Word for Mac Insider Build (16.92.24112016) Hanging When Opening Files

Anonymous
2024-11-23T20:31:27+00:00

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing a frustrating issue with Word for Mac (Insider version 16.92.24112016). When I try to open a file, the application immediately hangs and then locks up. I’m unable to do anything until I force quit the app. This problem started happening randomly today. If I open Word in safe mode or just hold control to take it to the main welcome screen, its fine until I open any document and then it immediately locks up and hangs.

Steps I’ve Tried:

  1. Rebooted the Mac and applied all available macOS updates.
  2. Uninstalled Word, installed version 16.91 from the official Microsoft website, and then updated it back to 16.92.24112016.
  3. Cleared the container cache by navigating to ~/Library/Containers/ and removing the com.microsoft.Word folder.

Unfortunately, none of these steps resolved the issue.

I attached a photo showing what the toolbar looks like when it hangs, it just spins showing the text formatting.

Additional Details:

• macOS version: macOS Sequoia - 15.2 (Build 24C5089c)

• Type of file opened: Blank Doc and Any Word Doc

If anyone has encountered a similar problem or has suggestions for other troubleshooting steps, I’d greatly appreciate your help!

Thanks in advance for your support!

Microsoft 365 Insider | Word | MacOS

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  1. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP
    2024-11-24T13:40:08+00:00

    Because Word is OK when booting to Mac OS Safe Mode, the problem is not with installation or version issues. Most likely you have a bad or duplicate font, or a third party application that is causing interference with Microsoft Word.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-11-24T14:09:59+00:00

    Though I do agree it has to do with some kind of content causing it, I think I narrowed it down to either a file with ( ) in the file name or a table I copied and pasted from excel with data in it. Reason I think it's the table is I was able to get it to load for a bit and I copied the table data out of the document. When I tried to move it to excel to keep it, excel then locked up immediately and hung. The table though is just CSV data, nothing more which is weird.

    Whatever the culprit is, it totally messes up the application permanently and only way to resolve is to reinstall the specific product. I reported the issue to Microsoft for now.

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  3. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP
    2024-11-25T15:52:46+00:00

    Using special characters in any file name, folder or volume is an easy way to cause a lot of trouble.

    Characters to avoid

    https://www.mtu.edu/umc/services/websites/writing/characters-avoid/

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