I cannot open Word and Excel documents and get a message “The operating system is not presently configured to run this application.” Is there a fix for this?

Run Online Repair first; if the error remains, use Microsoft’s uninstall troubleshooter to remove residual Office components before reinstalling, rather than repeating a normal uninstall/reinstall.

1. Run a full Online Repair

Online Repair repairs the entire Microsoft 365 suite and is more comprehensive than Quick Repair.

Windows 11

1. Right-click Start → Installed apps.
2. Find Microsoft 365.
3. Select the three dots → Modify.
4. Select Online Repair → Repair.
5. Complete the prompts and restart Windows.
6. Start Word directly from the Start menu, then test opening a document.

Windows 10

1. Right-click Start → Apps and Features.
2. Select Microsoft 365 → Modify.
3. Select Online Repair → Repair.
4. Complete the repair and restart Windows.

Do not select Quick Repair for this test; Microsoft states that Online Repair is the option intended to ensure the entire installation is repaired.^1^

2. If Online Repair fails, perform a clean removal

Since ordinary reinstalls and an operating-system recovery did not help, do not repeat the same standard reinstall. Use Microsoft’s uninstall troubleshooter, which is designed to remove the Office installation more completely:

1. Open Microsoft’s Microsoft 365 uninstall page.
2. Under Uninstall Microsoft 365 or Office with the uninstall troubleshooter, start the troubleshooter.
3. If Windows says This site is trying to open Get Help, select Open.
4. Follow every prompt.
5. Restart when requested.
6. Sign in to Microsoft365.com using the Microsoft account associated with the subscription.
7. Select Install Microsoft 365 apps, run the installer, and then test Word and Excel.

The troubleshooter must run on the affected PC and requires Windows 10 or later. It supports Microsoft 365, Office 2021, 2019, and 2016, but currently cannot uninstall Office 2024.^2^

Uninstalling Microsoft 365 removes the applications, not documents or workbooks you created, although maintaining a normal backup is still advisable.^2^

If the troubleshooter cannot remove Office

Use the manual uninstall Office option linked from the same Microsoft Support page, then restart and reinstall. If Microsoft 365 is not listed in Control Panel, it may be the Microsoft Store installation type; use the corresponding Microsoft Store instructions on that page instead.^2^

Avoid deleting Office executable entries from the registry unless Microsoft Support has diagnosed a specific entry. That is a destructive change and is not established as the cause of this error.

If a clean removal and reinstall still produce the identical message, record whether it occurs when launching Word itself or only when double-clicking documents, and capture any additional error code. At that point, contact Microsoft Support with those details because the available information does not establish a more specific cause.

References

1. [Windows 11](https://support.microsoft.com/office/lifecycle/repair-an-office-application)
2. [Click-to-Run](https://support.microsoft.com/office/lifecycle/officeinstall/uninstall-microsoft-365-or-office-from-a-pc)