Word will not operate

Follow these troubleshooting steps on the Mac to get Word working:

1. Install the latest Office updates
   1. Open any working Office app (for example, Excel or PowerPoint).
   2. On the Help menu, select Check for Updates.
   3. In the updates window, select Automatically keep Microsoft apps up to date.
   4. Select Update and install all available updates.
   5. After updates complete, try starting Word again.
2. If Word crashes or will not open documents
   1. Exit all Office for Mac apps.
   2. Clear AutoRecovery content:
      • In Finder, select Go > Home.
      • Open Documents > Microsoft User Data > Office Autorecovery.
      • Move the contents to the desktop (do not delete yet).
      • Start Word and test.
   3. Reset Word preferences:
      • Exit all Office apps.
      • In Finder, select Go > Home > Library (hold OPTION while clicking Go if Library is hidden).
      • Open Preferences and move com.microsoft.word.plist to the desktop.
      • Open Preferences > Microsoft and move com.microsoft.word.prefs.plist to the desktop.
      • Start Word and test. If Word works, the moved files can be trashed.
   4. Reset the Normal template:
      • Exit Office apps.
      • In Home > Library > Application Support > Microsoft > Office > User Templates, move the file named Normal to the desktop.
      • Start Word and test.
3. If Word shows “Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close”
   1. Test with a new macOS user account to rule out a corrupt profile, following the steps in Testing your user account to troubleshoot Office for Mac applications.
   2. Perform a clean startup of macOS to check for interference from other software, using Perform a clean startup to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac.
   3. If the issue persists, completely remove and reinstall Office for Mac using the appropriate uninstall guidance for the installed version, then reinstall Microsoft 365 and sign in again.
4. If Word crashes specifically after upgrading macOS and a WordRake add-in is installed
   • Update the WordRake add-in using the update provided by WordRake, or remove the add-in from Word. The crash issue caused by WordRake on newer macOS versions is fixed by their update or by removing the add-in.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, the next actions are to:

• Verify Word opens correctly when logged in as a different macOS user (to confirm whether the problem is user-specific).
• Check for problematic third‑party fonts or corrupted documents if the failure occurs only with specific files.

References:

• Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Word for Mac
• WordRake add-in causing Word for Mac to crash since upgrading to Catalina (OSX 15.0)
• Word for Mac error: "Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close"
• Word for Mac document stops responding when you try to open a document
• Error: [Filename] uses a file type that is blocked from opening in this version
• "Microsoft program cannot be opened because of a problem" error when you start an Office program
• How to fix my MS Word? - Microsoft Q&A
• Microsoft Office apps for Mac quit unexpectedly - Microsoft Q&A
• we are sorry, but word has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly. Word will need to be closed as a result. Would you like us to repair now? - Microsoft Q&A
• How can I get office 365 to work? - Microsoft Q&A