Word slow to load

Microsoft Word is one of the popular text processing applications available. Though there are many alternate apps, Word is an ultimate document app due to universal use. However, slow performance of Microsoft Word is quite common on many computers due to various reasons. This may result in reduced productivity for business professionals and normal computer users. In this article let us explain how to fix slow Word when opening, typing and saving documents to speedup productivity.

Related: How to fix slow Microsoft Excel and speedup your productivity.

Fix Slow Microsoft Office Problems

Here are the fixes to solve the performance problem with Microsoft Word.

1. Deleting default template file
2. Disable graphics acceleration in Word settings
3. Use registry editor to disable graphics acceleration
4. Install updates
5. Update your OS
6. Reinstall Microsoft Office
7. Delete temporary files
8. Optimize the document
9. Open Word in safe mode
10. Check locked files
11. Disable add-ins

Method #1: Delete Normal.dot File

Microsoft Word uses template files to create documents. Normal.dot is the global template file that Word uses for creating a blank document file. This essentially means, the template file is always in use when Word is in use. Word also stores all style related settings, such as font size and font type in this template. So, problematic or corrupted ‘Normal.dot’ template can cause slow performance when opening or closing your documents.

An effective solution is to delete the Nomal.dot or Normal.dotm template file. You don’t need to worry about deleting this file as Word will recreate a fresh Normal.dot file when you open the application. However, it is a bit tricky task, since Normal.dot or Normal.dotm file is a hidden file. Therefore, you need to first enable the option in Windows to show hidden files. Then save all your open documents and close Microsoft Word.

The file location may be different depending upon your Windows version. Generally you can find the Normal.dot (Word 2007) or Normal.dotm (Word 2007/10) or Normal.dotx (Word 2013 and above) file in the following location:

C:UsersUsernameappdataMicrosoftTemplates

In Windows 10, you can look for the file in the below path:

C:UsersYour User NameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftTemplates

If you use Office on Mac, go to Finder and press “Command + Shift + G” to open “Go to folder” box. Type the following location and press enter key.

~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/

After locating the template file in your PC or Mac, simply delete it. Now, open Microsoft Word to create a new Normal.dot/dotm/dotx file. Check whether this helps to solve the slow processing issues in Microsoft Word.

Related: How to quickly insert dividers in Microsoft Word?

Method #2: Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

In some cases, when you type on a Word document, it will lag for few seconds or longer from the moment you press the key. This will badly affect your productivity by causing delay and diverting your concentration when doing important work. Newer Office versions use hardware graphics acceleration to speed up the performance. However, slow computers often have limited hardware resources, which make Word less responsive. Follow these steps to disable hardware acceleration in Word:

• Open Microsoft Word and create a blank document.
• Click “File” menu and choose “Options” in the left pane to go to backstage view.
• On the “Word Options” screen, choose “Advanced” in the left pane.
• Look for “Disable hardware graphics acceleration” option at the right pane under the “Display” section and enable it.
• Click the OK button to apply your changes.

Restart Microsoft Word and verify whether the problem has been resolved.

Method #3: Disable Hardware Acceleration in Registry Editor

If Microsoft Word still performs slowly, it may be a good idea to perform changes in the registry. Note that modifying registry is not recommended and you may not have access in the administered computers. If you have access to registry editor then backup your data and follow the below steps:

• Press “Win + R” keys to open Run prompt. Type the command “regedit” and hit enter. Alternatively, use Windows search box and type in “regedit” to open Registry Editor.
• Navigate to the entry HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0common.
• Note that 16.0 is the version of Microsoft Office 2016, your version could be different.
• Right click on the right pane select “New > Key” to create a new key under the “common” folder.

• Windows will create a key with the name as “New Key #1” with an option to edit. Type in “Graphics” for the name of the key.
• Click the newly created “Graphics” key and right click on the right pane. Select “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value” option.

• Type in “DisableHardwareAcceleration” as the name of the new DWORD value.
• Double click on the new DWORD and change its value from 0 to 1.

Close the registry editor and restart your computer. Check Word works smoother now.

Related: Fix slow Microsoft PowerPoint presentations.

Method #4: Install Latest Updates

If Microsoft Word seems to react poorly to any command for processing a task, you may need to look for updating to the latest service pack. The latest service pack may provide you with bug fixes and performance optimization. Microsoft releases service pack regularly, generally they are installed automatically if you have auto update enabled. Otherwise you need to check and update them manually. Often, by installing a new service pack, you can regain lost performance.

Note that Apple stopped supporting 32-bit applications from macOS Catalina. Hence the 32-bit Mac Word 2011 or 2016 apps will no more work on your Mac. Ensure to purchase Office 365 subscription to work with 64-bit compatible Office apps on your Mac.

Method #5: Update Your OS

Also ensure your Windows OS is getting automatic security updates to make sure that rest of the system is working properly. Microsoft updates Windows 10 automatically, however follow the below steps to check the status and manually update:

• Press “Win + I” keys to open Windows Settings app.
• Click on “Update & Security” section.
• Click on the “Check for updates” button to update your Windows 10 to the latest version.

If you have Mac, you can install the latest updates by following the below instructions:

• Go to “Apple menu” by clicking the Apple icon on top left corner of your Mac.
• Select “System Preferences…” and click on the “Software Update” option.
• Check any update is available and install the latest version.

Related: How to change embedded document name in Word?

Method #6: Reinstall Microsoft Office

If you use Microsoft Office regularly for creating complex documents, spreadsheets and presentations, there’s a possibility that it will become faulty or corrupted. You may remedy it easily by reinstalling Office package. Prepare your Microsoft Office DVD and product key to complete the re-installation process. Follow these steps to uninstall and re-install Office in Windows 10:

• Go to “Control Panel” and choose “Uninstall a program” under “Programs” section.
• Find Microsoft Office and click the “Change” button. Follow steps on the screen to remove the program.
• Use the installation disk or download from the Windows Store for re-installing again.

Note that Word 2000, 2002 and 2003 can be restored to original settings by choosing ‘”Detect and Repair” in the “Help” menu.

On Mac, you can simply drag the application file to trash bin and reinstall from the App Store.

Method #7: Delete “~.dot” or “~.doc” Files

When you open a document, Word will have a temporary file in the same folder indicated by the ~ (tilde) sign at the beginning. Generally, Word will delete them automatically when you save and close your document. however, if you accumulate lot of these temporary files, Word would become slow and sluggish. For example, if you zip the content when the document is open then the compressed folder will include the temporary file in addition to the original file. Follow these steps to cleanup the temporary files:

• Go to Windows Search box and type in ~*.dot.
• Hit enter and wait until you get all the files on your computer. Select all of them, right click and choose “Delete”.
• Repeat the process by typing in ~*.doc in the search box. Also select all of them, right click and choose “Delete”.
• You can also empty your Recycle Bin to save storage space on your PC.

Open Microsoft Word and make sure that the problem has been resolved

Method #8: Optimize Document Files

Often, less optimized document files cause slow performance. Check whether your document has plenty of embedded macros and remove any of them if possible. Many people also put high quality pictures with large resolution inside documents. You need to optimize the pictures by changing the dimension that matches the size of the page. You may also use Adobe Photoshop or Snagit to save these images in optimized format to reduce the file sizes without sacrificing the quality too much.

Method #9: Open Word in Safe Mode

One of the reasons for slow Word app is the corrupted documents. When you try to open corrupted document, Word will show a message like “Microsoft Word is not responding” indicating the problem. You can choose “Restart the program” option to cancel the current operation and try to reopen the file again.

If that does not help, then press “Win + R” keys and open Run Command box. Type “winword /safe” to open Word in safe mode. This will help you to speedup the document as Word will disable extensions and other unnecessary stuffs in safe mode. Sometimes, Word will also suggest to open a document in safe mode. Choose “Yes” to check whether the safe mode can help in improving the performance at least when processing that document.

Related: Fix slow Microsoft Outlook emails.

Method #10: Check File Lock

Some times people share the locked file in chat, emails or SharePoint. When you try to open locked file, Word will show you the “File in Use” warning and ask you to choose the action.

You may notice, slow response time in Word when you open and read locked documents. We recommend you to open the locked file in “Read Only” mode to open it faster. Otherwise, you can request the owner to share the file without edit lock.

Method #11: Disable Add-ins

If you use add-ins to enhance the functionalities then ensure to disable them when you have problem with Word.

• Go to “File > Options” menu in Word.
• Choose “Add-ins” to view all installed on your Word installation. you can click each add-in to check the function it does.
• Select the add-ins type from the “Manage” drop-down and click on “Go…” button.
• Uncheck the add-ins to disable them.

Check whether this helps to resolve your problems. You can enable the add-ins back any time when needed.

Conclusion

Microsoft Word is almost an essential utility in office workers and many user’s daily life. So when you experience slow response, typing delay or any other problem, it is a good idea to check all the above steps. This will ensure to fix the problems and focus on creating documents with improved productivity.

Did you experience Microsoft Office Excel or Word documents opening very slowly or may appear to stop responding (hang) when you open a file from a network location? This issue ” Word, Excel or PowerPoint application is loading slower ” mostly caused due to some installed add-ins that load with Word/Excel/PowerPoint.

Again if the Word/Excel sheet freezes while loading from a network shared location, then there is chances some problem with the network location that lost the connection during the time that your Office program is opening the file. That cause you need to check Network connectivity and perform these Network Troubleshooting steps.

If you are experiencing “Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint ” slow loading problem,  Word/Excel document files take a relatively long time to open, freezes when I try to exit here some solutions you may apply.

Note: If you notice Not only Ms office application other apps not responding on your System, Even Computer freezes Try these tips to Speedup Windows 10 PC performance.

Disable installed add-ins

As discussed Installed Add-ins are the most common reason for Word, Excel or PowerPoint application slow loading. If you have installed tens of add-ins from the Office Store, disabling unwanted add-ins, especially add-ins that load with Office applications, can significantly improve the load time of your Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications. lets Disable Installed Add-ins that may fix the problem for you.

Note: As we are facing a problem opening Word document, we need to start Word/Excel in safe mode to Disable Add-ins.

• Find the shortcut icon for your Office application.
• Press and hold the CTRL key and double-click the application shortcut.
• Click Yes when a window appears asking if you want to start the application in Safe Mode.
• Now from File menu, click Options. then Add-Ins.
• In the Manage list, click COM Add-Ins, and then click Go.

• Here If an add-in is listed in the COM Add-Ins dialog box, clear the add-in check box.
• And If more than one add-in is listed, clear only one add-in check box at a time. This procedure helps determine which add-in is causing the problem.
• Click OK to close the COM Add-Ins dialog box.
• On the File menu, click Exit.
• Now open Word document check this helps.

Note: To enable the add-in again, check the box next to it and then click on the OK button. You might need to restart the Word/Excel/PowerPoint to enable or disable the add-in.

Note: If Excel does not open when double-clicking an Excel file, Then open excel (or in safe mode)

1. File → Options
2. Go to Advanced → General
3. Make sure that Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) is not checked.

Repair MS Office application suite

This is another producer to determine the problem if MS office itself gets corrupted, missing files that cause other applications not to start properly even stuck opening. If Office application such as Word or Excel isn’t working correctly, Here how to repair MS office application.

1. On start, menu search Type control panel and select the desired option.
2. From Small icon view Open programs and features.
3. Right-click on installed office Application select change.
4. On the next screen select the radio button “Repair” and Continue to start the repair process.
5. This will take a long, to complete the process, After that restart windows and check Office applications working properly.

Check with Different User profile

Sometimes corrupted, user account profile causes Office applications not to start correctly, log in to the different user account and check this helps. If you don’t have another user on your PC, Here how to create a user account on windows 10.

• Open the command prompt as administrator.
• Type command net user [user name] /add
• To add the user on local group administrator use the command “net localgroud administrator [user name] /add“

• Log off from the current user account and login with the newly created user account.
• Open Word/excel document and check this helps.

Again for some users changing the Default printer from Control PanelHardware and SoundDevices and Printers help to resolve the issue.

For some other users Change the Print spooler service “manual” helps to fix the problem.

Did these solutions help to “Make Microsoft Office Word/Excel Load Faster“? let us know on the comments below, Also read

• MS Outlook not responding, Freezes frequently? Here 7 Working Solutions to Fix Outlook problems!
• Microsoft Office 2019 released for Windows and Mac! Here what new (Features)
• How To upgrade and Install Microsoft office professional plus 2016
• Microsoft Outlook Stuck on Loading Profile? Here how to fix it
• New Features And improvements of Microsoft office 2016 Professional Plus

One common problem faced on many computers is the slow launching or termination of MS Word.  This problem is usually due to a corrupted or problematic «Normal.dot» template. The «Normal.dot» template is the location where word saves all the default settings (e.g. font type, font size etc.) and it is used with every word file –blank or not- you open.

This tutorial fixes the following problem(s) of Word: Word is to slow to start, load documents or close.

To solve these problems find the word templates location folder and delete the «Normal.dot» (or «Normal.dotm» if you have Word 2007/2010) file. To do this follow these steps:

1. With your MS Word application closed, go to Start > Run

2. At the «Run command box» copy and paste one of the following commands according to your operating system version and then press OK

a. For Windows XP:

• %USERPROFILE%Application DataMicrosoftTemplates

b. For Windows Vista / Windows 7 /Windows 8 & Windows 10:

• %appdata%MicrosoftTemplates

2. Locate the file called «Normal.dot» if you have Word 2003, or the «Normal.dotm» file if you have Word 2007, 2010, 2013 or a later version of MS Office and delete it. Don’t worry about the deletion. Next time you open MS Word, a new, clean Normal Template (Normal.dot, Normal.dotm), will be created.

Now open MS Word and enjoy writing! *

* Additional help: If after performing the above, the Word is still slow when launching or closing then restore it to its default settings by following the steps below:

a. Close Word.
b. Open the Registry Editor. (To do that, at «Run» command box, type REGEDIT and press Enter.)
c. At Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry location according the installed Word (Office) version:

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Word 2007 — and now Word 2010 — on my Vista laptop has often been very slow to load a document and to respond to a document command (like Save). I’ve been blaming Vista…

But when I started to edit a 300+ page Word 2010 document on my Vista laptop, the unresponsiveness was going to be a huge productivity drain. So off to Google to see if there was an answer to this problem. And there is! And it’s not related to Vista at all, but to how a Word document interacts with the default printer. If the default printer is a networked printer, then there can be response issues.

In my case, the default printer is not only a networked printer, but when I opened this 300+ page document, the printer was turned off (it was a Sunday and I don’t use the printer all the time, especially on weekends).

After following the advice of people in this forum thread, I changed my default printer on the Vista laptop to Adobe PDF (Microsoft EPS works well too, I believe). And guess what? The document responded beautifully! No more achingly long Not responding messages in the Word 2010 title bar; no more watching the ‘spinning wheel of death’ (as I like to call it) while waiting and waiting for the Word document to respond because it was trying to talk to my network printer.

Brilliant.

But I have to question WHY Microsoft still ties things like Word documents so closely to the default printer. Most of us have many ‘printers’ listed these days — many of which aren’t even printers, but instead are printer drivers. If a network printer is set as the default and it can’t find it, then why don’t we get a message to tell us to change to another printer driver so we can work in a fully responsive document?

[Link last checked April 2011]

HELP! Every time I open Word takes several seconds, and when opening documents again it takes its time. It even has changed to (not responding) status while opening a two pages document. It also takes too long when switching through opened documents.

I have all the updates, SP1 and everything that is available.

The computer I have is brand new, AMD Turion processor with 2 GB in RAM.

I had this problem first with Windows XP and Word 2007. I restored all the system with the factory settings and installed Windows vista and the problem is still there.

One more thing, I have 40 other computers with XP and Office 2007 and they show the same problem.

I have one more computer with XP and both Office 2003 and 2007 and it does not show the problem.

The problem is only in word, everything else seems right.

If anyone knows what is going on, I will appreciate your help.