MS Word lagging on 2020 Apple M1 MacBook Pro

Anonymous
2024-05-18T01:38:19+00:00

EDIT: I uninstalled and reinstalled Word as an older version (16.84) and Word works perfectly well.

I have an Apple MacBook Pro M1 chip from late 2020. It works perfectly well. However, Word starts lagging when I use it for a few minutes. This is not an issue with my computer – all other programmes work perfectly well while Word is lagging.

I tried uninstalling Word and reinstalling it, but this problem has persisted. I have closed all other apps bar Word, but Word still lags. I have also tried moving documents out of my OneDrive folder so they weren't being autosaved onto the cloud, but the lag persisted. Running Activity Monitor on Mac does not show excessive strain on Memory, CPU etc. from Word.

I recently installed an update, and I wonder whether this is the cause? Stumped as to how to fix this issue.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | MacOS

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-05-26T00:11:03+00:00

    This is just an update after Mac support rolled back the version of Word.

    It works fine now, so I'm very relieved.

    Please note, though, that there was a comment somewhere in the thread suggesting rolling back Mac to a previous version, too.

    Mac support said this is not a good idea as it may impact Mac security/ protection features.

    For anyone finding it difficult to follow the instructions outlined in a thread about rolling back Word to another version , try online chat with Mac support.

    I did this yesterday and received a call within ten minutes.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-05-25T21:03:51+00:00

    I tried the following and it has been working since last evening:

    1. I deleted all the Microsoft apps
    2. I followed the link above and downloaded an older version of MICROSOFT WORD (16.84)
    3. I made sure to turn off the auto updates so Microsoft does not update that version and reintroduce the problem
    4. I turned off Onedrive so it stop syncing (I am not sure this matters but I had done it prior to steps 1-3 and I left it off)

    Before doing this, whenever I restarted the app or my computer, it work for about 45 mins before slowing down and ultimately crashing. And I have a brand new computer so I knew it was Word.

    I hope this works for you because I experienced the frustration first-hand

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-05-25T20:26:05+00:00

    this is a nightmare... help!

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-05-25T11:17:45+00:00

    Mac support downloaded a different version of Word ( go to page 1 of this thread for version details ). It seems to be working, but time will tell.

    • Call Mac support - they are super helpful and knowledgeable.

    Good luck, everyone

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-05-25T11:12:16+00:00

    MS phone support performed the task per your instructions. It worked for about 20 minutes, then crashed. Next, please fix this, as it has been over two weeks, and l am submitting tasks late. Not good enough MS

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