Word Keeps Crashing or Not Responding — How to Fix It

Microsoft Word hanging, freezing, or crashing repeatedly is a common problem and almost always fixable without reinstalling Office. The cause is usually one of a small number of things: a misbehaving add-in, a corrupt template file, an outdated installation, or a problem with a specific document. This guide walks through each fix in the order that is most likely to work, starting with the fastest to try.

Step 1: Start Word in Safe Mode

Safe Mode launches Word with all add-ins and customisations disabled. If Word runs stably in Safe Mode, you know the problem is being caused by an add-in or a startup setting, not by Word itself.

On Windows:

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type winword /safe and press Enter.
3. Word opens with “(Safe Mode)” in the title bar.

Alternatively, hold Ctrl while clicking the Word icon in your taskbar or Start menu — Word will ask if you want to start in Safe Mode.

On Mac:

1. Hold the Option key while clicking the Word icon in the Dock.
2. Word will start in Safe Mode.

If Word works fine in Safe Mode, the problem is almost certainly an add-in. Move to Step 2. If Word crashes or freezes even in Safe Mode, skip ahead to Step 3 (repairing Office).

Step 2: Disable Add-ins One by One

COM add-ins (third-party tools that plug into Word) are the most common cause of crashes and freezing. The goal is to identify which one is the problem.

1. Close Safe Mode and open Word normally.
2. Go to File > Options > Add-ins.
3. At the bottom of the screen, set the Manage dropdown to COM Add-ins and click Go.
4. You will see a list of installed add-ins with checkboxes. Untick all of them and click OK.
5. Restart Word. If the crashing stops, an add-in was the problem.
6. Re-enable the add-ins one at a time, restarting Word after each one, until the crash returns. The last one you enabled is the culprit.

Common problematic add-ins include PDF creators, grammar tools (like Grammarly), older versions of Adobe Acrobat integration, and antivirus software that hooks into Office. Once you have identified the add-in, check whether a newer version is available, or simply leave it disabled if you do not need it.

Also check Word Add-ins and Disabled Items in the same Manage dropdown. Re-enabling disabled items can sometimes restore functionality that Word has incorrectly blocked.

Step 3: Repair Office

If Safe Mode did not help and disabling add-ins has not fixed the problem, the Office installation itself may be damaged. Running a repair replaces corrupted files without affecting your documents or settings.

On Windows:

1. Close all Office applications.
2. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps (Windows 11) or Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features (Windows 10).
3. Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
4. Click Modify and then select Quick Repair.
5. Let it run — it takes a few minutes and does not need internet access.
6. Open Word again and test. If it still crashes, run Online Repair from the same menu. Online Repair does a more thorough job but requires a download and takes longer.

On Mac:

1. Open any Office app and go to Help > Check for Updates.
2. Install all available updates. This fixes many stability problems on Mac.

Step 4: Delete the Normal.dotm Template

Normal.dotm is the default template Word uses for every blank document. If this file becomes corrupt — which happens occasionally after a crash or a bad update — it can cause Word to freeze or crash on launch, or whenever you create a new document.

1. Close Word completely.
2. Open File Explorer and navigate to: C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\
3. The AppData folder is hidden. To see it, go to View > Show > Hidden items in File Explorer.
4. Rename Normal.dotm to Normal.dotm.old.
5. Open Word. It will create a new Normal.dotm automatically.

If Word is now stable, you can delete Normal.dotm.old. Note that any custom default styles or macros you had saved in your Normal.dotm will be gone — you will need to set them up again in the new file.

On Mac, the file is at: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates/Normal.dotm

Step 5: Clear the AutoRecover Cache

A large or corrupt AutoRecover folder can cause Word to slow down or hang on launch while it tries to process old recovery files. Clearing it is safe — you will lose any unsaved drafts stored there, but if Word is crashing anyway those drafts may already be inaccessible.

1. Close Word.
2. Navigate to: C:\Users\[YourName]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Word\
3. Look for any files with the extension .asd. These are AutoRecover files.
4. Move them to a temporary folder on your Desktop in case you need them, then delete them from the Word folder.
5. Open Word and check if it launches cleanly.

Step 6: Update Office

Microsoft releases regular updates for Microsoft 365 that include stability fixes. If you are on an older monthly build, an update may already have resolved your exact crash.

1. Open Word and go to File > Account.
2. Click Update Options > Update Now.
3. Wait for the updates to download and install, then restart Word.

To check which version you are on, go to File > Account > About Word. You can compare the build number against Microsoft’s release notes at support.microsoft.com to see if there are known crash fixes in newer versions.

What to Do If a Specific File Causes Crashes

If Word is generally stable but one particular document reliably causes it to crash, the file itself may be the problem rather than Word.

Open in Compatibility Mode or Convert the Format

1. Try opening the document and immediately going to File > Info > Convert. This upgrades older .doc format files to the current .docx format and can resolve corruption introduced by the old format.
2. If the file will not open at all, try opening Word first, then go to File > Open > Browse, select the file, click the dropdown arrow next to the Open button, and choose Open and Repair.

Recover Text From a Damaged File

1. Go to File > Open > Browse.
2. In the file type dropdown, select Recover Text from Any File.
3. Select your document. Word will extract the raw text, discarding formatting, images and any elements that may be causing the crash.
4. Copy the recovered text into a new document and reformat it.

When to Consider a Clean Reinstall

If you have worked through all the steps above and Word is still crashing, a clean reinstall is the nuclear option. Before doing this, use the official Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant tool (downloadable from support.microsoft.com) which automates many of the diagnostic steps and can often fix things that manual repairs cannot.

For a full reinstall: use the Microsoft Office Uninstall Support Tool rather than just removing it from Programs and Features. This removes all registry entries and leftover files. Then log into office.com with your Microsoft account and reinstall from scratch. The whole process takes about 20 to 30 minutes on a typical broadband connection.