Troubleshoot Word

Problem solvers

If you have trouble opening a Word document, or it is not working well, try these suggestions:

FIRST
Delete all of Word's temp files.

1. Go to Edit>Replace
   
2. Make sure to include all of your local drives in the search and that "include subfolders" is checked.
   
3. Search for:
   *.tmp
   
4. Then delete all these temp files.
   

Word leaves shards of temp files wherever the document file was stored. Word's temp files start with a tilde (~), so in most cases you can delete: ~*.* SECOND

1. Use Edit>Find to locate Normal.DOT.
   
2. Rename it (Normal.OLD) or delete it. Word will create a new copy when it restarts.
   

The only caveat here is be careful that you don't have important macros stored in Normal.DOT. If you rename, you can recover them. THIRD
If that does not correct the problem, try this next step:

1. Go to Start>Run and type:
   winword.exe /a
   (Note that there is a space before the /a)
   
2. Then press ENTER. This starts Word without any add-ins, global templates, or Normal.DOT.
   Look in Tools>Templates and Add-ins to see if there are any files that can be un-checked.
   

If you need even more help, go to: 
Knowledge base:

 How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start Word or when you work in Word



See all Topics