Word not fully functional on new laptop. Layout and Margins buttons cause crash/freeze.

Question

Word not fully functional on new laptop. Layout and Margins buttons cause crash/freeze.

Anonymous

I downloaded Microsoft 365 for family onto a brand new Windows 11 laptop. When I am in a Word doc and try to change the orientation (from the Layout button - portrait-landscape) the system completely freezes. (The layout button opens, I can see the 2 options, but the moment I click on either one, I can't do anything). I can no longer do anything in the document and the only way out is to exit via Task Manager. I have the same problem when I try to change the margins or the size. - In fact, with those 2 buttons nothing happens when I click on the little down arrows under the words (I can't even open the options). So evidently the functionality is not working fully. Very strange because create columns is OK.

If I don't touch the Layout or Margin or Size buttons, I can edit the text, but I regularly need to change the orientation of my docs so this problem is completely hampering my work. I've had all the hardware checks done on my laptop and checked for all driver updates. Have also gone into the apps list and done Modify/Repair and the problem still persists. What can I do to get the fix please? I would really appreciate urgent help.

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Answer 1

What printer is set as your default? If you have not selected a printer as the default, that could be the issue. If you don't have a physical printer connected, you can select Microsoft Print to PDF. Often when there are problems with any of the dialogs related to layout (Page Setup, Style, Symbol, Font, Paragraph, etc.), this is due to Word not being able to see a printer driver. It's usually advisable to install the printer driver locally even if the printer is on a network.

Answer 2

Thank you so much, you are absolutely correct. After spending 3 hours in an online chat to a Microsoft support expert who couldn't fix it, I gave up. Then this morning I noticed (completely by chance) that every time I hit the "orientation" or "margins" button a line popped up left of the task bar saying "connecting to printer". I uninstalled my printer and reinstalled it (I suspect my driver was also a bit outdated), and the problem is fixed.

I really appreciate your response, thanks very much.