my word crashed

Run Online Repair from Windows Settings rather than using Word’s built-in repair prompt, because Online Repair performs a more complete repair of the entire Office installation.

1. Run Online Repair

Close Word and every other Office application first.

Windows 11

1. Right-click Start and select Installed apps.
2. Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
3. Select the three dots (…) beside it, then Modify.
4. Select Online Repair → Repair.
5. Follow the prompts, restart Windows if requested, and test Word.

Windows 10

1. Right-click Start and select Apps and Features.
2. Select Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
3. Select Modify.
4. Choose Online Repair → Repair.

Online Repair is more thorough than Quick Repair and repairs the entire Office suite, even if only Word is crashing.^1^

2. If Word still crashes, test Safe Mode

1. Press Windows key + R.
2. Enter:

winword /safe

3. Select OK.

If Word opens, an add-in may be causing the crash:

1. In Word, select File → Options → Add-Ins.
2. At the bottom, select COM Add-ins under Manage, then select Go.
3. Clear one add-in, select OK, and restart Word normally.
4. Repeat until Word starts correctly. Leave the problematic add-in disabled or install an updated version.

Safe Mode starts Word without automatically loading additional features and programs, making it useful for isolating add-in problems.^2^

If Word does not start in Safe Mode, skip add-in troubleshooting and proceed to reinstallation.

3. Uninstall and reinstall Office

Before uninstalling, ensure that the Microsoft account used to purchase or activate Office is available. Uninstalling Office removes the applications but does not remove Word documents or other files you created.^3^

1. Use Microsoft’s Office uninstall troubleshooter on the affected PC.
2. Follow its prompts and restart Windows when requested.
3. Sign in to Microsoft 365 with the account associated with Office.
4. Select Install apps, download the installer, and run it.
5. Open Word and complete activation if prompted.^4^

The uninstall troubleshooter requires Windows 10 or later and currently cannot uninstall Office 2024. For Office 2024, use the normal Windows uninstall option and then reinstall it from the Microsoft 365 Apps page.

References

1. Repair an Office application
2. Open Office apps in safe mode on a Windows PC | Microsoft Support
3. Error 30088-26 when updating Office | Microsoft Support
4. Download, install, or reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office 2024 on a PC or Mac