Hi, I have just purchased Office 2013 and have used Word for a couple of minutes, but it repeatedly stops responding in specific scenarios. It is far too buggy for me to migrate from my previous version of Office. Situations in which it freezes: Opening the options menu On start up (when it claims that it is not the default program) - I fixed this one by making it the default program for everything Closing the word document and choosing not to save Scrolling through a very long document Excel does not seem to have the same bugs, and I have successfully reached the options page on that program to turn off graphics acceleration. The main reason I purchased Office 2013 was for Word and I would really like to have it functioning properly. I am currently very disappointed and annoyed. Other (possibly) relevant details Platform: Windows 7 Other Microsoft Office 2003 Microsoft 2010 Starter (pre-installed on laptop purchase) Thanks for the help.

See the KnowledgeBase article "How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word" at: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/921541 or, see the Article “Why do I get a "stopped working message when I start my Office application at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/why-cant-i-start-my-office-2013-application-HA104011864.aspx Or https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3091375 If that does not help, then you might remove all traces of the Office installation by downloading the fixit from the following article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501 saving it to your computer and then running it. Then, after re-starting your computer, reinstall Office by logging into www.office.com/myaccount with your registered email address and click Install Office. BEFORE REMOVING THE OFFICE INSTALLATION, MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO LOG INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AND THAT OFFICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH IT! If you actually have Office (locally installed) rather than the subscription version provided through Office 365, then you can't get Office through your Microsoft Account. Instead, see https://products.office.com/en-us/download-back-up-restore-microsoft-office-products

I have reloaded Word 3-4 times and it works for a while then after a couple days, it freezes when ever I try to open it . I'm a senior citizen. Why can it not work?

Thanks, but I'm using office pro 2013. Does anyone know of fixes or workarounds for this issue? Workarounds for Word 2016 might work for 2013, and I'm willing to try just about anything at this point. Fortunately, I'll be leaving this company within a couple months, so I'll not have to deal with this much longer. I've tried everything short of re-scratching the OS and reinstalling, but I'm hesitant to waste a couple of days to get back to a usable system, or four days to get my whole tool chain reinstalled.

2016 has the best features but is very slow and freezes so much that it is basically unusable to someone who types for a living.

I have been dealing with this issue on Windows 7 Enterprise and Word 2013 for over a year now (not with the other apps in Office, or at least not nearly as bad). I have tried all of the fixes described in this thread at least once, to no avail. I thought it might be a slowdown caused by accessing files on the corporate network, but it does this even on local files. I though it might be because of having multiple files open; still happens with a single file open. I have spent countless hours digging through system logs, the Registry, Task Manager, looking for something "off". So far it just looks like Word 2013 is a POS. As an aside, I did upgrade from Office 2007, and I have Lync 2013 (aka "Skype for Business") and Project Pro 2016 installed, but these problems predate those installations. The ONE THING I've found that "helps" is using the Windows-Tab feature to do the 3-D application switch (similar the ALT+Tab for the regular switch, which does nothing). If I do Win+Tab just once, the app doesn't switch, but comes back to Word (sometimes after several second's delay) and The failure is manifesting as an extreme slowdown, but not the typing issue that others have reported. This is more of a "do anything except typing" slowdown. Try to select some text with the mouse, no dice; the insertion point disappears and the Win+Tab brings it back. Try selecting with Shift + Arrow, and it selects, but then I can't copy (CTRL+C, right-click and select Copy from the menu or Copy from the ribbon bar). A Windows+Tab may bring back the selection/insertion point, but copy still doesn't work. It behaves as if Word loses focus or is busy doing something, but Win+Tab seems to speed up the response. Sometimes just moving focus to another app will cause Word to come back. But EVERY TIME I try to edit, select, copy, paste, format, anything, Word just goes off into the wild blue. Word works in Safe Mode, but ick. Too much loss of functionality. I'm going to try using LibreOffice as some have suggested to open the file. If saving from LibreOffice fixes the problems, I'll post again. Otherwise, if LibreOffice works better, I'm going to stick with it for editing; I've wasted 3 hours today along messing around with this piece of effluent, and I'm about done with it.

Office 2013 Word Keeps Freezing (Not responding)

Anonymous

Hi,

I have just purchased Office 2013 and have used Word for a couple of minutes, but it repeatedly stops responding in specific scenarios.

It is far too buggy for me to migrate from my previous version of Office.

Situations in which it freezes:

Opening the options menu
On start up (when it claims that it is not the default program) - I fixed this one by making it the default program for everything
Closing the word document and choosing not to save
Scrolling through a very long document

Excel does not seem to have the same bugs, and I have successfully reached the options page on that program to turn off graphics acceleration.

The main reason I purchased Office 2013 was for Word and I would really like to have it functioning properly.

I am currently very disappointed and annoyed.

Other (possibly) relevant details

Platform: Windows 7

Other

Microsoft Office 2003

Microsoft 2010 Starter (pre-installed on laptop purchase)

Thanks for the help.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

88 answers

Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2017-12-24T21:16:20+00:00

See the KnowledgeBase article "How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word" at:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/921541

or, see the Article “Why do I get a "stopped working message when I start my Office application at:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/why-cant-i-start-my-office-2013-application-HA104011864.aspx

Or

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3091375

If that does not help, then you might remove all traces of the Office installation by downloading the fixit from the following article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501

saving it to your computer and then running it.

Then, after re-starting your computer, reinstall Office by logging into www.office.com/myaccountwith your registered email address and click Install Office.

BEFORE REMOVING THE OFFICE INSTALLATION, MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO LOG INTO YOUR ACCOUNT AND THAT OFFICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH IT!

If you actually have Office (locally installed) rather than the subscription version provided through Office 365, then you can't get Office through your Microsoft Account. Instead, see

https://products.office.com/en-us/download-back-up-restore-microsoft-office-products
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Anonymous

2017-12-24T17:44:34+00:00

I have reloaded Word 3-4 times and it works for a while then after a couple days, it freezes when ever I try to open it . I'm a senior citizen. Why can it not work?
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Anonymous

2017-11-14T18:50:16+00:00

Thanks, but I'm using office pro 2013. Does anyone know of fixes or workarounds for this issue? Workarounds for Word 2016 might work for 2013, and I'm willing to try just about anything at this point.

Fortunately, I'll be leaving this company within a couple months, so I'll not have to deal with this much longer. I've tried everything short of re-scratching the OS and reinstalling, but I'm hesitant to waste a couple of days to get back to a usable system, or four days to get my whole tool chain reinstalled.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2017-11-14T17:10:34+00:00

2016 has the best features but is very slow and freezes so much that it is basically unusable to someone who types for a living.
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Anonymous

2017-10-17T23:30:02+00:00

I have been dealing with this issue on Windows 7 Enterprise and Word 2013 for over a year now (not with the other apps in Office, or at least not nearly as bad). I have tried all of the fixes described in this thread at least once, to no avail. I thought it might be a slowdown caused by accessing files on the corporate network, but it does this even on local files. I though it might be because of having multiple files open; still happens with a single file open. I have spent countless hours digging through system logs, the Registry, Task Manager, looking for something "off". So far it just looks like Word 2013 is a POS. As an aside, I did upgrade from Office 2007, and I have Lync 2013 (aka "Skype for Business") and Project Pro 2016 installed, but these problems predate those installations.

The ONE THING I've found that "helps" is using the Windows-Tab feature to do the 3-D application switch (similar the ALT+Tab for the regular switch, which does nothing). If I do Win+Tab just once, the app doesn't switch, but comes back to Word (sometimes after several second's delay) and

The failure is manifesting as an extreme slowdown, but not the typing issue that others have reported. This is more of a "do anything except typing" slowdown. Try to select some text with the mouse, no dice; the insertion point disappears and the Win+Tab brings it back. Try selecting with Shift + Arrow, and it selects, but then I can't copy (CTRL+C, right-click and select Copy from the menu or Copy from the ribbon bar). A Windows+Tab may bring back the selection/insertion point, but copy still doesn't work.

It behaves as if Word loses focus or is busy doing something, but Win+Tab seems to speed up the response. Sometimes just moving focus to another app will cause Word to come back. But EVERY TIME I try to edit, select, copy, paste, format, anything, Word just goes off into the wild blue.

Word works in Safe Mode, but ick. Too much loss of functionality.

I'm going to try using LibreOffice as some have suggested to open the file. If saving from LibreOffice fixes the problems, I'll post again. Otherwise, if LibreOffice works better, I'm going to stick with it for editing; I've wasted 3 hours today along messing around with this piece of effluent, and I'm about done with it.
Was this answer helpful?

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