Office 365 installed yesterday, now cannot open files.

Question

Office 365 installed yesterday, now cannot open files.

Suzette Lyon 0

When opening Word or other document I get select an app to open this file.

I cannot find icons for Word etc to put on task bar.

When opening a document all icons except PDF are empty boxes

Microsoft 365 is not on the list of apps on the start menu, but Microsoft 365 Copilot is on the app list.

One drive says backed up and sync

Suzette Lyon 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T15:42:36.1733333+00:00

AI bot replied:

This usually points to Windows file associations being broken, or the Office apps not being properly registered after installation. Try these steps in order: Manually associate Office file types with the correct app. Select Start. Type Control Panel and open it. Select Programs > Default Programs. Under Set a default for a file type or link type, search for each file type such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files and choose the correct default app. Select OK. Repeat for other Office file types if needed. Open the app first, then open the file from inside the app. Start Word, Excel, or PowerPoint directly if available. In the app, select File > Open and browse to the document. This can confirm whether the problem is with file association rather than the document itself. [---]

Microsoft 365 is not on the app list. Only Microsoft 365 copilot.
Suzette Lyon 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T15:50:35.1866667+00:00

talk to a person please
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Stefan Blom 353.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T20:19:33.6366667+00:00

Please follow up with the reply from Manoel Barros.

Note that if you want to get in touch with Microsoft support, you can try the chat which is available via https://support.microsoft.com/contactus .

Getting assistance from your fellow users in Q&A will often be faster, though.

1 answer

Your answer

Suzette Lyon 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T15:42:36.1733333+00:00

AI bot replied:

This usually points to Windows file associations being broken, or the Office apps not being properly registered after installation. Try these steps in order: Manually associate Office file types with the correct app. Select Start. Type Control Panel and open it. Select Programs > Default Programs. Under Set a default for a file type or link type, search for each file type such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files and choose the correct default app. Select OK. Repeat for other Office file types if needed. Open the app first, then open the file from inside the app. Start Word, Excel, or PowerPoint directly if available. In the app, select File > Open and browse to the document. This can confirm whether the problem is with file association rather than the document itself. [---]

Microsoft 365 is not on the app list. Only Microsoft 365 copilot.
Suzette Lyon 0 Reputation points

2026-10-05T15:50:35.1866667+00:00

talk to a person please
Deleted

This comment has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The comment was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.
Stefan Blom 353.8K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-10-05T20:19:33.6366667+00:00

Please follow up with the reply from Manoel Barros.

Note that if you want to get in touch with Microsoft support, you can try the chat which is available via https://support.microsoft.com/contactus .

Getting assistance from your fellow users in Q&A will often be faster, though.

Answer 1

Manoel Barros 22,055 Independent Advisor

Hi!

You probably downloaded only Copilot, or the installation wasn't successful. How exactly did you download it? Try downloading and installing it by following the step-by-step instructions below:

Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services > Sign in with your Microsoft account > Expand Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office > Install Desktop apps... > Choose the Offline Installer instead of the other installers. Look for Offline Installer > Wait for the app to download and install.

You can also download it from the website https://m365.cloud.microsoft/apps or https://office.com/setup

Open Word or Excel, and sign in with your Microsoft account to validate your license.

Manoel Barros 22,055 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-10-06T00:03:52.7833333+00:00

I look forward to your feedback!