My Word keeps freezing (Word for Mac)

Anonymous
2024-05-16T05:16:27+00:00

Hello,

I have Word 16.85 provided through my university. I have noticed this consistently in the passed few days. Every time I select my text and then try to change the bullet, my whole software across all the Word Windows freezes, the 'Microsoft Error Reporting' background app pops up and appears in the applications dock, and the window says it is unresponsive. I then have to either force quit or restart my entire device.

I did my research and it says to reinstall the latest AutoUpdate which I did, but that did nothing. I then completely reinstalled the entire Microsoft suite which 2 days later it has returned. I can't keep reinstalling the suite because I have limited downloads through my educational institution. I have contacted IT support from my university and they are unable to help but provide temporary solutions that makes my desktop app useless.

For context I have the latest MacBook pro, the device software is up to date with the latest IOS and my word says it doesn't need updating.

Please help, I have exams in 2 weeks and every time it freezes it deletes all my recent work and takes a minimum of 4 hours to find a solution (normally reinstalling the entire Microsoft suite).

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For education | MacOS

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Anonymous
2024-08-06T19:24:03+00:00

THANK YOU!! I thought I was going crazy. Had done a bunch of A/B testing prior to finding this thread.

The 'without Teams' link didn't work for me, but the other link did, so again, thank you so much!!

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-05-16T07:50:51+00:00

    Dear EmilyCT,

    Good day. Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community, and we are happy to help you.

    As per your description, your can’t use your Word Client for Mac correctly, it always prompted you an error massage.

    To troubleshoot the issue, please try the following steps, and check if it work for you:

    1. You could remove all Office license and reactive it. Reference: How to remove Office license files on a Mac - Microsoft Support
    2. Please run the Safe Mode on your Mac. Reference: Use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

    If above can’t work for you, please provide me more details and I would like to assist you further.

    1. Could you provide me your product version? Microsoft Word > About the Word.
    2. May I know which product license do you have?
    3. Please check if you could work correctly on Word for web.

    Your patience and understanding will be greatly appreciated.

    Sincerely,

    Claire | Microsoft Community Moderator

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-05-17T16:58:14+00:00

    Can confirm the same issue with Microsoft Office 16.85. Apple Macbook pro M1's ranging from 8GB-16GB of ram. Microsoft word crashes with little usage(s) of the computer but once a user starts typing on a document the program eventually freezes in under 20mins with an office 365 subscription

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  3. Jim G 134.1K Reputation points MVP
    2024-05-17T20:29:01+00:00

    What version of Mac OS do you use?

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-05-18T02:13:30+00:00

    Hello,

    I am using Work 16,85 and my Mac has Sonoma 14.5, I believe I have the educational product licence (simply whatever is provided by Universities). I can use the website office but I cannot depend on that, I will need word to do my exam and I find the website one slow and glitchy and will alter my ability to perform in exam conditions. I really need this issue with my desktop app fixed.

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