Launch Pages (it’s in the Applications folder of your Mac). In the window that automatically opens when you launch the app, navigate to the location of your Word file. For example, if it’s in. Use Microsoft Word for the best word processing and document creation. Find out how document collaboration and editing tools can help polish your Word docs.
Apr 01,2020 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
Excel for Office 365 for Mac PowerPoint for Office 365 for Mac Excel 2016 for Mac PowerPoint 2016 for Mac Excel for Mac 2011 PowerPoint for Mac 2011 More. Less AutoRecover, a feature that is available in some Office applications, attempts to recover files automatically in the event of an application or system crash.
Just like any other software program, MS Word is also susceptible to issues. You will find unlimited queries on forum sites asking “why won’t my Word document open on my Mac”. Most of the people have no idea why their Microsoft Word stopped working randomly. If you are also facing a similar situation, then you will have to look for an appropriate solution that can fix this issue.

In this article, we are going to discuss the potential fixes that can resolve the Microsoft Word not working issue.
As the MS Word is a widely used program, a malfunction could get tragic real soon. Before you get to solutions, it is essential that you go through the reasons of this problem first. The common causes of these issues are.
Unless you have a brief idea about what caused the problem, you won’t be able to steer away from the common errors. The user's listed common symptoms that lead to the ”word won’t open on my Mac” issue are given below:
When you face a situation like this, don’t pain and look for solutions on the internet. If you are lucky, then you’ll come across real fixes soon. Otherwise, you might have to struggle to find an ideal fix.
With so many versions and updates on MS Word, it can get hard to simplify the solutions that would work for all versions. But, here is a summarized list of solutions that can work when Microsoft Word is not opening on Mac. All these methods are useful and easy to carry out. So, give them a try one by one.
Sometimes, it is the random words combination or special characters that lead to such issues. It can be resolved if you follow the steps below.
Everyone knows how to open Microsoft Word on Mac but we are not talking about just opening and closing the files. You can also repair the MS Word files with the following steps.
The Mac utility will automatically repair the not opening Word file and you will be able to use it now.
Besides the above methods fail, you can also run the Disk Utility to repair the Word file if the Microsoft Word is not opening on your Mac computer.
When the process finishes, click on “Done” and check whether the problem is fixed or not. There are maximum chances that the problem will be resolved. But if MS Word is still not responding correctly to commands, then there is one 100% guaranteed solution left to recover your Word Documents.
While you are trying to repair the drive and Word files, it is common that the solutions don’t work as expected and the files get deleted from Mac. Here is the perfect solution if getting stuck in such circumstances without any recovery option.
The best tool available for Word file recovery on the internet is Recoverit Word Recovery software. This software is capable of recovering various kinds of deleted or lost data. For example, Word documents, PowerPoint, Excel files, PDF, photos, videos, songs, audios, and many more. It is a faster, easier, and 100% secure data recovery tool with the highest recovery rate in the market.
Now, let's have a look at the simple steps on Word document recovery. You only need to launch the Word file recovery software and do a few clicks.
To recover the not opening document caused by accidental deletion, you need to select the drive where the data files are lost. Then, click the 'Start' button.
Typically, the software will run an all-around scan and search for the lost and deleted files on the entire drive. If you perform an emptied trash recovery or HFS+ data rescue, you can even try the deep scan mode.
When the scan completes, the files will be listed on the screen. The software will sort out the files according to format to make the search easier. You can select multiple files at a time and have a preview at them.
If you don’t want to go through this problem, then you should have to take care of a few things. This way, you will be successful in avoiding the Microsoft Word won't open on Mac issue in the future. So, here are some tips that you need to follow:
Even a little mishandling can lead to major working issues in MS Word. So, instead of worrying about how you can rescue the data, try keeping the data safe on the first hand.
Now you know how to open Word on Mac along with the process of repair. And if you are facing a dilemma and the want to recover Word files, then you can always think of using Recoverit Data recovery software.
Note
Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.
When you start Microsoft Word for Mac, or when you try to open a new document, you experience one of the following conditions:
The program closes unexpectedly.
Error message:
Note
This error message may also occur during usage of application such as saving a document.
To resolve this problem, follow steps below.
Step 1: Quit all applications
On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.
Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.
Click Force Quit.
Repeat the previous steps until all active applications.
Warning
When an application is force quit, any unsaved changes to open documents are not saved.
Step 2: Remove Preferences
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open Library.
Note
The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.
Open the Preferences folder.
Look for a file that is named com.microsoft.Word.plist.
If you locate the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you locate the file and move it to the desktop, start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Microsoft Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.plist file to the trash.
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open Library.
Note
The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.
Open the Preferences folder.
Open the Microsoft folder.
Locate the file that is named com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist.
Move the file to the desktop.
Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist file to the trash.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open Library.
Note
The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.
Open the Application Support folder.
Open the Microsoft folder.
Open the Office folder.
Open the User Templates folder.
If you encounter any errors, you can always contact us via Help Report an Issue. Addressed scenarios where connections initiated using the GatewayAccessToken RDP file property did not work.Note that this is the last release that will be compatible with macOS 10.12.Thanks for the continued feedback. If any one app is maximized, my dock and menu bar disappear, and I have to minimize the apps to see those. I use work related apps and have more than one open at the same time. Copper planet, Inferior compared to version 8I work remotely and must use this for work. Microsoft mac admins.
Locate the file that is named Normal, and move the file to the desktop.
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. If the issue continues to occur, proceed to the next step.
If the issue continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 3: Peform clean boot
For information how to clean start your Operating system (OS), see Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
2398596 How to use a 'clean startup' to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac
If the issue continues to occur in Safe mode, go to the next step.
Step 4: Remove and then reinstall Office
For information how to remove and then reinstall Office, see the following article:
If after removing and then reinstalling Office, the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.
Step 5: Use the 'Repair Disk Permissions' option
You can use the Repair Disk Permissions option to troubleshoot permissions problems in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions. To use the Repair Disk Permissions option, follow these steps:
Note
The Disk Utility program only repairs software that is installed by Apple. This utility also repairs folders, such as the Applications folder. However, this utility does not repair software that is in your home folder.
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open Library.
Note
The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.
Open the Preferences folder.
Look for a file that is named com.microsoft.Word.plist.
If you locate the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.
If you locate the file and move it to the desktop, start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.plist file to the trash.
Qit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open Library.
Note
The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.
Open the Preferences folder.
Open the Microsoft folder.
Look for a file that is named com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist.
Move the file to the desktop.
Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist file to the trash.
On the Go menu, click Home.
Open the Documents folder.
Open the Microsoft User Data folder.
Locate the file that is named Normal, and move the file to the desktop.
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.
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The information and the solution in this document represent the current view of Microsoft Corporation on these issues as of the date of publication. This solution is available through Microsoft or through a third-party provider. Microsoft does not specifically recommend any third-party provider or third-party solution that this article might describe. There might also be other third-party providers or third-party solutions that this article does not describe. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, this information should not be interpreted to be a commitment by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot guarantee or endorse the accuracy of any information or of any solution that is presented by Microsoft or by any mentioned third-party provider.