Cannot open downloaded Word documents after Windows 10

Sometimes it is necessary to completely remove Office, with a Fix it or even manually (by deleting files); see https://support.office.com/en-au/article/Uninstall-Office-2016-Office-2013-or-Office-365-from-a-Windows-computer-9dd49b83-264a-477a-8fcc-2fdf5dbf61d8?ui=en-US&rs=en-AU&ad=AU&fromAR=1 (Uninstall Office 2016, Office 2013, or Office 365 from a Windows computer). Then reinstall from your DVD or from your Office 365 account as discussed at https://products.office.com/en-us/download-back-up-restore-microsoft-office-products (Manage, download, back up, or restore Office products).

Stefan,

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I had completely uninstalled it three times before my initial post. It had been fine up until then, i.e. for a year when I'd first downloaded a copy of Office 2013 (not using 365) via Amazon. So each time it has been fully uninstalled (via the methodology you note) I have reinstalled it from the link at Amazon (which actually takes me to my Microsoft account). After each uninstall my computer was restarted to clean up any remaining "clutter."

This is the first time that a new install had not worked with a quirky program bug. It was a surprise to me. I would even go back to Windows 7, but no other program is giving me trouble and in fact most things work more smoothly. The initial transition (a week ago) was without incident. It is conceivable that I'd have the problems even if I reverted to the old operating system (and other things might surface). Were I having other significant glitches I would have done that already. And it seems odd (maybe not so much) that the "repair" statement only occurs with opening Word, not with any of the other programs in Office 2013. I am not anxious to pay full retail for any other MS format given these circumstances.

I have seen all sorts of hypotheticals on the web regarding this sort of problem, but it does not make sense for me to keep chasing them. Since OpenOffice can save in an older Word format, that will have to do. Were I writing/editing a major manuscript, I'd have to work on my Macbook (OSX Yosemite) with that older Word version.

          Joel

Addendum: I have also been through Quick Repair and the full repair option (the latter just seems to uninstall and reinstall as I'd already tried).

See Paul Seys response on the last page of

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-word/cannot-open-word-files-after-upgrading-to-windows/67f3e4ea-ad68-40d2-a86f-14e3d4b8518b

I am trying to get that response extracted from that thread and then locked and pinned to the top of the forum.

Doug,

Thanks. I am new to this community and have to find my way around. The specific message I get is:

"We're sorry but Word has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly. Word will need to close as a result.

Would you like to repair now?"

When I select the repair button option the message closes and that's it. Nothing happens. I'll see if I can track a thread with that specific phrasing and if not open a new one.

The specific message I get is:

"We're sorry but Word has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly. Word will need to close as a result.

Would you like to repair now?"

See the Knowledge Base article at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3091375.