document that can’t open.
  5. Click on the down arrow next to the Open button in the pop-up Open window.
  6. Select Open and Repair from the drop-down list.

Note: You may need to select Browse between step 3 and step 4 in some Office versions.

Open and Repair

#3. Save the Document as Another Format

  1. Start the Word program.
  2. Select File from the menu bar.
  3. Choose Open.
  4. Browse your device to select the Word file that can’t start.
  5. Click Open.
  6. Select the File menu at the top.
  7. Choose Save as.
  8. Click on the down arrow to open a drop-down list of available file types.
  9. Select PDF (or another format).
  10. Click Save.
  11. Close Microsoft Word.

Reduce/recover PDF files:

  • How to reduce the PDF size on Mac (including Save as PDF in Mac Word)?
  • How to recover deleted/unsaved/corrupted PDF files?

Save as PDF

After that, you should repeat the same process to save it back to Word Document.

Start Word -> select File -> choose Open -> choose the target PDF file -> hit Open -> select File again -> choose Save as -> hit the down arrow -> select Word Document -> give it a new name -> click Save.

#4. Update Microsoft Word

  1. Start Word.
  2. Select File.
  3. Choose Account in the left pane.
  4. Look for the Office Updates section in the right pane.
  5. Click on the down arrow next to Update Options.
  6. Select Update Now from the drop-down list.
  7. Wait for the checking and updating process.
  8. Microsoft will inform you when the update is completed.

Note: Please select Enable updates if you can’t see the Update Now option in step 6.

Also, some people said they have fixed the Word document won’t open problem by updating the Windows system or uninstalling the latest update of Office.

How to update Windows:

  1. Press Windows+S to open Windows search.
  2. Type Windows update.
  3. Select Windows Update settings or Check for updates from the search result.
  4. Click on the Check for updates button and wait.

Windows update

How to uninstall the latest Office update:

  1. Repeat step 1 ~ 3 mentioned above.
  2. Click View update history from the right pane.
  3. Click Uninstall updates.
  4. Look for the latest Office update and select it.
  5. Click Uninstall and follow the instructions to finish the rest steps.
  6. Restart your computer.

Uninstall updates

#5. Recover Word Document

Another way you should try when your important Word document file is damaged/corrupted or deleted/lost is by using a powerful recovery tool to scan the drive that’s holding it. This method is very helpful especially when your Word keeps crashing.

Step 1: choose a reliable data recovery tool that won’t bring any damage to your system and drive. Let’s take MiniTool Power Data Recovery as an example.

Free Download

Step 2: download & install the recovery tool to the drive that doesn’t include any Word documents needing to be recovered.

Step 3: run the recovery tool and select This PC from the left pane if the target Word document is located on your computer’s hard drive.

Step 4: choose the target drive on the right pane and click on the Scan button at the bottom right. You can also double click on that drive directly to start a full scan.

Step 5: browse the scan results while the scan is in progress or completed. Check all the Word documents you want to recover.

Step 6: click on the Save button in the lower right corner. Then, select a storage path for the Word files and click OK.

Step 7: wait for the recovery process to complete. A window will show up to inform you when the files have been recovered.

How To Recover Unsaved Word Document (2020) — Ultimate Guide.

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#6. Open Word in Safe Mode

Opening Microsoft Office (including Word) in safe mode is an effective way to fix many program-related problems. Here are two ways to start Word in safe mode manually.

How to open Word in safe mode by pressing Ctrl:

  1. Locate the shortcut for Word on your computer desktop or look for it in the Start menu.
  2. Press and hold the Ctrl key.
  3. Start Word by clicking it from the Programs list or double-clicking on the shortcut on the PC desktop.
  4. Release the Ctrl key when you see a prompt window saying that “Word has detected that you are holding down the CTRL key. Do you want to start Word in safe mode?”.
  5. Click on the Yes button to start it in safe mode.

Start Word in safe mode

Besides, you can use the /safe command in Run to open Word or another Office application in safe mode.

How to start Word in safe mode by using /safe option:

  1. Open the Run dialog box in the way you like. The most direct way is pressing Windows+R on the keyboard.
  2. Type winword /safe into the textbox.
  3. Click on the OK button below or press Enter on the keyboard.

#7. Check WINWORD.EXE in Task Manager

  1. Open Task Manager by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Task Manager. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+Esc directly.
  2. Shift to the Details tab at the top.
  3. Scroll down to find the WINWORD.EXE process.
  4. If it’s here, it means your system thinks the program is opened, so it will do nothing about it.
  5. Please create a new Word document. Then, right-click on it and select Edit.

How to fix it if your taskbar is not working?

WINWORD.EXE

#8. Delete Microsoft Word Registry Keys

  1. Press Windows+S.
  2. Type regedit and hit Enter.
  3. Copy and paste ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice14.0WordData into the address bar of Registry Editor if you’re running Word 2010.
  4. Right-click on the Data key in the left pane.
  5. Select Delete from the menu.
  6. Restart your PC.

Delete Data key

Paths of other Word versions you should use in step 3:

  • Word 2002: ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice10.0WordData
  • Word 2003: ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice11.0WordData
  • Word 2007: ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice12.0WordData
  • Word 2013: ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice15.0Word
  • Word 2016: ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0Word

#9. Get More Disk Space

The commonest way to clear disk space is using Disk Cleanup.

  1. Press Windows+S.
  2. Type disk cleanup and press Enter.
  3. Choose a drive you want to clean up and hit click OK.
  4. Wait for the calculating process to finish.
  5. Check files you want to delete and click on the OK button at the bottom.
  6. Click Delete Files in the prompt window to confirm.

There are many other ways to clear disk space on your PC.

Delete Files

#10. Repair Microsoft Office Installation

  1. Press Windows+S.
  2. Type apps & features and hit Enter.
  3. Scroll down to click Programs and Features under Related settings.
  4. Browse the programs list and select Microsoft Office.
  5. Select Change from the menu at the top.
  6. Choose Repair in the pop-up window.
  7. Follow the on-screen introductions to finish the rest steps.

Change

#11. Rename Normal.dotm

If the Word global template – Normal.dotm – went wrong, all the Word files will be started in safe mode. In this case, you should rename Normal.dotm and then try to start Microsoft Word again. A new Normal.dotm file will be created automatically.

  1. Open File Explorer.
  2. Copy & past C:Users*AppDataRoamingMicrosoftTemplates into the address bar (* represents your username).
  3. Right-click on the Normal.dotm file and select Rename.
  4. Change the name to Normal.old and press Enter.

Please note:

  • Make sure the AppData folder is visible before step 2: select View -> click Options -> shift to View tab -> check Show hidden files, folders, and drives -> click OK.
  • Make sure the file extension is visible before step 3: View -> click Options -> shift to View tab -> uncheck Hide extensions for known file types -> click OK.

How to fix it when the Windows Explorer needs to be restarted?

Normal.dotm

You should also try the following methods when Microsoft Office won’t open Windows 10:

Fix 12: make sure your Microsoft Office is activated.

Fix 13: reconfigure the video settings or your PC.

Fix 14: change the default printer or update the printer driver.

Fix 15: open Word documents using another program.

How to Fix Microsoft Word Won’t Open Mac (4 Ways)

Microsoft Office also provides a version for Mac users to download. In this part, we’ll provide 4 useful solutions to help when users find Word not opening on Mac.

Solutions to Microsoft Word Won’t Open on Mac

Some people said they were trying to open a word document on the Mac computer but failed. There are many possible reasons why the Word won’t open. Whatever the cause, people are more concerned about how to fix the problem when Microsoft Word won’t open on Mac.

  1. Use “Repair”.
  2. Remove Word Preferences.
  3. Run “First Aid”.
  4. Recover Word files on Mac.

#1. Use the Repair Feature

  1. Start Microsoft Word on your Mac.
  2. Select File from the top menu bar.
  3. Choose Open.
  4. Browse the folders and files to select the Word document that won’t start.
  5. Click on the down arrow next to Open.
  6. Choose Repair from the drop-down list.
  7. Click on the OK button and the Word program will repair it for you.

Repair

#2. Remove Word Preferences

  1. Open Go to Folder.
  2. Type ~/Library and click on the Go button below.
  3. Look for the Preferences folder and open it.
  4. Look for a file named com.microsoft.Word.plist.
  5. Move this file to your desktop and open Microsoft Word again.

If this doesn’t work, please follow this:

  1. Move the file back to its original place.
  2. Close all Microsoft Office programs running on your Mac.
  3. Select Word from the menu bar.
  4. Choose Preferences from the drop-down list.
  5. Select File Locations.
  6. Select User templates.
  7. Look for the Normal.dotm file.
  8. Move it to the desktop.
  9. Open Word again.

#3. Run First Aid

  1. Open the Utilities folder on your Mac (the most direct way is pressing Shift+Command+U).
  2. Open Disk Utility and select the hard disk of your Mac in the left pane.
  3. Click on the First Aid button at the top of the right pane.
  4. Click Run and wait for the process to finish.
  5. Click Done and go to check whether Microsoft Word won’t open is fixed or not.

Disk Utility

#4. Recover Deleted/Lost Word on Mac

You need to find a data recovery tool that supports macOS to recover lost or deleted Word files.

  1. Get Stellar Data Recovery for Mac, jointly designed by MiniTool and Stellar for Mac file recovery.
  2. Launch the software and Select What To Recover.
  3. Click Next.
  4. Choose the location that contains lost Word files.
  5. Click on the Scan button and wait.
  6. Select the Word documents you want to recover and click Recover.
  7. Choose a safe storage destination and click Save.
  8. Wait for the recovery to complete automatically.

Free Download

Click here to know more about how to recover Mac Word files.

Scan Mac drive

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Conclusion

Microsoft Word won’t open is a common problem that bothers lots of Windows users and Mac users. Please don’t get panic when you find Word not opening. On the contrary, you should stay calm and carefully follow the solutions provided above to fix the problem on both Windows and Mac computers.

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