This article is a consolidation of the following previously available article: 328167
Symptoms
When you start Microsoft Office Word, you may receive error messages that are similar to the following error messages:
run-time error.
subscript out of range.
Compile Error in hidden module module name.
Visual Basic Error — Object doesn’t support this property or method.
Cannot display the template add in template is not valid template name.
Word cannot open this document template template name.
module name cannot be found.
Command cannot be performed because a dialog box is open.
Cannot open this file file name.
The file cannot be opened.
Microsoft VisualBasic — The macros in this project are disabled.
The add-in template is not valid.
Cause
This behavior occurs because an add-in in one of the startup folders is not compatible with Word.
Workaround
To identify the add-in that may be causing the behavior, follow these steps:
-
Quit all Microsoft Office programs, including Word and Microsoft Outlook.
-
Open the following folder for depending on your version of Word.
For Microsoft Office Word 2010:
Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice14StartupFor Microsoft Office Word 2007:
Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice12StartupFor Microsoft Office Word 2003:
Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice11Startup For Microsoft Word 2002:
Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice10Startup For Microsoft Word 2000:
Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOfficeStartup
-
Move any files that are located in that folder to your desktop.
-
Open the following folder:
Documents and SettingsusernameApplication DataMicrosoftWordStartup
-
Move any files that are located in that folder to your desktop.
-
Restart Word.
You can also troubleshoot Word startup issues by using the Support Template. For more information about how to use the Support Template, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
820919 How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word 2003 or Word 2002
Need more help?
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You may get an error prompt displaying the error message Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid when you try to open a Word document or any other Office document on your Windows 11 or Windows 10 computer. This post provides the applicable solutions to this issue.
You’ll receive the following full error message when this issue is triggered on your system;
Microsoft Word
We’re sorry. We can’t open Document because we found a problem with Its contents.
Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid.
If you have encountered the Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid error message on your Windows 11/10 computer when opening a Microsoft Office document, you can try our recommended solutions below in no particular order and see if that helps you resolve the issue on your system.
- Check Task Manager
- Run AV scan on the Word document
- Open the Word document in Safe Mode
- Repair and Recover the corrupted Word document
Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved concerning each of the listed solutions
1] Check Task Manager
Among other reasons for the issue, the error can occur when you attempt to access a document written in a previous version of Microsoft Office, such as 2007 or 2003. Some affected users reported that what worked for them in resolving the Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid error on their Windows 11/10 computer was simply open Task Manager, switch to the Processes tab and end task for any WINWORD.EXE process. Once done, re-opened the problematic Word document – the document opened throwing the error prompt but with the repaired file. The final step was to exit the error prompt and click on the repaired file that appeared to the left side of the screen and then saved the file to another location on the local drive.
2] Run AV scan on the Word document
A corrupted Microsoft Office document could due virus/malware infection. So, you can scan the document using Microsoft Defender or any reputable third-party antivirus software to check if the file is malicious or not. Once the scan completes, see if the document can be opened now with all the contents intact. If so, then as a necessary precaution, you should run a full system AV scan.
3] Open the Word document in Safe Mode
A rogue addon or resource can potentially damage or corrupt your Word document. To rule out this possibility as a potential culprit, especially if you have recently installed an addon, you can open Word in Safe Mode and see if the problem you’re currently facing is resolved. If the issue is fixed, then you need to uninstall any addon you installed recently. But, if the issue persists, you can try the next solution.
4] Repair and Recover the corrupted Word document
This solution requires you to Repair and Recover the corrupted Word document. But, keep in mind that you may not be able to recover the document if the type of file corruption suggests that it was opened in Word when it was located on a USB Drive, or saved from Word directly to an external USB drive.
It’s best practice not to work with Word or any Office documents when they are located on a USB drive or save from Word directly to such a drive; doing so could cause catastrophic, unrecoverable corruption of the document. To forestall future occurrences whereby you may lose important documents, we recommend you always save a copy of your document to OneDrive.
Hope this post helps you!
Related:
- Word cannot open this file because it is larger than 512 Megabytes
- Word cannot open the file because the file format does not match the file extension
- Microsoft Office cannot open this file because the .zip archive file is an unsupported version
- Microsoft Office cannot open this file because there are problems with the contents.
How do I fix an invalid Word document?
To fix an invalid Word document on your Windows 11/10 PC, follow these steps to repair Word file by Repair option:
- Launch the Microsoft Word app in your system.
- Go to the file option and click to Open.
- Choose the damaged Word file and select the file.
- In below, click to the down arrow on the Open button.
- Here select Open and Repair option to repair Word files.
How do you fix the File is corrupted and cannot be opened Word?
To fix The file is corrupt and cannot be opened in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, you can try this suggestion:
- Launch the Office document on your computer.
- Head to the Files menu.
- Open the Trust Center > Trust Center settings.
- Click on Protected View.
- Now, uncheck all the checkboxes in the tab.
- Click OK and restart the Office.
Why is Word not letting me open a document?
There could be a number of reasons why Word isn’t opening a document on your computer. If Microsoft Word won’t open you can try repairing the Office installation. You can select the option Quick Repair or Online Repair to repair your Office programs.
Obinna has completed B.Tech in Information & Communication Technology. He has worked as a System Support Engineer, primarily on User Endpoint Administration, as well as a Technical Analyst, primarily on Server/System Administration. He also has experience as a Network and Communications Officer. He has been a Windows Insider MVP (2020) and currently owns and runs a Computer Clinic.
Despite some shortcomings, Microsoft Word is the most widely used word processing program among the competitors. For example, if you try to open an old file in the new Microsoft Office, it might fail to open. It can be due to version incompatibility, or the file might be corrupted.
The Microsoft Word file you’re trying to open might be damaged, and you will get an error message stating, The file is corrupt and cannot be opened. This is followed by the message, Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid. However, this article will provide you with methods for resolving this issue!
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| 1. Update Trust Center Settings |
|
| 2. Change Security Settings |
|
Symptoms — Microsoft Office Cannot Open This File
The error message Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid appears when you attempt to access a document written in a previous version of the software, such as 2007 or 2003.
Damaged File
It is common for this error message to appear after an update or when a problem arises during the saving process. If your computer loses power or crashes while you’re saving a file or while MS Word is writing to the disk, there’s a big chance that the file may get damaged.
Malfunctioning Storage or Malware
Most recent versions of Microsoft Word have reduced corruption by AutoSaving to a new place rather than saving on top of the currently opened document. Even if you follow all of the safety steps, you may still get these disappointing warnings indicating that a Word file has been corrupted or damaged.
The unexpected behavior might be linked to malfunctioning regions of your storage device in some instances. Additionally, malware threats may result in faulty Word files, mainly when the malware is so severe that it causes a system failure and tampers with the file.
To avoid this, make sure you back up your data regularly. You may get disappointed when you cannot view an important document. However, you shouldn’t be concerned about it too much since we will teach you how to fix damaged Word files in the next section.
Fix Microsoft Office Cannot Open This File Because Some Parts Are Missing or Invalid
Let’s look at two Word file repair procedures that you may use right now to get your files back in order and resolve this error that you are seeing. Among these methods, one requires updating Trust Center Settings, and the other involves modifying system configurations. Let’s proceed!
Method 1. Update Trust Center Settings
Recent versions of Microsoft Word have a stricter security policy regarding copied or downloaded files; thus, you should update your Trust Center settings to reflect this. You may have difficulties opening a Word document if you have enabled the Enabled Protected View options. You need to update the policy, which is something you already have. Here’s how it’s done.
Step 1. Open MS Word on your computer.
Step 2. Select «File» and then «Options» from the drop-down menu.
Step 3. Select «Trust Center» from the drop-down menu and hit the «trust Center settings» button.
Step 4. Select «Protected View» from the drop-down menu.
Step 5. Un-tick everything and hit the «OK» button to confirm your selection.
Step 6. Now try opening the document again after restarting Microsoft Word
Likely, everything went well, and you should now be able to access the document without seeing the error notice Microsoft office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid.”
Method 2. Change Component Security Settings
Modifying the Component Securityoptions in Microsoft Office is another approach to resolve the Microsoft Office error. If your document is stopped from launching by the Windows security level, you will need to reset the Component Security settings to their default values. Follow the simple steps below.
Step 1. Open the search bar, type dcomcnfg, and press the Enter key.
Step 2. A new window will appear. Choose «Component Services» from the menu.
Step 3. Double-click on the «Computers» folder on the main window of the screen.
Step 4. You should now view the «My Computer» icon. Right-click on it and pick «Properties» from the drop-down menu.
Step 5. Select the «Default Properties» option from the drop-down menu.
Step 6. Edit the «Default Distributed Properties» tab by selecting «Default» from the drop-down option under Default Distributed Com Communication Properties.
Step 7. Select the «OK» button and choose «Identity» from the Default impersonation level drop-down list.
How to Repair Corrupt Word Files with a File Repair Tool
If none of the previous approaches prove to be productive, we have created a Microsoft Office repair guide that uses the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to help you fix the problem. Hopefully, you’ll be able to discover how to repair documents and, in the end, restore your presumedly deleted data.
The tool may securely assist you in recovering files that have been damaged while also retaining the document’s formatting and style in the way it was created. There is no need to be concerned about compatibility. It may be used to recover Word documents generated in Word 2000 and earlier, including 2013. Since the support for this program is so clearly documented, you will appreciate the fact that you can get help quickly.
This easy-to-use tool can repair a word document without affecting any of its parts, such as photographs, fonts, initial text, links, headers, or footers, and it does not need the use of any other program to do this.
Since it is a free online tool that you may use to explore, it is highly recommended that you install it from its official site and get familiar with the software’s excellent features before purchasing it.
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.
Conclusion
Everything you need to know about how to fix Microsoft Office cannot open this file because some parts are missing or invalid has been provided to you in this article. This article also introduces the file repair tool as a third-party solution. Using this tool, you may fix damaged Microsoft Office documents. We hope our solutions are of great help to you. Have a good read!
There may be times when you start Microsoft Word you encounter the error: “Word cannot open this document template template name“. I have encountered other Word errors in the past, and while this error may not happen all too often, but when it does a similar problem can also produce other error messages when Word is started. The issue has to do with the compatibility of an add-in with Microsoft Word, and the steps below outline how to solve the problem.
As I mentioned above, the error is caused because an add-in is not compatible with Microsoft Word. To help find the troublesome add-in use the following steps:
Temporary Remove the Microsoft Word Add-ins
- Close all Microsoft Office applications that are currently running.
- Open the “Startup” folder for your version of Microsoft Office. The table below shows the location of the folder.
- Move all files that are in the “Startup” directory to another location on your hard drive.
- Next, open the following folder: “Documents and SettingsusernameApplication DataMicrosoftWordStartup” – replacing username with the name of your log in name.
- Move all files that are located in the above directory to another location on your hard drive.
- Restart Word to see if the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” error disappears. If it does, continue to the next section.
| Office Version | Startup Folder Location |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice14Startup |
| 2007 | Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice12Startup |
| 2003 | Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice11Startup |
| 2002 | Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice10Startup |
| 2000 | Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOfficeStartup |
Find the Add-in That Causes the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” Error
Once the add-ins have been removed, and the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” error has disappeared, it is time to find the add-in that is causing the problem. Use the following steps to find the problem add-in
- Close Microsoft Word.
- Begin to copy one file that you moved from one of the two “Startup” directories back to the proper “Startup” directory and restart Microsoft Word.
- After copying one file and restarting Word, if the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” reappears, then you found the problem add-in.
The above steps should help you to solve the problem of the error message “Word cannot open this document template template name” being displayed when Word is started.
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