How to Fix It When Microsoft Word Is Not Responding

Tricia Goss has been a writer and editor for 10+ years. She's written tips and tutorials for Microsoft Office applications and other sites.

Microsoft Word not responding usually appears either as an error message or as a complete freeze of the graphical user interface. Although the cause might not immediately be clear, there are a number of things you can do to fix it so Word runs smoothly again.

These suggestions apply to MS Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2010, and Word for Mac.

How to Fix Microsoft Word Not Responding

Sometimes the answer is as simple as restarting the computer. If a reboot doesn't solve the problem, disabling add-ins and repairing the program are the best courses of action.

1. Start Word in Safe Mode. Loading the application without templates and add-ins allows you to see if the program works as it should or if it is corrupted.

1. Select File >Options >Add-ins.
2. Choose Go at the bottom of the window to open the COM Add-ins dialog box.
3. Clear the check boxes next to each add-in to disable all add-ins.
4. Select OK to apply the changes and close the dialog box.

If the "Word not responding" error message no longer appears, enable each add-in one at a time, and restart Word after each one to determine which one caused the problem.

• Windows 11: Open Settings and go to Apps >Installed apps. Select the three dots next to Microsoft 365 and then choose Modify to see your repair options.
• Windows 10: Open Settings and select Apps & Features. Select Microsoft 365 from the list, select Modify, and then follow the options to repair Office programs.

Uninstalling Office from your computer only removes the Office applications you installed. The documents you've created are unaffected.

If spell check isn't working in Word, make sure spell check is turned on, check the proofing language, and check for proofing exceptions. If you still have problems, try opening Word in Safe Mode or disabling add-ons one at a time.

If a Word file won't open, check the file association. Right-click the file, select Open With, and choose Microsoft Word. To repair a damaged file in Word, go to File > Open > Browse, and highlight the file you want. Select the Open drop-down arrow, then choose Open and Repair.

After closing Word, reopen the program and try to recover the unsaved document. Go to File > Manage Documents > Recover Unsaved Documents, or go to File > Open > Browse and search for a backup of the file. You can also go to Windows Explorer and look for any recovered or temp files.

Cause of Microsoft Word Not Responding Messages

You'll most often encounter a "Microsoft Word is not responding" message for one of several reasons:

• A failure to open, save, or access a document hosted on a remote server, often due to a server timeout.
• A damaged program file.
• An incompatible add-in.

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