Microsoft Word Really Slow On Mac

Posted By admin On 08.04.20
  • Open Microsoft Word. Hit the ‘File’ button at the top right and choose ‘Options’ at the left side of the screen. Now, click on Add-Ins at the left side of the Windows called ‘ Word Options’. Now, Choose ‘Go’ after selecting Manage ‘COM Add-Ins’ at the bottom of the same window.
  • Nov 01, 2017 Microsoft Office 365 users have been complaining for a long time that this software compendium runs very slow on their Mac platforms. The problem usually occurs after some time of the program’s usage. The users have reported that the offline versions i.e. Word, Excel and PowerPoint, all run way too slow on their systems.

/Mac Tips /[Truly Solved] Why Is Microsoft Word So Slow?

When you try to open a file from a network location in one of the Microsoft Office programs such as PowerPoint 2003, Excel 2003, Publisher 2003 or a later version of them, the Office program may run very slowly or may appear to stop responding (hang). Nov 09, 2019  There are a lot of reasons as to why is Microsoft Word so slow. One of the most common reasons is points to your computer. It could be that your computer is filled up with so many files that it’s not performing well anymore. Another reason is that there are settings that need to be adjusted to help speed up your computer.

Consider this scenario. You’re in a hurry to open a Word document. Your meeting is about to start and you need the Word document immediately. You click on the file and nothing happens. You click on it again and still, nothing happens. You click and you click. Still, nothing happens. Finally, it opens and it’s slow. You want to scream, “Why is Microsoft Word so slow? “

Of course, you can’t cry out loud because you’re going to look like a fool in front of your boss and colleagues. You just have to stay cool. Still, you wonder. Why is Microsoft Word so slow?

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Article GuidePart 1. Reasons for Why Is Microsoft Word So SlowPart 2. Techniques on How to Speed up Microsoft Word Part 3. In Conclusion

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Part 1. Reasons for Why Is Microsoft Word So Slow

There are a lot of reasons as to why is Microsoft Word so slow. One of the most common reasons is points to your computer. It could be that your computer is filled up with so many files that it’s not performing well anymore.

Another reason is that there are settings that need to be adjusted to help speed up your computer. In case you’re wondering or even worrying about why is Microsoft Word so slow, don’t worry. You can do something about it. Whether you’re using a Mac or not for your Microsoft Word, you can get it to run pretty fast. Just read on to learn how you can go about it.

Part 2. Techniques on How to Speed up Microsoft Word

It’s mind-boggling to have Microsoft Word open slowly. It’s such a hassle if it happens to you. Fortunately, there are options for you as to how to go about it. Even if you’re using a Mac for your Microsoft Word, there is an option that can work for you.

Technique #1: Make Use of The PowerMyMac to Optimize Your Computer’s Performance

The PowerMyMac is the perfect tool that can help you speed up your Mac and in turn, speed up your Microsoft Word as well. This is one tool that’s packed with powerful features that can help boost the performance of your Mac. Read on to learn how you can use it to speed up your Microsoft Word on your Mac.

  • Use this link to download the PowerMyMac.
  • Launch the PowerMyMac on your Mac.
  • Choose which skin you want for your interface.
  • Take a good look at the three modules of the PowerMyMac.

These three modules are the following: Status, Cleaner, and Toolkit. The Status module helps you assess your CPU, Memory, and Disk. The Cleaner module can clean up the files that are slowing down your Mac. The Toolkit module helps you manage your Mac easily. This is also the module that has more advanced features. It not only helps you Mac run fast; it also protects.

  1. Choose the Status module to check on your storage space.
  2. Choose Cleaner to clean out your files. That should speed up your Mac.

You’ve probably noticed the Free Download of PowerMyMac and you’re wondering if it’s safe to try. The answer to that is a big YES!

When you download the PowerMyMac as a free version, you won’t be getting any other apps like anti-virus or another search browser. All you’ll be getting are the powerful features of the PowerMyMac. That means you can immediately experience the powerful boost to your Mac’s performance.

Technique #2: Install the Latest Updates

  1. Search for Windows updates. Select Check for updates.
  2. Install updates.
  3. Restart the computer if needed.
Microsoft Word Really Slow On Mac

Technique #3: Choose the Apps That You Want to Launch Each Time You Start Your Computer

  1. Open the apps you need by restarting the surface. Some apps run in the background so that they could perform their services immediately. The automatic launching of these apps could slow down your computer.
  2. Press Ctrl +Alt and delete buttons on your keyboard and select Task Manager.
  3. Choose More Details. You will find this on the lower-left corner of the pop-up screen.
  4. Choose the Startup on the menu at the top of the window.
  5. Select the programs that you don’t want to run automatically.
  6. Click the Disable button on the bottom part of the window. Keep in mind that once you disable the programs, you would have to run them manually to make use of their services.
  7. Restart.

Technique #4: Turn off Animations and Other Shadow Effects

  1. Type performance in the search box.
  2. Select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.
  3. Click on the box beside Adjust for best performance.
  4. Click on Apply on the bottom part of the pop-up window.
  5. Select OK.
  6. Restart.

Technique #5: Change the Settings in Your Microsoft Word Application

  • Open the Microsoft Word Application. You can either open up a blank Word document or an existing one.
  • Go to the menu bar on the top left of the screen. Click on File.
  • Click on Option on the left panel. That will pull out the Word Options window.
  • Select and click on Advanced from the left-hand side of the screen.
  • Scroll down on the right-hand side of the screen until you get to the General part.
  • Uncheck the box beside Update automatic links at open.
  • Go back to the left side of the screen and click on Trust Center.
  • Take your cursor to the far right-hand of the screen and click on Trust Center Settings.
  • Click on Macro Settings on the left-hand side of the screen. Choose Disable all macros without notification. This does not create any security risk and it also shouldn’t be a big deal especially if you don’t use macros.

Be careful with tips that tell you to change the setting in the Protected View. If you choose to disable all the settings in the Protected view, then that could endanger your security. Although disabling the settings in the Protected View can solve the issue of why is Microsoft Word so slow, you have to avoid it by all means. Hence, make sure to keep them enabled for your protection. There’s a reason why the settings in the Protected View should be enabled.

  1. Click on the OK button.
  2. Restart the Microsoft Word application.

Part 3. In Conclusion

The next time you struggle with a slow Microsoft Word, you can try out the options stated above. It’s inevitable for your Microsoft Word to slow down. Hence, is the reason why you need to keep your computer in tip-top shape.

How do you deal with a slow Microsoft Word? Has it ever happened to you? Share with us your experience with a slow Microsoft Word.

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Is there anything more frustrating than typing lag or slow-loading documents when you’re on a deadline? While Microsoft Office is one of the most widely used application suites for all kinds of projects in the modern office, it doesn't always show excellent performance.

When Microsoft Office slows down, showing you spinning wheels and requiring long wait times, it breaks your flow and concentration, ultimately affecting your productivity.

There are two kinds of add-ins: Office Add-ins from the Office Store (which use web technologies like HTML, CSS and JavaScript) and add-ins made by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). If you're looking for a built-in add-in such as Solver or Analysis ToolPak. 2020-3-19  The Microsoft Office Button is missing from Word, Excel, etc in my Office Suite. I have Office for Mac 2011. The buttons were there and now they are not. Not sure what happened. Office 365 customers get the new Office for Mac first. You’ll have Office applications on your Mac or PC, apps on tablets and smartphones for when you're on the go, and Office. 2020-3-31  While using Word for Mac one or more Toolbars are missing and cannot be added. This behavior can be caused by one of these things: The oval button in the upper-right corner of the document was clicked. This button 'toggles' display of toolbars on and off. There is an issue with the Normal template in Word. The toolbars or menus are modified. Where is the microsoft office button in word for mac free. The Office Button is probably the most misunderstood feature of Microsoft Office 2007. Familiar menus were eliminated in Office 2007 and replaced with tabs on a ribbon, except for the File menu, which was placed under a multi-colored button.

Thankfully, there are a few proven ways to speed up Microsoft Office on your Mac, and most of them are as simple as tidying up. If Marie Kondo has taught us anything, it’s that clutter can cause unnecessary stress in life. And this applies to hard drives as well!

Why is Microsoft Office slow?

While there are a few different symptoms indicating that Microsoft Office isn’t doing its best, such as a painfully slow opening of a program or Microsoft Word slow typing, the question stands: why is Microsoft Word so slow?

There are a variety of reasons Microsoft Office may run slowly, freeze, or cause the much dreaded typing lag. Often, the issue stems from a build-up of corrupted or temporary files that are meant to be automatically deleted but, for whatever reason, have failed to do so. The application suite could also be out of date or attempt to load corrupted files. Very likely it’s just a large number of small problems that have snowballed and are now causing noticeable issues. Here’s how you can fix it.

Refresh go-to templates

The template file normal.dot is created by Microsoft Word and stored automatically on your computer. It saves all the default settings of the application. So each time you change your settings, the preference is added to normal.dot. This way, the next time Microsoft Word opens a new document, your preferred settings load automatically. If your normal.dot file becomes corrupted or too complex to load, it can make Microsoft Word slow.

Deleting the existing normal.dot file will force Microsoft Word to create a new one. Starting fresh will be easy for most users, as the majority of us don’t stray too far from the default settings. For those that change their default settings in complex ways, make sure you back up your normal.dot files to a flash drive to avoid losing important settings permanently.

To find and delete normal.dot manually:

  1. Quit MS Word and open Finder.
  2. Type normal.dot into the search field.
  3. Wait for all results to load. It’s not uncommon to have more than one normal.dot file. They may also appear as normal.dotm.
  4. Select all normal.dot and normal.dotm files and delete them.
  5. Empty your Trash.
Microsoft Word Really Slow On Mac

Signature On Microsoft Word Mac

Finally, reload the application and see if the process has managed to speed up Microsoft Word.

Delete temporary files

All Microsoft Office programs will create temporary files to prevent you from losing your work. However, if the automatic removal of these files fails, they can build up and make Microsoft Office slow.

You can easily seek out and remove these files:

  1. Determine which temporary files you want to delete. Microsoft’s website lists different types of temporary files that Microsoft Office produces automatically. Likely the files you are looking for will be searchable using the trine sign ~*.doc, ~*.dot or ~*.tmp.
  2. Use Finder to search for files with ~*.doc or another marker.
  3. Select files to delete.
  4. Drag them to the Trash and empty it.

Once you are done, reload the application to see if that did speed up Microsoft Word.

Keep Microsoft Office updated

Having an outdated version of Microsoft Office will eventually cause it to run slowly. Luckily, updating the suite is very easy:

  1. Open Microsoft Word.
  2. In the top tool-bar, select Help and click “Check for Updates.”
  3. Install the update if detected.

Additionally, you can turn on Microsoft auto-updates using the same dialogue box, so that whenever Microsoft Office detects a new version it will offer you an opportunity to install it.

Another way to update Microsoft Office is to directly download the latest one from the Microsoft website. But before you do, check that it’s fully compatible with your version of macOS.

Reset the application to default settings

Over time, all Mac apps accumulate lots of unneeded preferences that constantly rewrite each other. A good way to rule out that there’s anything wrong with the app is to do a factory reset — bring the app back to the state when it was brand new.

You can do a factory reset in two ways:

  1. Go to Finder and search for ~/Library
  2. Look for Microsoft Office files in the results
  3. Delete all of them but the app itself

Alternatively, you can do the same thing quicker and more thoroughly with the CleanMyMac X uninstaller utility:

  1. Download CleanMyMac X with a free trial.
  2. Go to Uninstaller tab.
  3. Select Microsoft Office and choose Reset.
  4. Click on the Reset button.

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Delete and reinstall Microsoft Office

The old IT adage “have you tried turning it off and back on?” applies here, but in this case, it’s about deleting the application and reinstalling it. To completely delete Microsoft Office, you will need to remove files from two different places on your computer: delete the app first and then find your Library folder in Finder to see the associated files that need to be removed.

  1. Head to the Applications folder and move Microsoft Office to the Trash
  2. Find your Library folder in Finder by navigating to your computer in Locations and then clicking on your hard-drive (e.g. Macintosh HD)
  3. Open System then Library, and find the folder Containers
  4. From Containers, move the following associated files to the Trash:
    • com.microsoft.errorreporting
    • com.microsoft.Excel
    • com.microsoft.netlib.shipassertprocess
    • com.microsoft.Office365ServiceV2
    • com.microsoft.Outlook
    • com.microsoft.Powerpoint
    • com.microsoft.RMS-XPCService
    • com.microsoft.Word
    • com.microsoft.onenote.mac
  5. Open Group Containers folder as well and remove the following files:
    • UBF8T346G9.ms
    • UBF8T346G9.Office
    • UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost
  6. Finally, remove Microsoft Office from the Dock and restart your Mac.

Once removed, head back to the Microsoft website, sign in to your account, and install the latest version.

Optimize documents for storage

Keeping Microsoft Office functioning properly means saving documents in their most optimized state. Resizing large images or graphics and not overloading your files with macros will help you maintain speedy performance in the long run.

Speed up Microsoft Office automatically in minutes

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While all the above maintenance will help you speed up Microsoft Office, it can be time-consuming and finicky. Troubleshooting your app version, deleting and refreshing templates, and searching for temporary files is all manual work and could eat up a few hours.

To make things easy, you can use optimization software like CleanMyMac X, which will automatically detect and remove temporary as well as unused files to get your Microsoft Office running smoothly. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Download CleanMyMac X.
  2. Drag it into your Applications folder.
  3. Open it and run a general Smart Scan to start.
  4. Then run Optimization and Maintenance scans (which you can choose from the left-side panel) to target specific areas, such as freeing up RAM and reviewing your login items
  5. Repeat the process every month or so.

While following the above method of optimizing your Mac with CleanMyMac X is enough to remove any unnecessary clutter, the app’s sidebar menu offers even more options for increasing the speed of your Mac as well as a handy uninstaller for quick and thorough uninstallations of apps you don’t need anymore.

Ultimately, there are a number of ways to get Microsoft Office to run smoothly again. And although it’s entirely possible to do most of the cleanup manually, using an app like CleanMyMac X is a much faster and easier way to get rid of junk and ensure that your Mac is performing at top speed.