Word 2016 crashing when clicking on the File menu

Anonymous
2017-04-26T15:33:52+00:00

We have noticed that since this month’s updates have installed Word 2016 is crashing when clicking on the File menu when certain (not all) documents are open. 

Our initial investigations have revealed that if we open a document that works (a fresh .docx or any .doc) and while Word is still open try and open a problematic .docx it works.  If we try and open a problematic .docx with Word closed first, accessing the File menu causes Word to crash.  What’s interesting is that it doesn’t seem to be all .docx files, only certain ones, but for the moment we haven’t identified any commonality between the problem files, in fact most are simple documents with no embedded pictures, macros etc.

Removing the Update for Word 2016 (KB3178720) resolves the issue.  However, if we install this update on its own on a VM, it does not cause the issue, so it appears to be caused by a combination of updates released this month rather than just this particular update, but removing this one update resolves the problem.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2017-08-09T20:16:30+00:00

    Hi,

    Uninstalling and reinstalling Office is one of the most effective way to troubleshoot issues with it. Just to verify, were you able to perform the suggested troubleshooting steps provided from the previous posts?

    Regarding your concern, it would be best that you repair it first and check if that process will help instead of uninstalling and reinstalling. For steps on how to repair Office, please refer to this link:

    Repair an Office application

    Please update us if this workaround helps you to resolve the issue.

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  2. Anonymous
    2017-08-09T10:49:35+00:00

    I have the same problem for word 2016 and powerpoint apparently have the same issue but not excel. When I looked for the patch updates through install update viewer I couldn't find any of the patch updates mentioned below. While facing the same problems would you recommend that I would uninstall and reinstall microsoft office?

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  3. Anonymous
    2017-08-09T10:43:30+00:00

    I have the same problem but when I looked for the update file (KB3178720) in the viewer update it doesn't even exist. All other update patches exist like kb3179*** and others. Would you recommend to uninstall the microsoft office 2016 and reinstall it again would that fix the problem??

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-05-26T12:23:11+00:00

    This is the answer, tested a few of the Word files that were having issues and they now do not crash when clicking on 'File'.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-05-25T17:14:19+00:00

    Hi,

    do you use Windows 7?

    If yes, we activated the compatibility mode for word and excel.

    C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\16\winword.exe or excel.exe, right click, tab compatibility mode, activate the checkbox (it doesn´t matter in which mode), save, close all office apps -> try it again.

    For us was this the solution, not removing the windows updates.

    Cheers,

    Michael

    This worked. Thank you Michael!

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