Insufficient RAM or low disk space can affect the performance of Microsoft Word and make it freeze or become unresponsive.Regularly update and maintain files to prevent this. Corrupt or damaged templates or documents can also lead to Word not responding.Too many active add-ins can overload the program and make it unresponsive.There are multiple reasons why this happens. Microsoft Word not responding is a frequent issue. Common causes of Microsoft Word not responding Explore the sub-sections on common causes, seeking effective solutions for a glitch-free Microsoft Word experience. To understand the issue of Microsoft Word not responding, delve into the common causes triggering this problem. Understanding the issue of Microsoft Word not responding Check out our other articles for more helpful tips and tricks. Remember to save your work frequently to avoid data loss. Doing this will help prevent potential issues and improve overall performance.īy following these steps, you can fix the issue of Microsoft Word not responding. Pro Tip: Regularly update Microsoft Word and apply available software patches. Update your device drivers to the latest version to resolve compatibility issues and ensure smooth functioning of all applications, including Word. Outdated drivers on your computer can also cause Word to become unresponsive. To fix this, disable or remove any recently installed add-ins or extensions. These extra features may not be compatible with Word and cause instability. To fix this, close unnecessary programs and windows in the background to free up memory.Īnother problem could be conflicts with add-ins or extensions. When working with large documents or multiple open files, Word might get overwhelmed and not respond. One cause could be too much memory usage. Here, we’ll tell you how to fix the issue of Microsoft Word not responding. But sometimes, it won’t respond as expected, which can be very frustrating. xlsx file and the message “This file can’t be previewed.” is displayed in the preview pane.Īpart from that there don't seem to be any problems.Microsoft Word is a powerful tool for writing and editing documents.
I now seem to be able to open both file types without problems.Ĭlicking on a file in File Explorer for either a. In all of this the preview pane is either blank or showing the message “This file can’t be previewed.” WINWORD.EXE is still running but does not appear in the task bar or desktop.Īt some point in all this a pop-up appeared saying “Word cannot open the existing file. Now right click on the file again and it opens OK.
(I did get a complete system crash and think that it is this last action that caused the crash.) Selecting the first gives another error message and leaves WINWORD.EXE running and I have to kill this with Task Manager. Word opens with the "File in use" pop-up and options to open read only, create a local copy or receive a notification when the file becomes available. Check the temp environment variable." The folder specified does exist and has at least one recently created file.Ĭlick OK to close the pop-up and then right-click on the file and select Open. docx Click on the file and a pop-up opens, out of site, with the message "Word could not create the work file. Have tried some of the solutions that did not seem too risky. I have spent a fair bit of time searching the web for solutions and it seems that the problem also relates to later versions of Office. I am having problems accessing Word and Excel files via File Explorer on Windows 11 and am hoping that someone may have a solution. I had posted this on the Microsoft: Office forum but there are no responses after three days so am posting it here.