My word app keeps freezing, showing the rainbow spinning circle, everytime I do anything in a document.

Hailey 20 Reputation points
2026-10-10T23:48:42.68+00:00

Hi, I'm a nursing student and have to do a lot of work in Word. I use the desktop version but today it started freezing and showing the spinning rainbow circle and I can't click on anything, even the tool bar outside the window doesn't work. I have to swipe to a different desktop to be able to force quit the app. I've done the moving the library container to the desktop, didn't work. I have enough storage on my laptop. There's no updates available. I've restarted my laptop. When i go to force quit it it says it's not responding. I can't contact customer support because I'm on a student account. Should I try deleting and redownloading the app? I'm worried about losing all my work.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For education | MacOS
Answer accepted by question author
Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.9K Reputation points
2026-10-11T15:56:36.8233333+00:00

Thanks for the info!

First, run the Mac's Disk Utility First Aid routine on the startup volume then update Tahoe. Version 26.7.1 is the current release. Update the OS to see whether that resolves the issue. If not, further troubleshooting is necessary but it's pointless to do so unless all is at current status.

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 437.9K Reputation points
    2026-10-11T00:26:53.6233333+00:00

    You can disregard the AI bot's reply or even delete it if you wish. It's a compendium of inaccurate & obsolete information scraped off the internet.

    In order to address the issue first try restarting the Mac. If that doesn't resolve the problem please provide the following information:

    • Specific macOS version number [> About This Mac]
    • Specific Office version number & type of License [Word> About Microsoft Word]
    • Whether the behavior occurs in one specific document or all documents are affected

    Eventually it may be necessary to contact the school's IT support group but there are other steps to take first.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-10-10T23:48:58.5366667+00:00

    Since moving the library container already did not help, the next supported Mac steps are the Word-specific reset steps below before reinstalling.

    1. Quit Word and all other programs.
    2. In Finder, open Go > Home > Library. On OS X 10.7 or later, open Go, hold OPTION, and choose Library.
    3. Open Preferences.
    4. Drag com.microsoft.Word.plist to the desktop. If it is not there, continue.
    5. Open the Microsoft folder in Preferences and drag com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist to the desktop. If Service Pack 2 is installed, use Application Support > Microsoft instead of Preferences > Microsoft.
    6. Start Word and test.
      • If Word works, quit Word and return one file at a time to identify the corrupt file. Move the corrupt one to Trash.
      • If Word still freezes, continue.
    7. Quit all programs again.
    8. Open Home > Library > Application Support > Microsoft > Office > User Templates.
    9. Drag Normal.dotm to the desktop.
    10. Start Word and test.
    • If Word works, quit Word and move Normal.dotm to Trash.
    • If Word still freezes, restore the file.

    Important: resetting preferences removes custom preferences such as keyboard shortcuts and toolbar or dictionary changes.

    If Word is hanging and blocking work, force quitting can be used, but unsaved changes in the current session can be lost.

    Reinstalling Word is not covered in the available Mac-specific guidance here. The supported steps in scope are resetting Word preferences and testing Normal.dotm. To reduce risk to existing documents, keep document files separate from app troubleshooting files such as preferences and templates.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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