A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
Start Word in Office Safe Mode; if it opens, disable its add-ins, and if it does not open, run an Online Repair of Microsoft Office.
1. Test Word in Safe Mode
- Press Windows key + R.
- Enter:
winword /safe - Select OK. Make sure there is a space before
/safe.
Safe Mode starts Word without automatically loading add-ins and certain customizations, which helps identify startup conflicts.^1^
If Word opens:
- Go to File → Options → Add-ins.
- At the bottom, select COM Add-ins from the Manage list, then select Go.
- Clear one add-in’s checkbox and select OK.
- Close Word and open it normally.
- Repeat until the problematic add-in is identified. Leave it disabled or obtain an updated version.^2^
2. If Safe Mode does not open, repair Office
An Office repair affects the whole Office suite, even when only Word has a problem.^3^
Windows 11
- Right-click Start → Installed apps.
- Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
- Select the three dots → Modify.
- Select Online Repair → Repair.
- Complete the prompts, restart the PC if requested, and open Word again.
Windows 10
- Right-click Start → Apps and Features.
- Select Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office → Modify.
- Select Online Repair → Repair.
- Complete the repair and try Word again.
Online Repair requires an active internet connection. If your installation only presents an MSI repair window, select Repair → Continue.
3. If Word still will not open
Before reinstalling, sign in to the Microsoft account’s Services & subscriptions page and confirm that the Office license or Microsoft 365 subscription is listed. Then uninstall Office, restart Windows, and reinstall it from that same account.^4^
Your existing Word documents are normally separate from the Office application, but back up important files before uninstalling. If these steps fail, note the exact error message or code and whether other Office applications such as Excel also fail; those details determine the next troubleshooting path.
References