• Feb 21, 2020 Fix Word Not Opening on Mac. Step 1: On the 'Go' menu, click 'Utilities'. Start the Disk Utility program. Step 2: Choose the primary hard disk drive for your computer. Then, click the 'First Aid' tab. Step 3: Click 'Run' to repair the disk volume errors and permissions. When it finishes, click.
  • If you installed Office 2016 for Mac back in September but haven't been able to update the suite since, here's a look at some troubleshooting tips. How to Fix Microsoft Office AutoUpdate for Mac.
  • For help with Word: On the Menu bar, click Help and search for features, commands, and help articles. Or search online at Bing, Google, or support.office.com. Or search online at Bing, Google, or support.office.com.
  • If you installed Office 2016 for Mac back in September but haven't been able to update the suite since, here's a look at some troubleshooting tips. How to Fix Microsoft Office AutoUpdate for Mac.
  • Word for Mac crashes and slow performance. Word does not respond when using 'Save as Picture' WordRake add-in causing Word for Mac to crash since upgrading to Catalina (OSX 15.0) Problems launching Word for Mac 2016 (Version 16.11) FIXED Issues affecting Word for Mac features and add-ins.

May 22, 2019  Fix Microsoft Word Not Responding on Mac. If Microsoft Word doesn't respond on Mac, you may force quit the application and fix the problem with the following methods. Clear the Auto Recovery folder. Step 1 Open the Go menu and click Home. Step 2 Go to Documents Microsoft User Data then you will find the Office Autorecovery folder. Apr 16, 2018  Now, open the Microsoft folder (in Preferences), and drag com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist to the desktop. Note If you have Service Pack 2 installed, open Application Support Microsoft instead of Preferences Microsoft. Do you see the error? Quit Word, and drag one of the files back to its default location and test again.

Last updated: February 2020

Word for Mac crashes and slow performance

Issues affecting Word for Mac features and add-ins

Issues with fonts in Office for macOS [WORKAROUND]

ISSUE

Users may see issues with fonts when using version 16.9 of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and Microsoft PowerPoint on macOS.

Symptoms:

  • Text appears garbled or in a different font

  • Fonts not appearing in font picker

STATUS: WORKAROUND

Word

We recommend you check the installed versions of the font. If you have multiple versions, then make sure the latest version of the font is active.

For more information, read about how to fix Issues with fonts in Office for macOS

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Summary

When you try to open a Word document on Mac document, Word stops opening. If you are faced with this issue and are willing to solve it, then follow the 3 solutions. If you have data loss problem after fixing the Word not opening issue, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can do you a favor.

On this page, we have collected three practical solutions that can help fix the 'Word Not Opening' error on Mac. And if you mistakenly removed a Word file on Mac, let reliable Mac file recovery software as recommended here for help. Check out how to fix the not opening Word file to accessible again:

Workable SolutionsStep-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Repair DiskOpen Disk Utility > Select the primary hard disk on Mac and select 'First Aid' > Click 'Run'..Full steps
Fix 2. Remove Word PreferenceOpen 'Library' > Open 'Preferences' > Copy com.microsoft.Word.plist file to desktop..Full steps
Fix 3. Open and Repair WordStart Word > Click 'Open' on the File menu > Click 'Repair' on the Open button..Full steps
Fix 4. Recover Lost WordRun EaseUS Mac file recovery software > Scan mac drive > Restore lost Mac word file..Full steps

'Word 2016 on my Mac won't open. It flashes immediately by double-clicking and then closes unexpectedly. I didn't do anything or any change. How to fix it if Microsoft Word won't open at all?'

In addition to this situation, most users are also faced with these errors:

  • The application Microsoft Word quit unexpectedly
  • Microsoft Word cannot be opened because of a problem. Check with the developer to make sure Microsoft Word works with this version of Mac OS X

As Microsoft Word is widely used among people, owning some basic Word troubleshooting is recognized as an essential skill. Today you're going to learn three tricks in solving Word not opening on Mac. The given workarounds are applicable to all Word editions such as 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 2016.

1. Run Repair Disk Permissions

Step 1: On the 'Go' menu, click 'Utilities'. Start the Disk Utility program.

Step 2: Choose the primary hard disk drive for your computer. Then, click the 'First Aid' tab.

Step 3: Click 'Run' to repair the disk volume errors and permissions. When it finishes, click 'Done'.

2. Remove Word Preferences

Step 1: Open 'Library'. Usually, click 'GO' > 'Go to the folder', then type ~/Library

Step 2: Locate a file named as 'Preferences'.

Step 3: Find a file named as com.microsoft.Word.plist. Move the file to the desktop.

Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs.

If the problem still occurs, exit Microsoft Word, and then restore the 'com.microsoft.word.prefs.plist' file to its original location. Then, go to Step 4.

If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the file to the trash.

Note: If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.

Stop microsoft word on mac opening with markup. Step 4: Exit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs. Then, Click the Word icon. On the left, click 'Preferences'.

Step 5: Click 'File Locations'.

Step 6: Select 'User templates'.

Step 7: Locate the file that is named Normal, and move the file to the desktop.

You can also find the file named as Normal through this way: 'Library' > 'Application Support' > 'Microsoft' > 'Office' > 'User Templates' > 'Normal'

Visio software free download. Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the 'Normal' file to the trash.

3. Try to Open and Repair Word

Step 1: Start Word. On the File menu, click 'Open'.

Step 2: In the Open dialog box, select the file that you want to open. Click the down arrow on the Open button, click 'Open' > 'Repair'.

Recover Deleted and Missing Word on Mac

Do not worry if the 'Word not opening' issue causes data loss disaster, you can recover unsaved Word document on Mac from its Temporary folder and AutoRecovery save. While for a deleted Word document on Mac, the easiest way of recovery is using a third-party Mac data recovery software.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac also recovers Word document that is missing, deleted or lost due to formatting, virus infection and other misoperation, and the best part of using the software to recover Word is being able to preview the file entirety.

Microsoft Word 2016 Not Opening Mac

Step 1. Select the location where your important Word documents were lost and click Scan button.

Microsoft Word Not Opening Mac

Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will start immediately a quick scan as well as a deep scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane.

Microsoft Word 2016 Not Opening In Mac Download

Step 3. By Path and Type, you can quickly filter the Word files you've lost earlier. Select the target files and click Recover Now button to get them back at once.