There is a serious disk error on file ~Word Work File S{A1F41F30-FB84-B649-9F8A-F0A7D2698BBF}.tmp

Anonymous
2016-05-30T19:08:24+00:00

everytime i save a word file on my mac i get this message. 

i'm using ms office v15.22.1. 

Please advise. Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2016-10-04T03:10:48+00:00

I had this issue for many months and it was very frustrating--It was so frequent that I switched to Pages for a while. Since I have updated Word (running V 15.28 (160927)) for 2-3 weeks, I have not had 1 serious error. I am keeping my fingers crossed. 

I'm on a late 2013 MBA 11, running El Cap 10.11.6

I thought it might be helpful to read a post from someone who has had some good luck...

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Anonymous
2016-09-14T17:39:21+00:00

Hi everyone,

On 9/13/16, we released update 15.26 (160910), the September feature update for Office 2016 for Mac. Please install the update by clicking Help > Check for Updates > Check for Updates. Our engineering team has been intensively working on the ‘serious disk error’ issue and feel that this latest update will resolve it.

If you continue to experience problems, please reply to this thread with the following so that we can further isolate the cause:

  1. A screenshot of the About dialog (that shows the Office build number).
  2. A screenshot of the serious disk error dialog.
  3. The output of running ls ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Application\ Support/Microsoft/Temp from Terminal.
  4. The output of the command defaults read  com.microsoft.Word from Terminal if the issue happens in Word; or defaults read com.microsoft.Outlook if the issue happens in Outlook.

If you continue to experience the same ‘serious disk error’ issue that you did before installing the update, let us know and we will reach out to you in a private message to see if you’re willing to have an engineer speak to you directly to get it resolved.

If you experience any other file-related issues (other than the ‘serious disk error’), let us know that, too.

Again, we apologize for the frustration around this issue, and hope that this solves it.

Best,

-Erik, Office Newsroom

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-06-21T13:25:58+00:00

    Just curious... was your computer asleep between sessions or did you shut down completely and cold boot?

    I only experienced the problem when I shut the lid of the computer with Word open and then returned to it the following day. My suspicion is that it's related to Word's temporary files and a stale macOS session.

    @pwatters, I you might be on to something here.  I got this error first thing this morning after letting Outlook run overnight.  (The thread was originally about Word, but since Microsoft replaced the old Outlook editor with the Word editor, the problem now appears in both apps.)

    My screen was asleep, but I've disabled sleep my Mac (by checking Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off checkbox in Energy Saver preference pane), 

    Of course, just because the computer didn't sleep doesn't mean something didn't happen during that time.

    FWIW, my Mac is joined to an Active Directory domain; I wonder if other affected users are also using Macs bound to AD?

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-06-25T01:08:35+00:00

    I think Steven's suspicion is correct.  I was having the same issues: editing numbered lists brought about the "serious disk error" message, as did trying to drag text, and undoing typing (plus, typing text caused it to show up in two different areas.  I was going nuts.  So based on your message, this is what I was doing, and this is what I did:

    What I was doing:  I'd have an open Word doc on my Mac.  When it was time to do something else, I would just close the laptop and move.  Thereafter I was having all the problems I mentioned.

    What I did: I saved the buggy file, closed it, then force quit Word.  I then looked for the file I had saved, and double clicked it. The file opened, and no double text, no errors on trying to undo something.  

    Going forward: I will always close the file before closing my laptop, and see if this change in workflow solves the problem.

    Hope this helps.

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  3. Jim G 134K Reputation points MVP
    2016-06-25T11:38:05+00:00

    This is quite good, but there's no recent reference as to which version of Word everyone is using. Would you be kind enough to go to the Word menu and choose About Word and then reply with the version information?

    If you are brave and want to try the latest beta version, go to the Help menu in Word and choose Check for Updates. In AutoUpdate.app join the Insider program and choose the Fast version. The beta version is where the most recent updates are available so you can find out the very soonest as to whether or not the problem has been fixed. You also get to interact with Microsoft directly in the Insider forum if you use the Fast build, but keep in mind it is not supported, has other bugs and issues that Microsoft wants feedback on, and involves a lot of downloading.

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