Fix: “Microsoft Word has stopped working” in Windows 10

Users Windows 10 and 8 have reported a problem with versions 2010 and 2013 of Microsoft Office, with products such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint not opening and displaying errors or warnings.

Windows 8 users reported that Microsoft Office worked normally for a while, but for no apparent reason, shortcuts to various Office components stopped launching the software.

Microsoft Office has not reported any errors or provided information about when the problem occurred. But if you follow the steps below, hopefully you can resolve the problem.

As you can see, this problem occurs mostly in Microsoft WordThis is because Word is the most common Microsoft Office application, but we will show you solutions that apply to all Office programs.

You can also read: Office 2016 Grant Access Error On MacOS

The problem: Microsoft Word has stopped working

As Microsoft Office has grown in popularity, its applications, such as Word, have become popular among users around the world. But the more users, the more problems.Microsoft Office Word is no longer working» is one of the most worrying problems for many Word users.

When Microsoft Word stops working and an error occurs, there are usually two options: search for a solution online or close the program. If you decide to close the application, Microsoft Word may not reopen.

If you too are having a problem with Microsoft Word not working in Microsoft Office Word 2016, 2013, 2010 or 2007, read on and Check out the solutions we offer below. The solution may vary depending on your situation. We hope one of them will help you.

8 Solutions to Fix “Microsoft Word Has Stopped Working” Error in Windows 10/8/7

If Microsoft Word has stopped working, first wait for the program to close and then try saving the edited document. If you have waited a long time without results, Click “Close Program” in the Word pop-up window and follow the methods to successfully resolve the issue.

Solution 1: Disable add-ons in safe mode

Some incompatible add-ins can prevent Word from working with Office applications. A quick way to check this is to launch the Office applications in safe mode and disable plugins.

• Press Windows + R and type: winword.exe / and press Enter to open MS Word in safe mode without any add-ins. You can also use winword / safe to start Word in safe mode. If Office Word does not start in safe mode, the problem is not with the plug-ins. Instead, Try restoring or uninstalling Office and installing it again.
• If Word starts in Safe Mode, fix the problem by disabling application add-ins and COM add-ins. Click File > Preferences > Add-ons.
• Click on “Manage” at the bottom and select “COM Plugins”, Click “Go” to disable the problematic plugins and confirm with “OK”. Some outdated plugins may cause problems.
• First, Disable these plugins if they are on your list: Abbyy FineReader, PowerWord and Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Then restart Word and check if the problem is resolved.

Solution 2: Restore Office 2016/2013/2010/2007

Some experienced users report that they get errors in Microsoft Office that prevent them from opening Word or editing files. They then get a message that Microsoft Word is no longer working or Microsoft Word refuses to open error.

The prompt closes immediately to create a new document or continue editing the file. The immediate solution to this problem is Fix Office Installation Problem following these steps:

• In Windows 10, 8 or 7, open Control Panel, click on “Programs and Parts” and then on “Microsoft Office”.
• Select Microsoft Office and click “Edit” in the top menu.
• Click the “Restore” button in the window, and then Click "Next." For newer versions of Microsoft Office, you can select “Online Recovery” or “Quick Recovery” and click “Recover.”
• Allows the recovery to complete and restart your computer.

Once the recovery process is complete, open Word and check if the error occurs again.

Solution 3: Install the latest Windows or Office update.

If your version of Office or Windows is not up to date, Microsoft Office Word may stop working or even fail. Here are the steps to install the latest Windows or Microsoft Office update:

1. Install the latest Windows update

• Press Windows + I to open Windows settings.
• Click on “Updates & security” and Select “Check for updates” en Windows Update.
• When the new Windows Update window appears, Click “Install Now” and follow the instructions to install the available update.

2. Installing the Microsoft Office Update

For Office 2013 and later versions:

• Open the Office application, Excel or Word, and Click on “File”.
• Click Account > Product information > Update configuration.
• Click on “Activate update” and then select “Update Now.”

Note: If the “Turn on update” button is not available, it means that the automatic update feature is enabled.

For Office 2010 or earlier

• Open Office, Excel, or Word, and Click File > Help.
• Click on the Check for updates option o Install updates.

Follow the instructions to complete the process. You can then reopen the Word document or create a new Word file.

Solution 4: Insert a Word document into another file

Microsoft Word is no longer working. Sometimes you may get an error when trying to open previously saved documents. If this is the case, you can try paste the document into another file to resolve the issue. To do this, follow these steps:

• Start Microsoft Office Word and creates a new empty file.
• Click “Insert” in the top ribbon, then “Text.”
• Click on “Object” and select “Text File”.
• Select the Word document that won't open or work and Click “Insert.”
• Check the content of the document and save it as a new file on your computer.

Solution 5: Uninstall or update old printer drivers

Printer drivers can interfere with Office and prevent Microsoft Word from working. Therefore, you can sometimes resolve this problem by uninstalling or updating the default printer. To do this, follow these steps:

• Open the Device administrator and look for your printer.
• Right click on the printer drivers and select “Uninstall” or “Update driver”.
• Remove or update the drivers for the old printer.
  • To uninstall the driver: Click “OK” and restart your computer.
  • To update the driver: Click “Check for driver update automatically” and follow the instructions to complete the process and restart your computer. You can also download the appropriate driver from the printer website and install it on your computer.

Solution 6: Delete or erase the Word registry key

Some users are reporting that Microsoft Word has stopped working and the errors may be due to problems with the registry. The registry has a key that stores the most frequently used options in Word.

If you delete the key, the next time you start Word, the default settings will be restored and the problem will be resolved.

Tip: Deleting the registry can be potentially dangerous, so it is advisable to create a backup in case something goes wrong.

• Open the registry editor by typing regedit in the search bar and pressing Enter.
• Click Yes to open the log and Find the Word Options key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER ：Software ，Microsoft ，Office 16.0 ，Word Options.
• Find the key, click the right mouse button and select Export.
• Save the option key as “Wdddata.reg” and save it to your desktop.
• Return to Registry Editor, locate the Options key and remove it from the menu.
• Close the registry editor.

Then restart Word and check if the problem has been resolvedIf the problem persists, run the Wdddata.reg file on the desktop to recover the deleted key.

Solution 7: Replace the global template file with Normal.dot

Microsoft Word stores formatting and macros in the global template file. If the global template file is corrupted, the Microsoft Word error message stops working. To resolve this issue, rename the file Normal.dot.

Note: If you modify the global template file, some customization features such as styles, macros, etc. will be lost. To retain your previous settings, you can use the organizer to copy settings from one global template to another. Follow the steps below to replace the Normal.dot file.

• Press Windows + X and select “Line of commands (administrator)». Log in if the program requires administrator privileges.
• Enter the following command and press enter: Run%User Profile% ™AppData ™Microsoft ™Templates ™OldNormal.dotm Normal.dotm.
• Wait for the command to execute and exit the prompt.

Then restart Word and see if you can use it again to edit documents or create new files.

Solution 8: Uninstall and reinstall MS Office

Note: This solution may cause the activation key to stop working after reinstalling MS Office. Please make sure your activation key can be used twice before performing the following steps.

• Save MS Office Activation Key and save it on another secure device.
• Open the Control Panel, click on “Programs and Features” and select Microsoft Office.
• Click “Uninstall” in the top menu.
• Reinstall Microsoft Office on your computer and activate it with the serial key.

If the old key does not activate the newly installed MS Office, please contact Microsoft technical support: https://support.microsoft.com/contactus.

How can I recover lost or unsaved Word documents?

Another major problem that most users face is losing Word files or unsaved files when Word stops working. In this case, you may lose unsaved documents while editing a Word document.

This section shows you How to Recover Unsaved Word Documents with Helpful TipsIt also features a well-known file recovery tool that you can use to recover and restore lost Word documents in the easiest way.

How to recover unsaved Word documents?

If you have lost unsaved Word documents due to Word crashes, Word unresponsive issues, Word freezing, or other Word-related issues, there are three ways to recover unsaved Word documents in Windows 10.

1. Solution 1: Recover from the Temporary files
2. Solution 2: Recover with car repair
3. Solution 3: Use Document Recovery

Recover a lost/corrupted Word document with file recovery software

When Word stops working, an error corrupts the file or you have deleted important Word documents and need to recover them, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard it's a great optionThis software not only helps you to recover lost files but also recovers damaged documents in the recovery process.

EaseUS Data Recovery Software

1. Recover Word, Excel, PPT and other documents PDF lost or deleted.
2. Recover corrupt files after data recovery, such as damaged Excel, Word, PPT and PDF files.
3. Supports data recovery after sudden deletion, formatting, hard drive corruption, virus attacks and system crashes in various situations.
4. Recover Word documents from hard drive, SSD, unit USB, pen drive, SD card, external hard drive, etc.

Tutorial

Download the tool EaseUS File Recovery to recover lost or corrupted Word documents from hard drives, USB drives, external hard drives, etc. in just 3 easy steps.

Step 1: Select the location of the Word file.

If the file is on a USB drive or SD card, connect it to your computer first. Select a specific hard drive or folder and press the scan button.

Step 2: Scan and select the lost files

The software will immediately start scanning all lost data on the selected drive. After scanning, click “Filter”, select “Word” from the drop-down list and click the tree on the left to view the desired Word documents.

Step 3: View and recover Word files

If you have Microsoft Word installed on your computer, you can double-click the Word file and preview it. Finally, select the desired Word file and click “Recover”.

Causes of Microsoft Word Error

In addition to finding the right solutions to fix the Microsoft Office “stopped working” error on your Windows computer, it is important to know the reasons why Word stops working. These are the main reasons:

1. This edition of Office is not compatible with your computer's current operating system.
2. The word is outdated.
3. The driver is obsolete.
4. A problem with the Word add-in.
5. A problem with Word files.

Useful tips for saving and protecting your Word files.

If you are looking for a reliable way to fix the “Word is no longer working” error, the solutions suggested in the two sections above may help you out. If you prefer a more comprehensive plan to protect your valuable Word documents, stay tuned. Here are two surefire tips to protect Word:

1. Activate Word's autosave feature. 2.

Applies to: Saving and editing a Word document.

• Open MS Word and Create a new file by clicking File > Options.
• Click "Save" and check the following two boxes:
  • «“Automatically save data every * minutes” (set the time period for autosave; every 2 or 5 minutes is fine).
  • «Automatically save last saved version when closing without saving».
• Press “OK” to confirm.

2. Save the saved Word file using a file backup program.

Backup the saved Word file to your local drive. A reliable file backup software like EaseUS Todo Backup It can help you efficiently backup important files including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. to your local disk.

Backup is a way to instantly recover your hard drive if you lose it for unknown reasons. Download the program and follow these 3 steps to backup your Word file:

• Start EaseUS Todo Backup and select File, Hard Drive/Partition or Operating System for different backup purposes.
• Select the system, the hard drive partition, files, or applications you want to back up. Then, click “Browse” to select the destination where you want to save the backup file.
• Click "Save" to start the backup.

That's what it's all about. We hope that at least one of these solutions helped you solve the problem with Microsoft Office. If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, let us know in the comments below.

You can also read: 5 Best Word Password Recovery Software