MS Word lagging on 2020 Apple M1 MacBook Pro

Please note this thread is being closed.

I can see that many people are affected, but this thread now covers many different configurations of processors, operating systems, and versions of Microsoft Word. It's not likely (but is remotely possible) all these different software and hardware combinations have the same root cause. If you have gotten this far in the thread, you probably can see various solutions offered with varying degrees of success.

If Word is running sluggish for you, please start a new question so that your specific situation can be addressed.

Please be sure to include the following information in your question:

• The version of Word you are having trouble with. Use the Menu Bar and choose Word > About Microsoft Word to display your version.
• Did the problem begin immediately after installing a specific update of Office or Mac OS?
• The version of Mac OS you are running and the processor (Intel, M1, M2, etc). Click the Apple in the upper left corner and choose About This Mac to display your version.
• Is the problem with all documents or a specific document?
• Where is the document stored (startup volume, network drive, flash drive, Box, iCloud, OneDrive, Sharepoint, etc)?
• Is the problem related to a specific feature of Word that you used?
• Do you run any "helper" applications such as additional spelling and grammar checking, malware protection, bibliography add-ins or other add-ins?.
• Is the problem file stored locally or elsewhere?
• Have you changed the default location of your AutoRecovery file to a network or location other than your startup volume?
• If the problem is with a specific document, can you identify what changed just before the slowdown started?
• Can you provide a sample file? Why a sample file is important for troubleshooting - - - - - - - and how to do it.

Now, here are some tips to follow that might fix your issue:

If you use Track Changes, please click here for specific advice.

The Compress Pictures dialog box lets you choose the degree of compression you want and which pictures to compress.

1. Select the picture you want to compress.
2. On the ribbon, select Picture Format.
3. Click the Compress Pictures button
4. Select an option in the Picture Quality box. The highest resolution is listed first, and the lowest resolution is listed last.
5. If you have cropped any pictures, you can reduce the file size even more by selecting the Delete cropped areas of pictures check box.
6. Click Selected pictures only or All pictures in this file. Compression will be applied to all pictures in your document.

Switch to Draft view.

Use Styles instead of direct formatting.

Again, if these tips don't solve your problem, please accept this invitation to post a question specific to your situation so it can be addressed. Please, post a brand new question if your setup does not exactly match the setup someone else has posted about. If you post a "me too" response and your setup is different, your reply may have to be split off as a new question which is a burden for the moderators.

Hi, good you've been able to downgrade, but rubbish its still so slow. Did you uninstall the newer version of word?

I used CleanmyMac to do a clean out at the same time.

Ihave Version 16.89. How do you downgrade to 16.84?, I am not able to find a way.

All MAC after 2021 change processor from Intel to ARM. M1, M2, M3 .... etc. I think the issue is compatibility with these processors. I dont know if people using Word i a Mac with Intel still faces same problem. There has been compatibility issues in many other softwares usually. ARM usually emulates an Intel processor and work that way, however new packages were developed specifically for ARM processors and the performance is way better than for Windows. I was facing lag issues very similar in the past with Matlab once I started using my M1 Max until they developed ARM specific software which has been working amazingly good. Some software provides the option to chose between Intel or Arm for installing software for Mac.

Which computer do you have?

Thanks I will try to install that version

This is my activity monitor CPU, sometimes says not responding or it is with %CPU 100 or more.

I was successfully able to downgrade to 16.84, however it is still very slow to use. It does not get stuck like the 16.89. However the performance is very bad anyways.

Hi,

Before May is was version 16.84 and that worked fine. It's when I updated that it went wrong for me, so managed to go back to the 16.84 version after a few weeks. Im not sure what ARM is, sorry, so cannot help there. I have to deliver my phd thesis at the end of Nov, so Im not updating until after its submitted. If I were you I'd uninstall your Word version and buy the earlier one and install that but turn updates off, that should get you through your phd at least.

Hope that helps.