Word 16.113 for macos (27) crashes seconds after opening a large document.

Ralph Smith 20 Reputation points
2026-09-20T07:22:35.0233333+00:00

It's an 800 page Word docx, It has always worked with every version for 15 years. Not now.
Word reliably crashes.
It doesn't crash with a 190 page document.

Anyone else?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | MacOS

2 answers

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  1. Thomas4-N 22,380 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-23T08:10:56.35+00:00

    Hello Ralph Smith,

    Since Word opens smaller documents normally but crashes only with this 800-page file, this may be related to how Word for Mac is processing something specific within the document.

    Could you please test the document in Word for the web or Word on another computer?

    • If it opens there, save a separate backup copy first.
    • If it also crashes elsewhere, the document itself may contain damaged or unusually complex content.
    • If it works elsewhere but still crashes on this Mac, please check the macOS crash report and share only the Exception Type, Crashed Thread, and the first few lines under Thread 0 Crashed. Please remove any file paths, account names, or other personal information.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-20T07:22:53.85+00:00

    Yes—there are known Word for Mac crash cases that match this pattern, especially with specific add-ins or older Mac builds.

    For Word 16.113 on macOS, the supported facts from the known issues are:

    1. A third-party add-in can cause Word to crash on open One documented case is the WordRake add-in, which caused Word for Mac to crash when creating or opening documents after a macOS upgrade. The fix was to update WordRake or remove the add-in.
    2. Older Office for Mac builds can have rendering/layout issues with newer documents Office for Mac builds earlier than 16.16.xxxx can render newer Mac Office documents incorrectly because of font-name handling changes. In that case, content can still be read and edited, but it may use substitute fonts and have layout issues.
    3. Word has had multiple crash fixes in later builds Microsoft’s release notes for older beta builds show repeated crash fixes and stabilization improvements across updates.
    4. If the file is blocked or partly damaged, try opening it through recovery/conversion paths In Word, use File > Open, select the document, then from the Open dropdown choose Recover Text. After opening, save it as Word Document (.docx). Another supported workaround is to upload the file to OneDrive, let it convert, then use File > Save as > Download a copy.
    5. If Word itself is crashing, reset Word preferences Warning: this removes custom preferences such as keyboard shortcuts, toolbar changes, or dictionary changes.
      • Quit all programs.
      • Go to Home > Library > Preferences.
      • Move com.microsoft.Word.plist to the desktop.
      • Open the Microsoft folder in Preferences and move com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist to the desktop.
      • Start Word and test.
      • If still crashing, quit Word, then go to Application Support > Microsoft > Office > User Templates and move Normal.dotm to the desktop, then test again.

    Given that the 190-page file opens but the 800-page file crashes, the most grounded next checks are:

    • Remove or update any Word add-ins first, especially WordRake if installed.
    • Update Word from Help > Check for Updates and install all available updates.
    • Try opening the file with Recover Text.
    • Try the OneDrive conversion path.
    • Reset Word preferences and Normal.dotm if Word crashes with that file consistently.
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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