Share via

Word Randomly Closing

Liska Jacobs 10 Reputation points
2026-04-14T01:43:52.47+00:00

Does anyone know how to fix word app on Mac. When I am using Word for around 15-20min consistently, it will randomly quit the doc and reopen a new "recovered" file. I am running Mac OS Tahoe26.4.1 and there are no new updates for Word (I've checked). I've tried moving the document out of dropbox and work from just the desktop (to see if drop box is the culprit) but word will still randomly close.

I am going insane. Help.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | MacOS

Locked Question. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

4 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. BenjaminFinley-8013 0 Reputation points
    2026-05-13T16:17:08.91+00:00

    I literally just had this happen to 4 users and 3 different clients, but on Windows. I have no idea what the cause is, and Word is up to date.

    Was this answer helpful?

  2. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.7K Reputation points
    2026-04-14T17:23:54.4166667+00:00

    I have avoided Tahoe like the plague so I have no first-hand experience with it. However, I have seen numerous similar reports referring to crashes due to memory leaks. Search the web using the criteria macos tahoe memory leaks for possible solutions.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Norah-L 6,685 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-14T07:44:51.4866667+00:00

    Hello Liska Jacobs!

    Based on what you described, Word on your Mac appears to unexpectedly close the active document after about 15–20 minutes of use and reopen a recovered copy. You can try the following steps:

    1. Clear the AutoRecovery folder to reset Word’s background autosave state:
    • On the Go menu, click Home.
    • Open Documents.
    • Open Microsoft User Data.
    • Open the Office Autorecovery folder.

    Note You do not have to delete files in this folder. You can copy or move these files to the desktop.

    • Test the application.
    1. Remove the Word preferences

    You may also want to try resetting Word’s preferences to clear any potentially corrupted settings that could be affecting Word’s background autosave or document recovery behavior.

    In terms of this method, please refer to step 4 in this article: Word for Mac document stops responding when you try to open a document

    1. Try in Safe Mode

    If the issue continues, try to open the file in Safe Mode to check whether any add‑ins or startup templates might be causing this issue.

    • Quit Word completely
    • Press and hold the Shift key
    • While holding Shift, open Word from your Applications folder
    • Open the same document and check if the issue still occurs

    For more details, see: How to use a "clean startup" to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac

    Hope this could help. Please let me know how it goes, I'm happy to support further!

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    Was this answer helpful?

  4. AI answer

    2026-04-14T01:44:05.1266667+00:00

    Follow these steps in order to troubleshoot Word randomly quitting on macOS:

    1. Reset Word preferences and Normal template (fixes many random-crash issues)
      1. Quit Word and all other apps.
      2. In Finder, select Go > Home.
      3. From the Go menu, choose Library (hold OPTION if Library is hidden).
      4. Open Preferences and drag com.microsoft.Word.plist to the Desktop.
      5. In Preferences > Microsoft (or Application Support > Microsoft if Service Pack 2 layout applies), drag com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist to the Desktop.
      6. Start Word and work for a while:
        • If Word no longer quits, one of those files was corrupt. Quit Word and move the file that causes the problem when restored back to Trash; leave the good one in place.
        • If Word still quits, restore both files to their original locations.
      7. Quit Word again.
      8. Go to Home > Library > Application Support > Microsoft > Office > User Templates.
      9. Drag Normal.dotm to the Desktop.
      10. Start Word and test again:
        • If the problem stops, quit Word and move Normal.dotm from Desktop to Trash.
        • If the problem continues, restore Normal.dotm to its original folder.
    2. Test with a new macOS user account
      A corrupt macOS user profile can cause Office apps to crash. Create a new macOS user account and test Word there using a local document (e.g., on Desktop). If Word is stable in the new account, the issue is likely tied to the original profile and its preferences.
    3. Clean start macOS to rule out interference
      Perform a clean startup of macOS to see if background apps, add-ins, or utilities are interfering with Word. If Word runs normally in a clean startup, re-enable background items gradually to find the culprit.
    4. Repair disk permissions (older macOS)
      If using a macOS version that still supports Repair Disk Permissions:
      1. In Finder, select Go > Utilities.
      2. Open Disk Utility.
      3. Select the primary hard disk.
      4. Go to the First Aid tab and choose Repair Disk Permissions. Test Word again after the repair completes.
    5. Reinstall Office for Mac if crashes persist
      If none of the above resolves the random quitting, remove Office for Mac completely and reinstall it, as corrupt application files can cause repeated crashes.

    Additionally, because Word is closing and reopening recovered files, ensure important documents are saved frequently and consider checking the AutoRecover folder for any unsaved work if a crash occurs.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

    Was this answer helpful?