Starting Microsoft Word In Safe Mode Mac

Posted By admin On 10.04.20
  1. Mac Stuck In Safe Mode
  2. Starting Microsoft Word In Safe Mode Mac Startup
  1. Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist file to the trash. On the Go menu, click Home. Open the Documents folder.
  2. Run Safe Mode by Command Press Windows+R, or right-click Start button and choose Run in the menu. The Run window will pop out allowing you to input the command in the text box. For example, you can type or copy “ winword /safe ” and press Enter key to run the command.
  3. Start up in safe mode. To start up in safe mode: Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do. Release the Shift key when you see the login window.
  4. Try to run Microsoft Office in safe mode. Run the outlook in safe mode. Running it in safe mode will disable all Add-in and it will just run the Microsoft Office. If one of the Add-in crashes, it may stop Outlook from starting. If Outlook works in safe mode, you need to disable an Add-in that causes the crash. You can disable it in Outlook.

I installed Office on my Windows machine a long time ago and everything was working fine until today. I tried to open a Word document from my desktop and for some strange reason Word opened in Safe Mode. Strange I thought, so I shut it down and opened the file again. Safe mode again!

Then I tried to just open Word without clicking on a document and it still opened in safe mode. Now I was really perplexed. After doing some research, I figured out how to fix the problem so that Word opened in normally instead of safe mode. In this article, I’ll write up a few of the methods I came across and the one that worked for me.

Disable Bluetooth Add-in

If the Office app starts in Safe Mode, disable the application add-ins and COM add-ins one at a time: With the Office app still in Safe Mode, click File Options Add-Ins. Check the Manage list for Add-ins options, such as Word Add-ins or Excel Add-ins, and then click Go. Follow these steps to start Word in Safe Mode: Ensure that Word is closed. Press the Win+R keyboard shortcut. Type WINWORD /SAFE into the Run dialog box. Word starts, perhaps even filling the entire screen. The window title reads “Microsoft Word (Safe Mode).” A dialog box appears, explaining what you might do next.

For some reason, the bluetooth add-in in Word can cause it to constantly start in safe mode. You can try disabling it and seeing if that fixes the issue. Here’s how. First, open Word and then click on File and Options.

In the Options dialog that pops up, go ahead and click on Add-ins. At the bottom, choose COM Add-ins from the drop down menu and click Go.

In the list that pops up, go ahead and uncheck Bluetooth. Depending on your system, you may or may not have the Bluetooth item in the list, but if you’re having this problem, then more than likely it’s there. If not, keep reading the other possible solutions!

Create new Normal.dotm

If something has gone wrong with the Word global template, called Normal.dotm, then it can cause the whole starting in safe mode issue. You can rename the Normal.dotm file to something else and when you open Word again, it will recreate the file for you. Here’s how:

Click on Start and type run. This will bring up the run dialog box. Then type %appdata% and press Enter.

Then click on Microsoft and click on Templates. Here you will see a file called Normal. This is the one we have to change.

In order to change the file extension, we’ll have to unhide file extensions. You can do this by clicking on the Organize button, then Folder and Search Options.

Then click on the View tab and uncheck the box that says “Hide extensions for known file types“.

Click OK and now you’ll be able to see the extension for the file. Right-click on the file and choose Rename. Rename it to Normal.old and then restart Word and see if it open normally or in safe mode.

Re-register Microsoft Word

You can also try to register Word with Windows again by clicking on Start, typing in run and then typing in the following command:

WinWord /r

The Microsoft Office setup dialog box will pop up and it’ll do some configuration for a few minutes and then finish. You shouldn’t get any errors hopefully and once it’s done, go ahead and try to run Word again.

Hopefully, one of the above methods will solve your problem with Word either opening in Safe Mode or crashing when trying to open. If not, post a comment and we’ll try to help! Enjoy!

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Note

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

Symptoms

When you start Microsoft Word for Mac, or when you try to open a new document, you experience one of the following conditions:

  • The program closes unexpectedly.

  • Error message:

Note

This error message may also occur during usage of application such as saving a document.

Starting microsoft word in safe mode mac blue screen

Resolution

To resolve this problem, follow steps below.

Microsoft Word for Mac 2008 or Later

Microsoft word safe mode

Step 1: Quit all applications

  1. On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.

  2. Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.

  3. Click Force Quit.

  4. Repeat the previous steps until all active applications.

Mactopia. Warning

When an application is force quit, any unsaved changes to open documents are not saved.

Step 2: Remove Preferences

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.

  2. On the Go menu, click Home.

  3. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  4. Open the Preferences folder.

  5. Look for a file that is named com.microsoft.Word.plist.

  6. If you locate the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.

  7. If you locate the file and move it to the desktop, start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Microsoft Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.plist file to the trash.

  8. Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.

  9. On the Go menu, click Home.

  10. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  11. Open the Preferences folder.

  12. Open the Microsoft folder.

  13. Locate the file that is named com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist.

  14. Move the file to the desktop.

  15. Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist file to the trash.

  16. On the Go menu, click Home.

  17. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  18. Open the Application Support folder.

  19. Open the Microsoft folder.

  20. Open the Office folder.

  21. Open the User Templates folder.

  22. Locate the file that is named Normal, and move the file to the desktop.

  23. Start Word and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the Normal file to the Trash. If the issue continues to occur, proceed to the next step.

If the issue continues to occur, go to the next step.

Step 3: Peform clean boot

For information how to clean start your Operating system (OS), see Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

2398596 How to use a 'clean startup' to determine whether background programs are interfering with Office for Mac

If the issue continues to occur in Safe mode, go to the next step.

Step 4: Remove and then reinstall Office

For information how to remove and then reinstall Office, see the following article:

If after removing and then reinstalling Office, the problem continues to occur, go to the next step.

Step 5: Use the 'Repair Disk Permissions' option

You can use the Repair Disk Permissions option to troubleshoot permissions problems in Mac OS X 10.2 or later versions. To use the Repair Disk Permissions option, follow these steps:

  1. On the Go menu, click Utilities.
  2. Start the Disk Utility program.
  3. Click the primary hard disk drive for your computer.
  4. Click the First Aid tab.
  5. Click Repair Disk Permissions.

Note

The Disk Utility program only repairs software that is installed by Apple. This utility also repairs folders, such as the Applications folder. However, this utility does not repair software that is in your home folder.

Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.

  2. On the Go menu, click Home.

  3. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  4. Open the Preferences folder.

  5. Look for a file that is named com.microsoft.Word.plist.

  6. If you locate the file, move it to the desktop. If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.

  7. If you locate the file and move it to the desktop, start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.plist file to the trash.

  8. Qit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs.

  9. On the Go menu, click Home.

  10. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  11. Open the Preferences folder.

  12. Open the Microsoft folder.

  13. Look for a file that is named com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist.

  14. Move the file to the desktop.

  15. Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem still occurs, quit Word, and restore the file to its original location. Then, go to the next step. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist file to the trash.

  16. On the Go menu, click Home.

  17. Open the Documents folder.

  18. Open the Microsoft User Data folder.

  19. Locate the file that is named Normal, and move the file to the desktop.

  20. Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs. If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the Normal file to the trash.

Mac Stuck In Safe Mode

Third-party disclaimer information

Starting Microsoft Word In Safe Mode Mac Startup

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.

The information and the solution in this document represent the current view of Microsoft Corporation on these issues as of the date of publication. This solution is available through Microsoft or through a third-party provider. Microsoft does not specifically recommend any third-party provider or third-party solution that this article might describe. There might also be other third-party providers or third-party solutions that this article does not describe. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, this information should not be interpreted to be a commitment by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot guarantee or endorse the accuracy of any information or of any solution that is presented by Microsoft or by any mentioned third-party provider.