Top 5 Ways to Fix Microsoft Word Crash on Windows 10

Microsoft Word is one of the most commonly used word processing software. It meets the writing needs of students, businesses and the average individual. Yet, despite its versatility, Microsoft Word is not without its problems.

One such problem that can occur is when the Word software crashes during use. When this happens, you may lose unsaved documents. If Word crashing is a frequent problem, read below for some of our suggested fixes.

restart the pc

This is probably the easiest step to take when Microsoft Word crashes on your computer. To restart your computer, you need to:

Stage 1: Click the Windows button on your desktop.

Step 2: Click the Power button in the Options menu.

Stage 3: Select Restart.

An alternative method to restart your computer requires:

Stage 1: Press CTRL + ALT + DEL on your keyboard to reveal a blue screen with a list of options.

Step 2: Click the Power button at the bottom right of the screen.

Stage 3: Select Restart.

Disable Plugins

Microsoft Word can sometimes crash due to installed add-ins. If the application continues to crash after restarting the computer, you can disable the add-ins using the following steps:

Stage 1: Start Microsoft Word.

Step 2: In the upper-left corner of the Word window, click File.

Stage 3: Select Options from the new menu.

Step 4: Click Add-ons.

Step 5: Select COM Add-ins from the drop-down menu next to the Manage tab and click Go.

Step 6: In the new dialog, uncheck all the boxes next to add-ins in Word and click OK.

Step 7: Close Word and restart your computer.

Run the Office Repair Tool

Microsoft Word comes with a built-in Office Repair Tool. You can use this tool to fix persistent Word crashes. Here’s how to use the tool:

Stage 1: Enter a query for Control Panel in the Windows search box and press Enter to open it.

Step 2: Select Programs and Features from the menu that appears.

Stage 3: Scroll through the list of programs/applications and select Microsoft Office Suite or Microsoft Office Professional or Microsoft 365 Apps, depending on your Microsoft suite.

Step 4: After selecting your appropriate Microsoft package, select Change from the displayed options.

Step 5: A new popup should open. If you’re using Microsoft 365, you only have the option to fix your Microsoft package using Quick Repair. However, if you are using Microsoft Office Suite, you are offered two repair modes: Quick Repair and Online Repair. First select Quick Repair, if the problem persists, connect to the internet and click “Online Repair”.

Step 6: Click Repair to start the fix process.

Uninstall Microsoft Office Updates

Sometimes you experience crashes in Microsoft Word after a recent Microsoft Office update. If you notice this, you can try uninstalling the update and check if that fixes the problem. What you should do:

Stage 1: Click the start button, type Control Panel Enter it in the Windows search box and press Enter to open it.

Step 2: Select Programs and Features from the menu that appears.

Stage 3: In the left pane of the new window, select View Installed Updates.

Step 4: In the column titled Installed On, scroll through new updates to identify the most recent install.

Step 5: After identifying the latest update, click on the program/app to select the update.

Step 6: Click Remove.

Step 7: You will receive a prompt asking you to confirm the removal of the update, click Yes.

Open Word in Safe Mode

If you find that Microsoft Word keeps crashing, try opening the software in Safe Mode. This method only applies to versions after 2010. Check the steps below:

Stage 1: Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and click the Microsoft Word shortcut on your desktop.

Step 2: When the desktop prompt pops up asking if you want to start Word in Safe Mode, click Yes.

Recover Unsaved Word Documents

With the above fixes, you should be able to fix the Microsoft Word crashing issue. If Microsoft Word crashes while working on a document. There are also several ways to recover unsaved Microsoft Word documents.