A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
To help narrow down the issue, could you please confirm the following?
- Does Word freeze immediately when you open it, or only when opening or editing a document?
- Are you using Windows 10 or Windows 11?
- What is your Word version and build? You can find this under File > Account > About Word.
- Do Excel and PowerPoint work normally, or do they freeze too?
In the meantime, please try these steps:
- Start Word in Safe Mode: Press
Win + R, typewinword /safe, and press Enter. Check whether Word responds normally. - Disable add-ins: If Word works in Safe Mode, an add-in may be causing the issue. Disable Word add-ins (File > Options > Add-ins, at the bottom, select COM Add-ins and click Go >Uncheck all add-ins), restart Word and test again.
- Repair Microsoft 365: Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Microsoft 365 > Modify, select Quick Repair, and test Word again. If the issue persists, try Online Repair.