Microsoft Word Freezing Everytime I Open It Mac

Mar 31,2020 • Filed to: Mac Recovery • Proven solutions

Oct 05, 2009 Every time I open a document on Microsoft Word for Mac 2008, it crashes. I've had this computer for over a month and the problem just started recently. I'm running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. I was instructed to go to the 'Preferences' folder and delete com.Microsoft.Word.plist. When I delete.

  • May 18, 2015  Trick 7: Delete the Word Data Registry key. If Microsoft word is not responding or it does not work properly you take up the following troubleshooting procedure suggested by Microsoft. Delete the Word Data Registry Key. Open the registry and spot the data word data registry subkey that corresponds to the version of your MS Office program.
  • Mar 06, 2020 My MAC Mini will totally freeze up, sort of. In other words, I can have 2 windows open, the first e.g. Is playing a Youtube video, upon opening a 2nd window, it freezes to the point where I can no longer do anything except reboot the computer manually because the CMD+OPT + Escape are not accessible.

“How to open Word on Mac? I have some important Word documents saved on my Mac, but every time I try to open them, the application crashes!”

This is a recent query posted on a forum by a concerned user about MS Word on Mac. Since MS Office is a third-party application on Mac, a lot of users struggle with it. For instance, some people say that Microsoft Word won’t open on Mac, even after numerous efforts. Chances are that there could be a problem with the software itself or your Mac as well. The good news is that you can learn how to open Word on Mac and fix this issue by following some simple steps. In this guide, we will help you resolve the Word won’t open on Mac query like a pro.

Part 1: How to Open Microsoft Word on Mac?

There are times when users are not able to understand how to open Microsoft Word on Mac. Needless to say, before you proceed, make sure that MS Word is already installed on your Mac and is running smoothly. You can just look for the Word application on your Mac and launch it without any trouble. Here’s how to open Word on Mac seamlessly.

Step 1 The easiest way to open Word on Mac is by using the Spotlight search. Simply click on the search icon on the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2 You can either look for the MS Word application or type the name of the document that you wish to open. Click on the searched results to launch it.

Step 3 Subsequently, you can also view the installed Applications by visiting Mac’s System Preferences. Also, you can just press Command + Shift + A to open the Applications tab.

Step 4 Scroll down to view all the MS Office applications installed on your Mac. Look for MS Word and double-click it to launch the application.

Part 2: Why Microsoft Word Won't Open on Mac?

Before we learn ways to fix Word won’t open on Mac, it is important to know what could have caused the issue in the first place. Here are some of the common reasons why Word won’t open on Mac:

  • There might be some issue with MS Word or the Office application.

  • The installer could have been corrupt, leading to a malfunction application installation.

  • If you are running an outdated version of MS Word on a new macOS, then you can encounter this issue.

  • The storage unit where MS Word was installed could have been corrupt as well.

  • A system setting could be blocking the Word application in the background.

  • The MS Word document that you are trying to open could have been corrupt.

  • A change in Word Preferences or app settings can also lead to the malfunction of the utility tool.

Part 3: What to Do When Word Files Won't Open on Mac?

As you can see, there could be different reasons for Word files not opening on Mac. Thankfully, you can easily fix this issue by following some thoughtful troubleshooting tips. Here’s how you can also resolve the Microsoft Word not opening on Mac problem.

Solution 1: Run 'Disk Utility' to Repair

Disk Utility is the native feature of macOS that can help us repair a disk (system storage or external devices). You can access it via Mac’s Applications or by booting your system in the recovery mode. Therefore, if your Mac is functioning seamlessly, then you can take the assistance of Disk Utility in no time. This will scan your Mac’s storage and make sure that it won’t lead to any MS Word issue.

Step 1 Firstly, go to your Mac’s Finder and visit Applications > Utilities. From the list of the available Utility tools, select “Disk Utility” and open it.

Step 2 This will launch the Disk Utility application on Mac. On the left panel, you can see the available drives and partitions. Simply select the drive where MS Word is installed.

Step 3 You will get its details on the right and numerous other options. From its toolbar, click on the “First Aid” button.

Step 4 A pop-up window will ask you to confirm your choice. Click on the “Run” button and wait for a while as Mac would repair its storage.

Solution 2: Remove Word Preferences

Chances are that there could be a problem with the MS Word application installed on your Mac as well. For instance, the default template or Word preferences could clash with its functioning. In this case, you can just remove the Word Preferences and try to fix the Word won’t open on Mac issue instantly.

Step 1 To start with, select the Word icon on the desktop or open the application. Go to the Finder menu and click on Word > Preferences.

Step 2 This will launch the Word Preferences window on the screen. Click on the “File Locations” option to continue.

Step 3 Now, you can see different file types with their location. Click on the “User Templates” option and choose to reset it.

Step 4 If you want to delete it entirely, then click on the “Modify” button instead. Look for the “Normal” file, cut it, and paste it somewhere else (or just delete it from the location).

Solution 3: Try 'Open and Repair'

The above-listed solutions would work if there is an issue with Mac’s storage or the Word application itself. Though, the reason why won’t Word open on Mac could be something else as well. For instance, the Word document that you are trying to open could have been corrupt. To repair a corrupted Word document, you can take the assistance of the application’s native feature. Here’s how to open Word on Mac and repair a faulty document.

Step 1 If the MS Word application is already not opened, then do the same by clicking on its icon.

Step 2 After the application is launched, go to its main menu and click on File > Open to proceed.

Step 3 As a browser window will launch, simply go to the location where the faulty Word document is stored and select it.

Step 4 Instead of clicking on the “Open” button, click on the dropdown icon and choose to “Open and Repair” the file.

Wait for a while as Word will try to automatically repair the document and would extract its saved content.

Part 4: How to Recover Lost Word Documents on Mac?

By following the discussed solutions, you would be able to fix issues like Word won’t open on Mac. Though, if you have lost some of your documents or have deleted them accidentally, then consider using Recoverit (IS) for Mac. It is a dedicated data recovery tool that can get back all kinds of lost or deleted documents on your Mac. This includes all sorts of Word, Excel, PDF, PowerPoint, and numerous other file types.

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  • The tool is extremely easy to use and features one of the highest data recovery rates in the market.
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  • You can also recover data from an external source like SD card, USB drive, hard drive, and so on.
  • The application can perform different kinds of scans on any source – quick or deep. You can perform the needed scan as per your requirements.
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Even with no prior technical knowledge, you can take the assistance of Recoverit (IS) and get back your lost files on your Mac. To do it, follow these basic steps:

Step 1 Download and install

Download and install the Recoverit (IS) program on your Mac computer.

Step 2 Pick a location to scan

In order to proceed, you can just choose a location to scan for lost Word documents. It can be the internal Mac storage or any other external device.

Step 3 Restore your data

This will make the application look for any lost or deleted Word file on the selected location. You can just wait for a while for the process to be completed.

In the end, users can just preview the recovered data on the application and select the Word documents to save. Click on the “Recover” button and save them to any location of your choice.

Bonus Tips: How to Avoid Word File Corruption on Mac

A lot of times, a Word file becomes inaccessible or corrupt on Mac as well. If you don’t want to go through unwanted issues like Word won’t open on Mac, then consider following these preventive measures:

  • Always keep a backup of your important Word files so that you won’t lose them unexpectedly.

  • Keep the Word application updated to make sure it won’t suffer from any compatibility issue.

  • Avoid changing the extension of the documents forcefully.

  • Don’t open Word documents with other third-party tools that can corrupt them.

  • Keep the Mac storage clean and not cluttered to ensure its safety.

  • Only use an authentic copy of MS Word from its official website. If you are using a pirated version, then it might corrupt your documents.

  • Don’t close your Mac unexpectedly when the Word document is still being processed in the background.

There you go! After reading this guide, you would be able to fix issues like Microsoft Word won’t open on Mac for sure. We have come up with three working solutions on Word won’t open on Mac problems and have provided a stepwise solution on how to open Word on Mac. Apart from that, you can take the assistance of Recoverit (IS) to get back lost Word documents in no time. It is a highly secure and reliable application that can help you in more ways than you can imagine. Give it a try and never lose your important Word documents on Mac again.

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Note

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

Symptoms

If you perform one of the following procedures in one of the Microsoft Office programs that are listed at the end of this article, the program may stop responding (hang) for a long time:

  • You click the Save in list in the Save As dialog box.
  • You click the Look in list in the Open dialog box.

If you click Cancel or try to close the dialog box, the program still does not respond.

Cause

This problem may occur if any one of the following conditions is true:

  • When the computer is connected to one or more mapped network shares that are nonexistent or that are currently offline.
  • When one or more mapped drives are persistent, and the drive is in a domain that is not trusted.
  • When the mapped drive is located on a slow or a down-level computer. A down-level computer is when the operating system of the computer has an earlier version of Microsoft Windows than the computer that you are using).
  • When a mapped drive is connected across a Wide Area Network (WAN).
  • When a drive is an inaccessible removable drive.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, you must disconnect all network drives that are have any one of the conditions that are stated in the 'Cause' section. To do this, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see the product documentation to complete these steps.

  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Disconnect Network Drive.
  2. In the Disconnect Network Drive dialog box, click the letter of the drive that you want to disconnect, and then click OK.
  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all offline network drives are disconnected. If you are not sure about a particular drive, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, and then click Run.

    2. In the Open box, type the following, and then press ENTERcomputer nameshare name

      Where computer name is the name of the server that is sharing the resource, and share name is the name of the shared resource that you want to use.

      If the resource is not available, you receive an error message that is similar to the following:

      The network name cannot be found.

Alternatively, you can try to view the contents of the drive in the Windows Explorer.

Workaround

To work around this behavior, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Do not use persistent connections

When you connect a mapped drive, click to clear the Reconnect at logon check box. By clearing this check box, the mapped drive will not be connected the next time that you log on to the computer. See the 'More Information' section for more information about how to map a network drive.

Method 2: Use a user logon script

If you can, use a logon script to connect a user to the appropriate servers every time that the user logs on. Make sure that the script maps the drive in a non persistent state. If the drive is not available as the logon script runs, the drive is not mapped. This behavior prevents the issue.

Method 3: Use server mirroring

If the connection is over a Wide Area Network (WAN), consider implementing server mirroring. Server mirroring duplicates a distant server locally. Then, map your drive to the local, duplicate server. Doing this can reduce the wait time by connecting to a local server.

Method 4: Use a shortcut to the network location

Use a shortcut on the Microsoft Windows desktop or in My Network Places to connect to the network location that you want.

More Information

Each location in a list is checked to make sure that it is available and that you have access permissions when you perform both the following procedures in Microsoft Office programs:

Microsoft Word Freezing Every Time I Open It Mac Free

  • You try to open or to save a file.
  • You access the Look in or the Save In list.

If any mapped drive is in a state that is documented in the 'Cause' section, it takes some time for the condition to be detected and resolved by the Office program. To avoid this behavior, you should disconnect that mapped drive. You can look for the availability of the drive at any time in Windows Explorer. If the drive is available, map the network drive again later.

To map a drive to a resource that is online again, follow these steps: Microsoft 365 won't activate mac.

Microsoft Word Freezes When Opening Document

  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Map Network Drive.

  2. In the Drive box, click the drive letter that you want to use for the network drive.

  3. In the Folder box, type the following computer nameshare name

    Where computer name is the name of the server that is sharing the resource, and share name is the name of the shared resource that you want to use.

  4. To make the mapped drive non persistent, click to clear the Reconnect at logon check box.

  5. Click Finish.

Microsoft Word Freezes When Opening Document Mac

If you are trying to connect to resources on other networks, contact the network administrator. Network drives that no longer exist, that are no longer shared, or inaccessible removable drives should be permanently disconnected to avoid affecting the performance of Office products.