Updating office and getting an error message (Office for Windows)

Anonymous
2020-02-11T19:34:37+00:00

I have tried to open a word / excel document. 

It says it is updating, please wait a moment. 

After a few minutes I get a message saying: 

WINWORD.EXE - Application Error - This application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142). Click OK to close the application.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

137 answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2020-07-16T00:19:27+00:00

    I am able to kill it, and then repair office, but it's slow and aggravating. 

    How do I block the update (regedit is fine), because every time it tries and fails, so there's no point in trying.

    When Microsoft fixes this problem so that the update will actually "take" it'll be worth updating.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Stefan Blom 351.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2020-07-16T07:56:19+00:00

    See https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2770432/how-to-revert-to-an-earlier-version-of-office-2013-or-office-2016-clic.

    Note that reverting to an older release shouldn't be necessary, though. Slowness is not a known issue in recent builds/versions of Word, as far as I am aware. Further troubleshooting may be required.

    Was this answer helpful?

    2 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2020-07-16T09:07:50+00:00

    Thanks for the suggestion on the updates, I will try it!  8-)

    The "slow and aggravating" is the Office repair process each day after terminating the failed update.

    Once Office is repaired it works fine (no speed issues).

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2020-07-17T18:15:08+00:00

    Same issue as others here. I can access office files through onedrive in the web applet, but whether I try repair or not, the updating process fails. I am running Office 365 on a family subscription (Windows 10 ASUS Vivobook).

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2020-07-17T18:19:46+00:00

    Seems to have been resolved by installing a .net framework update.

    Was this answer helpful?

    5 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments