How to Troubleshoot Office Crash on Mac

Edited 4 weeks ago by ExtremeHow Editorial Team

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Microsoft Office is a powerful suite of productivity tools that is widely used across the world for personal, academic, and business purposes. However, sometimes, Mac users face challenges when Office applications like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint crash unexpectedly. This can be both frustrating and disruptive. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore various troubleshooting steps that can help resolve Office crash issues on Mac.

Understanding the problem

Before we dive into troubleshooting steps, it's important to understand why Office might crash on Mac. Here are the possible causes:

• Software bugs: Like any software, Office applications can have bugs that need to be fixed.
• Outdated software: Using an older version of Office or macOS can cause compatibility issues.
• Corrupted files: File corruption in the app or related documents can cause a crash.
• Insufficient resources: Low memory or CPU resources can lead to unexpected behavior.
• Conflicting applications: Other installed applications that conflict with Office may cause Office to crash.

Now, let's explore the various steps to troubleshoot and fix these problems.

Step-by-step troubleshooting guide

Step 1: Make sure your system is up to date

The first step to resolving Office crashes is to make sure both your operating system and Office applications are updated. Follow these steps:

1. Click Apple menu → System Preferences → Software Update.
2. Check for any updates available for macOS and install them.
3. Open any Office application, such as Word. Click Help → Check for Updates.
4. If updates are available, follow the on-screen instructions to install them.

Updating your software can resolve bugs and improve compatibility, reducing the chance of crashing.

Step 2: Repair disk permissions

Disk permission issues can sometimes cause applications to misbehave. You can repair disk permissions using Disk Utility:

1. Open Finder.
2. Go to Applications → Utilities and launch Disk Utility.
3. Select your Mac's startup disk.
4. Click on First Aid, and then click on Run.
5. Follow whatever instructions come.

Once the process is complete, restart your Mac, and check if Office continues to crash.

Step 3: Remove and reinstall Office

If the software itself is corrupted, a fresh installation may resolve the problem:

1. Open Finder and go to Applications.
2. Locate the Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
3. Drag each of these applications to the Trash.
4. Empty the trash.
5. Reinstall Office from Microsoft's official website or use your retail DVD.
6. Follow the installation instructions and activate Office.

Reinstalling will replace all corrupted application files with new ones.

Step 4: Use Safe Mode

Safe Mode can help troubleshoot software conflicts that cause crashes:

1. Restart your Mac and immediately hold down the Shift key.
2. Release the keys when you see the Apple logo.
3. Try opening Office applications while in Safe Mode.

If the apps work correctly in safe mode, it indicates a conflict with other apps or startup items. Check recently installed programs and remove or disable them one by one to identify the cause.

Step 5: Check for corrupt fonts

Corrupted fonts can also cause Office applications to crash:

1. Open the Font Book app.
2. Select all the fonts and go to File → Validate Fonts.
3. Review the results and remove any corrupted or duplicate fonts.

After doing this, restart your Mac and check if Office failures persist. Corrupted fonts can interfere with application rendering, leading to crashes.

Step 6: Check the add-ins

Office add-ins can extend the functionality of applications, but can sometimes cause problems:

• Start Word, Excel, or PowerPoint in safe mode:
  1. Open Terminal from Applications → Utilities.
  2. Type open -n -a "Microsoft Word" --args -safeMode (replace "Microsoft Word" with your desired application).
  3. If the application opens without crashing, disable or remove add-ins.

Remove or update malfunctioning add-ins to restore normal functionality.

Step 7: Check Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor can help diagnose resource-related problems:

1. Open Finder and go to Applications → Utilities → Activity Monitor.
2. Look for high CPU or memory usage related to Microsoft Office.
3. If another app or process is using excessive resources, try closing it.

Managing resource usage efficiently can prevent Office from crashing.

Advanced troubleshooting steps

Reset Office preferences

Corrupt preferences can cause apps to malfunction. Follow these steps to reset:

1. Close all Office applications.
2. Open Finder and click Go → Go to Folder....
3. Enter ~/Library/Preferences.
4. Locate files with names like com.microsoft.Word.plist (replace "Word" with other applications as needed) and move them to the desktop.
5. Relaunch the affected Office application.

If the problem is resolved, delete the archived files; otherwise, restore them from the desktop.

Creating a new user account

Sometimes, user-specific settings can cause problems. To test this:

1. Go to System Preferences → Users & Groups.
2. Click the lock to unlock and then click + to add a new user.
3. Switch to the new user account.
4. Try launching the Office application.

If the apps work under the new account, consider transferring your data to the new account to resolve the issue.

Summary and conclusion

Microsoft Office crashes on Mac can occur for many reasons, including incorrect system settings, software conflicts, or data corruption. By following these troubleshooting steps, many users can resolve these problems and restore productivity.

Always make sure your macOS and Office software is up-to-date, as patches often address compatibility and bug-related issues. Be alert to software conflicts and manage your system resources wisely. If these steps don't resolve the problem, consider contacting Apple Support or Microsoft Support for further assistance.

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