How to Fix Microsoft Word Keeps Crashing? 9 Approaches to Fix It

Microsoft Word, a word processing program developed by Microsoft Corporation, is part of the Microsoft Office suite. Many people use it for work. However, many users have reported encountering Microsoft Word crashing issues.

Here is a true example from the learn.microsoft.com forum:

My Word keeps crashing right after opening it. I can neither create a new document nor view already saved documents. I tried clicking on the repair now option, but it still ends up shutting down instead.https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5196646/my-word-keeps-crashing-right-after-opening-how-do

Whether it’s a crash upon startup, a crash when opening a specific file, a crash during editing/formatting complex elements, or a crash when saving a document, Word crashes are a common and frustrating problem that affects daily work.

Microsoft Word crashes are usually caused by defective third-party plugins, corrupted templates, outdated software versions, etc.

If you are also troubled by this problem, refer to the methods provided in this article to resolve frequent Microsoft Word crashes.

How to Fix Word File Problems with Contents Error

This article shares with you how to solve the “the file cannot be opened because there are problems with the contents” error.

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Method 1. Check for a Corrupted Individual Document

If Word only crashes when opening a specific file, that document is likely corrupted. There are many reasons why a Word file might become corrupted, such as an incomplete download or transfer, a virus infection, a faulty storage device, etc.

A corrupted document contains erroneous data or formatting codes that Word cannot process correctly. Therefore, when you try to open, edit, or save the file, the program struggles to read it, ultimately causing a crash.

You can follow these steps to repair the file:

1. Open Microsoft Word normally. Do not open the corrupted file yet.
2. Click on the File tab, select Open, and then click Browse.
3. Navigate to the location of the corrupted document and select it. Do not double-click to open it.
4. Click the small arrow next to the Open button, then select Open and Repair from the dropdown menu.
5. Word will attempt to repair the corrupted file and open it. If successful, save the repaired file immediately with a new name to avoid overwriting the original corrupted version.

Method 2. Launch Word in Safe Mode

If Word crashes immediately upon launch or with all documents, faulty add-ins are likely the cause. Safe Mode starts Word without loading any add-ins, allowing you to test if add-ins are the problem.

Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box. Type winword /safe and press Enter.

If Word opens and runs smoothly in Safe Mode, an add-in is the culprit. Follow the steps below to disable add-ins.

Method 3. Disable Add-ins

Add-ins allow you to extend the functionality of a program by adding new features and commands. While they usually run well in the background, they can interrupt the application’s process and cause Word to crash. To disable add-ins, here are the steps:

1. Open a Word file, and then go to File > Options > Add-ins.
2. Next to the Manage section, select COM Add-ins from the dropdown menu and click Go.
3. Uncheck all add-ins and click OK to disable them. Then restart Word normally.
4. Re-enable add-ins one at a time, restarting Word each time, to identify which add-in is causing the crash. Once found, uninstall or update that add-in.

Method 4. Update Microsoft Office and Windows

Updating Microsoft Office and Windows ensures you have the latest stability patches and compatibility fixes. These updates often resolve frequent Word crashes because Microsoft regularly releases fixes for known bugs and security vulnerabilities.

Update Microsoft Office

1. Open Word, go to File > Account.
2. Under Product Information, select Update Options > Update Now.

Update Windows

1. Right-click Start and select Settings > Windows Update.
2. Click Check for updates.
3. If updates are available, install them.
4. After installation, restart your PC to apply the updates fully.

Method 5. Repair Microsoft Office

If Word still crashes after updating, the installation itself might be damaged. Microsoft has a built-in repair tool:

1. Close all Microsoft Office apps.
2. Go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features, find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office in the list, click the three dots, and select Modify.
3. Choose Online Repair (this is more thorough than Quick Repair) and click Repair. Then follow the on-screen instructions. The repair process may take several minutes.
4. Restart your computer after the repair is complete.

Method 6. Update or Reinstall Device Drivers

Outdated printer or graphics drivers often cause Word crashes. To fix this issue, update or reinstall the printer and graphics drivers. The steps are as follows:

1. Right-click Start and choose Device Manager.
2. Expand Print queues. Right-click your printer and select Update driver.
3. Choose Search automatically for drivers.
4. Then do the same steps for the graphics card.
5. After updating drivers, restart your computer and test Word.

If updating doesn’t help, right-click your device driver and select Uninstall device. Restart your PC. Then Windows will attempt to reinstall a driver automatically.

Method 7. Rename the Corrupted Normal.dotm File

If Microsoft Word keeps crashing upon startup or when opening any new blank document, another common cause is a corrupted Normal.dotm template.

Because Normal.dotm is the global template that stores your default fonts, margins, and custom styles, Word must load it to initialize its interface. If this file is damaged, the initialization fails, leading to a crash or a hang on the splash screen.

So, the most effective solution is to rename the file. Here is the guide:

1. Close all Microsoft Office programs completely.
2. Press Windows + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates, and press Enter. This will open the Templates folder.
3. Locate the Normal.dotm file. Then right-click the file and rename it to Normal.old.
4. Restart Word. The program will automatically create a new, clean Normal.dotm template with default settings.

Method 8. Delete Temporary Files

Temporary files generated by apps can interfere with Word’s performance. So, deleting these files can fix Microsoft Word crashing.

1. Close all Microsoft Office programs.
2. Press Win + R, type %temp%, and press Enter.
3. Press Ctrl + A to select all files and select Delete.

Method 9. Reinstall Microsoft Office

If the above methods fail, you can try reinstalling Microsoft Office.

Open Settings, go to Apps > Apps & features, find the Office app in the right panel, click the three dots, and then select Uninstall.

Next, it is recommended that you open the C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) folders and delete all folders related to Microsoft Office. After that, you can re-download and reinstall Microsoft Office.

How to Recover Deleted/Unsaved Word Files?

What to do if your Word files are deleted or unsaved? In the following part, the steps to recover the Word files are provided.

Recover Delete Word Files

If your Word file is saved but you deleted it mistakenly, you can recover it using third-party professional data recovery software, MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Its Data Recovery feature can help you find and recover files from your drive, desktop, or a specific folder.

MiniTool Partition Wizard DemoClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1. Open MiniTool Partition Wizard and click Data Recovery in the top toolbar.

Step 2. Hover over the location where your Word file was stored and click Scan.

• If the Word file is saved on the desktop before, choose the Desktop.
• If you remember the folder where the Word file is saved before, click Select Folder and then navigate to that folder.
• If you don’t remember where the Word file was saved before, choose the Recycle Bin.
• If you can’t find the file in the above locations, select a partition or go to the Devices tab to choose the whole hard drive.

Step 3. Once the scan completes, use the Type options to narrow down results to “Documents” and “.docx” or “.doc” formats. You can also use the Search box to find a specific filename.

Step 4. Select a file and click the Preview button to preview its contents and ensure it’s the correct one. Check the box next to your file and click Save.

Recover Unsaved Word Files

If Word crashed or you closed it without saving, there are 2 methods to get your work back using the built-in AutoRecover feature. By default, this feature is enabled.

Method 1. Use the Document Recovery Panel

When you reopen Word after a crash, you will see a Document Recovery part on the left side. Here, Word will list all files recovered by it.

Look for a list of files titled “Available Files“. Click a file from the list to open it to check whether this file is the unsaved file. If it is, click Save.

Method 2. Use Recover Unsaved Documents

If the sidebar didn’t appear, you can manually browse Word’s “Unsaved” folder:

1. Open Word and go to File > Info.
2. Click the Manage Document button.
3. Select Recover Unsaved Documents from the dropdown.
4. Look for your file, select it, and click Open. Then click Save As.

Further reading: Although this feature is enabled by default, the default interval is 10 minutes, which is too long in some cases. You can shorten the interval by following these steps:

1. Open Word and go to File > Options > Save.
2. Under Save document, ensure that the “Save SutoRecover information every xx minutes” option is checked, and then set a suitable time.
3. After completing all steps, click the OK button to save and apply the changes.

How to fix Microsoft Word crashing? This post offers methods to solve this issue and recover deleted/unsaved Word files.Click to Tweet

Word Keeps Crashing FAQ

Bottom Line

After reading this article, you can solve the Word crashing problem, ensuring a smooth and reliable experience every time you use Word. Besides, you can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to recover lost files.

Of course, if you have any questions or suggestions on how to use MiniTool Partition Wizard, do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected].