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
    2016-07-22T00:39:27+00:00

    I also have been getting this insufficient error message:

    ![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=17205d5c-8be8-4431-882b-2163e49f4227)

    Interestingly the first time I saw this was with Excel when I tried to open another spreadsheet with on loaded.  Happened at least a month ago and was surprised because I'm on a Mac with a 3 Terabyte drive with oodles of free space.  Hasn't occurred in the since the .23 update but then I have stressed Excel.

    What's wild is that I'm also running Office 365 in a Parallels Windows 10 session that is on a restricted virtual drive yet never get these errors when running the Window's version of 365 on the same machine.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-07-23T08:17:17+00:00

    Dear David,

    following I will gladly answer to your questions. Notably, the problem occurs on two separate Macs I am working with. However, both computers are quite similar in their software setup.

    1. Currently OS X 10.11.6 and Word 15.24 on both Macs. I only recall that the problem occurred for the first time when I was intensively working on my thesis (around April/May). Usually, I install updates immediately after release, therefore the issue must have started with either Word 15.21 or 15.22 and/or OS X 10.11.4/10.11.5.
    2. On Mac A, Avast Mac Security is installed which is continuously scanning files. On Mac B, none of the software you listed is installed.
    3. "~Word Work File S{...}.tmp."
    4. The error shows up after Word has been running for long time, primarily when I am switching to other apps and then returning to Word. However, it seems not to be correlated with the number of open documents. As I mentioned, I noticed the error in the writing of my thesis which was a large document of more than 100 pages and a lot of images (file size 14,5 MB), but I was able to reproduce it with other files of 10 pages and more. Frequently, the issue occurs when I am waking up my Mac from standby (not having fully quit Word before sleeping).
    5. No (default Normal.dotm file that came with Word).
    6. On one machine, EndNote Cite While You Write plugin is installed (EndNote X7.5.3), on the other machine, there are no Add-Ins installed at all.
    7. Users with admin rights on both Macs.
    8. Both relaunching Word and rebooting the Mac seem to temporarily resolve the issue.

    Additionally, other errors pop up that might be related to some kind of disk writing problem, including:

    • "Word could not create the work file. Check the amount of disk space on your startup disk." Sometimes followed by a crash of MS Word.
    • "Word is unable to save the AutoRecover file in the location you have specified. Make sure that you have specifies a valid location for AutoRecover files in Preferences, and that you have permission to write files to the location you specified." I also tried to change the location where AutoRecover files are saved  – without success.
    • Sometimes Word is not able to save changes to a document that already exists. In that case, the „Save as...“ dialog box pops up and forces me to save the document as a new file.

    I am not using Outlook, hence I can’t tell if the issue is also occurring there. However, I did not experience any related problems with Excel or PowerPoint.

    I hope these answers are helpful. Don’t hesitate to contact me if I can provide further information. 

    Best regards,

    Max

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-07-24T10:50:49+00:00

    I have had the same problem ever since upgrading to El Capitan and MS Word 2016. It occurs on my MacBook Pro late-2011 and on my brand new 2016 iMac. After rebooting and restarting Word, I can work for an hour or two before the error messages start coming. They occur in sequence, as follows:

    ERROR MESSAGE 1

    There is a serious disk error on file ~Word Work File S{61C92DBF-4607-7F48-87CF-D407B1C077F3}.tmp.

    ERROR MESSAGE 2

    Word could not create the work file. Check the amount of disk space on your startup disk.

    ERROR MESSAGE 3

    Word cannot save or create this file. The disk may be full or write-protected. Try one or more of the following:

    * Free more memory.

    * Make sure that the disk you want to save the file on is not full, write-protected, or damaged.

    Sometimes I can dismiss the first message and save the document. But after the additional error messages start coming, I am prompted to a Save As... rather than a Save. Then it won’t save anything and I have to Force Quit.

    All disks check out fine. All other programs run fine, including PowerPoint. I tried turning off Autosave, but that did not solve the problem. I have run the disk utilities and repaired permissions, etc. I reset the PRAM.

    There is obviously a systematic issue with MS Word and OS 10.11.3. PLEASE FIX IT.

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