Microsoft Word on Mac hanging when I press cmd or try to click file

NK Fan 0 Reputation points
2026-10-11T14:21:14.53+00:00

Hi everyone, this problem started after I downloaded a document from my school drive. Now whenever I press the command key, or try to hover my mouse of the file button, the Mac beach ball of death shows up and I need to force quit Word, which has basically made Word unworkable. I have tried everything so far – logged out of Word; reinstalled Word; deleted that document; downloaded the most recent update; moving Normal.dotm to desktop; trying Word on safe mode on mac (which still has the same problem). I can't function without Word so I would appreciate your help tremendously.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For education | MacOS
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  1. Ruby Nguyen 3,640 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-10-11T15:03:10.8566667+00:00

    Good day NK, 

    Just to gently clarify before going any further, this forum is separate from Microsoft Support. I don’t have the ability to access or investigate individual accounts because this is a user‑to‑user support forum.  

    Based on what you described, please try the following: 

    Option 1: Reset the Word preference file 

    Since you have already moved Normal.dotm to your Desktop, please also reset the Word preference file. 

    Close Word > Open Finder > Go. 

    Hold Option and select Library > Open Preferences. 

    Locate com.microsoft.Word.plist. 

    Move the file to your Desktop. 

    Restart your Mac. 

    Open Word and test whether pressing the Command key or accessing the File menu still causes Word to freeze. 

    You can find detailed instructions here: Word for Mac error: "Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close" | Microsoft Support 

    Option 2: Completely remove and reinstall Office apps 

    A standard reinstall doesn'y remove all Office-related data stored on the Mac. Please perform a complete removal and then reinstall Office. 

    Close all Microsoft 365 apps. 

    Open Finder > Applications. 

    Move all Microsoft 365 applications to the Bin. 

    Press Command + Shift + G, enter ~/Library, and select Go. 

    Open Containers and move the Microsoft Word folder to the Bin. 

    Open Group Containers and move the following folders to the Bin if they exist: 

    UBF8T346G9.ms 

    UBF8T346G9.Office 

    UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost 

    Restart your Mac. 

    Reinstall the Office 365 apps from office.com. Sign in with your school account, then select Apps and more > Install apps > Microsoft 365 apps > Apps & devices > Install Office. 

    User's image

    Sign in with your school account and test Word before opening the original document. 

    As a temporary workaround, you can continue working in Word for the web by signing in to office.com and opening your documents in a browser. 

    Additional information is available in the following resource: Uninstall Office for Mac | Microsoft Support 

    Option 3: Contact your school's IT admin  

    If the issue still persists after trying the steps above, I recommend reaching out to your IT administrator to create a support ticket via Microsoft 365 Admin Center > Support > Help & Support for further backend investigation. In case you do not know who is your IT admin, kindly refer to this article: How do I find my Microsoft 365 admin? - Microsoft Support  

    A technical support engineer can perform a remote session to investigate the situation, verify the backend configurations, and run any necessary synchronization tools to resolve the problem. If the issue requires further attention, they can escalate it to a specialized team for deeper analysis.    

    If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time. 

    Thank you for your patience and understanding. 

    If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".            

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