'Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable.' What is the simplest way to resolve this please!

Anonymous
2012-01-11T10:55:22+00:00

When I open Word I get this message every time: 'Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable.' Word then crashes very often without autosaving. 

I've found many people asking this question but I utterly do not understand the answers people have given them! Is there a simple way to resolve this - I know literally nothing about computers! Please help with the easiest solution possible.

Many thanks!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2012-01-11T20:35:19+00:00

When I open Word I get this message every time: 'Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable.' Word then crashes very often without autosaving. 

I've found many people asking this question but I utterly do not understand the answers people have given them! Is there a simple way to resolve this - I know literally nothing about computers! Please help with the easiest solution possible.

Many thanks!

The error message "Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable". Can be caused by incorrect registry values in the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\User Shell Folders.

Click Start and in the start search field, type

Regedit

and press enter.

In the registry editor, browse to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\User Shell Folders

On the right hand pane, check the value data for Cache.

It has to be %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files.

If it is different, double click on Cache and type:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

under value data and click ok. Close the registry and  restart the computer and check if it works.

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-09-30T18:30:58+00:00

    Hi Doug,

    I don't have word open when Im trying to upload a file and have tried a .doc and a .docx file and still ge the same error message.  I don't think its that particular job site as looking at other people's queries they are getting the same message when trying to upload files to any websites (including other job websites).

    All I have done is opened the website, gone to the job and clicked 'apply' then where it says upload a file I have browsed to the folder and clicked on the file I want to upload.  Its then that I get the message "word could not create the work file.  Check temporary environment variable" and I am then unable to proceed.

    If I then click submit the website removes the file from the 'upload' box and doesn't move any further forward.

    It's IE - I get it too sometimes but not if I use FF. I'm not sure at all what's going on but it does entail selecting the file and that involves the Windows Explorer which may be doing something odd when invoked from IE by these websites.

    Hugh

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-09-12T06:17:57+00:00

    None of this helps my problem.  I am getting the "Word could not create the work file.  Check the temp environment variable" when I open an existing Word document for editing.  What happens is that I can open the document in Read Only version.  So I can't edit it.  Ooops! Somehow the directory the file was in had been changed to Read Only!  All I had to do was right click on the Directory, Open Properties, and click on the Blue box next to Read Only, then Apply, then OK.

     

    I wonder how the directory got set to Read Only?           

    Good evening,  I'm not much of a geek but suddenly having the same issue as these others.  The above quote makes sense to fix my issue, but where do I find the Directory??

    Thanks

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-07-19T00:58:07+00:00

    Was getting this error when simply trying to run Word 2007 on a Win7 machine. All of my registry settings were correct as listed in this thread but to no avail. Ultimately disabling User Account Control worked for me. Even if you're running as an account with administrator rights, you might want to try that if nothing else here has. Just my 2 cents.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-07-16T20:26:44+00:00

    Yeah - thanks Doug replying a while back. I forgot to thank you. Word does try to create a temporary file to represent the document being previewed, so I would imagine your solution would work, though I did not try it. Thanks for being so active and helping people. We appreciate it...

    Brian

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