Jan 25, 2019  That is not the case with Microsoft word. Yes, it has functions that other word processors don't. I downloaded it specifically to use the 'Compare Documents' function which Pages does not have. It crashed on me four times in the first five minutes and even made my Mac freeze. Jan 22, 2017  Microsoft office stopped working on my mac. I can't open excel, powerpoint, or word, I have a mac book air -Answered by a verified Mac Support Specialist We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. Launch System Preferences and go to Network Advanced. Next click the DNS tab and then the Add (+) button at the bottom. Now enter the following addresses: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 then click OK. Launch, any of the Office 2016 apps, then click Help Check for Updates then click Install.

Last updated: February 2020

Word for Mac crashes and slow performance

Issues affecting Word for Mac features and add-ins

Issues with fonts in Office for macOS [WORKAROUND]

ISSUE

Users may see issues with fonts when using version 16.9 of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote and Microsoft PowerPoint on macOS.

Toolbars missing in Word for Mac. Microsoft Word for Mac; In this article. Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post. While using Word for Mac one or more Toolbars are missing and cannot be added. Apr 16, 2018  Resolution. On the Go menu, click Home. Open Documents. Open Microsoft User Data. Open the Office Autorecovery folder. Note You do not have to delete files in this folder. You can copy or move these files to the desktop. Test the application. Apr 16, 2018  Now, open the Microsoft folder (in Preferences), and drag com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist to the desktop. Note If you have Service Pack 2 installed, open Application Support Microsoft instead of Preferences Microsoft. Do you see the error? Quit Word, and drag one of the files back to its default location and test again. May 24, 2011  Microsoft Word 2008 will not open on my Mac!! It used to work fine for the past 3 years. But now when i try to open it, it just says that it has encountered a problem and needs to close. Like a fool about 2 weeks ago I downloaded something calle.

Symptoms:

  • Text appears garbled or in a different font

  • Fonts not appearing in font picker

STATUS: WORKAROUND

We recommend you check the installed versions of the font. If you have multiple versions, then make sure the latest version of the font is active.

For more information, read about how to fix Issues with fonts in Office for macOS

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Note

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

Symptoms

While using Word for Mac one or more Toolbars are missing and cannot be added.

Cause

This behavior can be caused by one of these things:

  • The oval button in the upper-right corner of the document was clicked. This button 'toggles' display of toolbars on and off.
  • There is an issue with the Normal template in Word.
  • The toolbars or menus are modified.

Resolution

To resolve this problem, try the following methods.

Method 1: Make sure that tool bar display is not turned off

  1. In the upper-right corner of the window click the oval button.

    Note

    When this button is clicked, it hides all the toolbars. A second click causes the toolbars to be displayed.

  2. If the toolbars reappear, quit, and then restart Word to make sure that the appropriate toolbars are displayed.

If Method 1 did not resolve the problem, try Method 2.

Method 2: Reset the toolbars and menus in Word

You can reset the toolbars and menus in the Customize Toolbars and Menus option, any saved customization is removed, and all settings are reverted to the original default settings.

Microsoft Word On My Mac Is Not Working Free

  1. Open Word.
  2. Go to View in the menu.
  3. Choose Toolbars.
  4. Select Customize Toolbars and Menus.
  5. Select Toolbars and Menus in the top of the Customize Toolbars and Menus window.
  6. Select the item in the list you want to reset (Menu Bar, Standard, Formatting).
  7. Click Reset.
  8. Click OK when getting prompt: 'Are you sure you want to reset the changes made..'
  9. Click OK.

Note

When View is missing from the menu, then you can also Control Click the Standard Toolbar and go to Customize Toolbars and Menus here.

If Method 2 did not resolve the problem, try Method 3.

Method 3: Create a new Normal template Note

When a new Normal template is created, any saved customization is removed, and all settings are reverted to the original default settings.

Step 1: Quit all programs

To quit active applications, follow these steps:

  1. On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.

  2. Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.

  3. Click Force Quit.

  4. Repeat the previous steps until you quit all active applications.

Warning

Mac

When an application is force quit, any unsaved changes to open documents are not saved.

When you are finished, click the red button in the upper-left corner and proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Word 2008 and 2011: Move the Normal.dotm template file to the Trash

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
  2. On the Go menu, click Home.
  3. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  4. Select the Application Support folder.
  5. Select the Microsoft folder.
  6. Open the Office folder.
  7. Open the User Templates folder.
  8. Move Normal.dotm to the Trash.
  9. Start Word, a new Normal.dotm template will be created when you choose Quit Word in the Word menu.

Microsoft Word Not Responding Mac

Note

Microsoft Word Isn't Working On My Mac

When you had Word 2004 on your Mac previously and you now have Word 2008 or Word 2011, also check if the Word 2004 Normal file is present on the system, if so, trash this Normal template file as well.

Step 3: Word 2004: Move the Normal template file to the Trash

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
  2. On the Go menu, click Home.
  3. Select the Documents folder.
  4. Select the **Microsoft User Data **folder.
  5. Move Normal to the Trash.
  6. Start Word, a new Normal template will be created when you choose Quit Word in the Word menu.