Whenever it comes to working with several documents, there are so many options available to you. Since its inception, Microsoft is constantly grasping the market with its Office applications. Microsoft Word makes the entire process of writing multiple documents much more convenient. Be it the Windows OS or the MacOS, you get the full flexibility to use the saved document on any of them However, many times, the users face any issue of Microsoft Word not responding Mac devices.
The files they have saved earlier do not open or respond while working. Due to this, users face problems to process their work with such documents. Therefore, if you are one of those users who are facing the issue on their Mac, then go through this article. Here, we are going to discuss different aspects of the error and the process to solve it conveniently.
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Steps To Resolve The Microsoft Word Application Not Responding Mac
There might be a lot of reasons behind the error that you have encountered during the use of the Microsoft Office Word documents. If you are accessing from Mac Operating System, then the chances of facing this issue is high. Now, if you want to solve it, then go through the following solutions as mentioned here. Moreover, we will discuss briefly what to do when Microsoft Word not responding Mac to open some important documents or save them.
Solution 1 – Clear The Autorecovery Folder
Sometimes, most of the users encounter the error due to the auto-recovery folder of their Office document. In such circumstances, you should clear this folder and proceed further with your file. If you have no idea how you can clear that up, then you can go through the steps. Here, we are going to discuss all the steps to clear the Autorecovery folder in a detailed way.
Step 1:
At first, you need to navigate and click on the Go menu of your Mac which you can find at the top of the screen. Then, click on the option called Home among the specific items that appeared clicking Go.
Step 2:
After that, go to the Microsoft Office Word application and open it to view your documents. You can do that by going to the Open option from the top-left corner of the screen.
Step 3:
In this step, you have to open the Microsoft User Data that contains another folder called Office Autorecovery. After opening the folder, see if there are any files in it and if you find any, then clear them up.
Once you are done with that, check if the issue persists on your Mac. You don’t have to delete the files contained in the Autorecovery folder rather you can relocate them to another location. To do that, you can copy or move them to your desired folder. If you still find the issue with the Word document on Mac, then follow the next solution.
Solution 2 – Download And Install The Latest Updates Of Your Microsoft Office Word Application
If the Word application hasn’t been updated in a while, then it also might be the reason for the Mac Microsoft Word not responding Mac error. So, updating Microsoft Word to its latest version can help you solve it immediately. In case, you are not certain about the process of updating the Microsoft Office Word on your Mac, then you are at the right place. In this section, we are going to discuss them in such a way that you don’t face any further problems.
- Open the Microsoft Word application and after that, click on the Help option from the menu items.
- Select the option called ‘Check for updates’ from the list that appears before you to proceed further.
- In the new window, you will find three options from where you need to select ‘Automatically Download and Install’ and then click on the ‘Check for Updates’ button from the bottom of the window.
With the steps as mentioned in the above section, you should not face any problem updating Microsoft Word on your Mac. After a successful update of this application, check if it is working fine or not.
Solution 3 – Check The Name Of The Document
It happens a lot that the users face the error because there is something wrong with the name of the document. If the name of the document contains symbols irrespective of their type, then you cannot open that file. You can easily resolve this problem by renaming the file without inserting any character or symbol in it.
If you have downloaded the file from the internet, then it’s possible that you face the error. It happens because the browser adds some symbols to the name of the file before saving it on your system. Not all the browsers do that but still, there are some which have such deficiency. In such cases, use a different web browser to get the file downloaded.
Solution 4 – Remove The Word Preferences
Having previously set preferences can sometimes cause the Microsoft Word not responding Mac error. Hence, you should try to remove such preferences from your system using the Word application. You should also note that once you removed the preferences of this application, you’ll lose all the customizations that you have made earlier. Therefore, to remove all the Word preferences, go through the steps as stated in the section below.
Step 1: 
The first step includes closing all the Microsoft Office programs on your Mac.
Step 2:
On the Go menu, you should click on the Home option that appears at the top of your computer screen.
Step 3:
In this step, you need to go to the Library section from Home and usually, it stays hidden. So, if you are unable to find it on the menu, then hold down the Option key and click on the Go menu. It will show you the Library section, you have to open it.
Step 4:
Open Preferences and look for the file called ‘com.microsoft.word.plist’ in the menu. If you find the file, then move it to the desktop of your Mac.
After completing these steps, open the Microsoft Office Word application again and check if the issue exists. In case, the problem is resolved, move it to the trash and use Word with its documents. If it still happens to be there, then move the file again to its location and then follow the next steps.
Step 5:
Again, open Preferences as you did in the last steps, and then open the Microsoft to locate ‘com.microsoft.word.prefs.plist’ on your Mac.
If you have successfully found it, then move it to the desktop and check the existence of the issue. You should move the file to trash from the desktop if you find that the issue has been resolved. And if the error is still there on your system, then follow the other steps as given below.
Step 6:
Open Application Support from the Library and then go to the Microsoft section to expand it.
Step 7:
Afterward, open the Office in Microsoft and then go to the User Templates section to get to the file called Normal. One more time, move this file named Normal to the desktop and check if the issue still is there.
It should solve the trouble that you faced with your Microsoft Office Word on the macOS. Now, even after following all the above steps, the issue continues to persist, then move the file from desktop to its original location. And if you find the error has been resolved, you are free to move the file to the trash.
Solution 5 – Run The Application In Safe Mode
If you are still facing a problem with the Microsoft Word application, then you can use it in the Safe Mode. By following the steps as mentioned in the section below, you can start your MacOS in Safe Mode.
- Press and hold the Shift key immediately after you restart your Mac.
- As the Apple logo appears, release the Shift key and you will find the Safe boot option over there on the startup screen.
With the help of these two steps, you can easily restart your Mac in Safe Mode. And once you are done with that, try to open the file that was not responding. If you find that the file is working fine, then the problem seems to be resolved. To get back to the Normal Mode, just don’t press and hold any Shift key while restarting your Mac.
Solution 6 – Check If You Have Installed Any Third-Party Fonts
Some fonts from different organizations can also prevent the application from working properly. If you have installed third-party fonts on Word for Mac, then you might experience the bug. To resolve the error, you have to delete all the duplicated fonts along with the Font caches from the Mac. You can go through the following steps to solve the error.
Step 1:
Close all the Microsoft Office applications that are currently open on your Mac. On the Home menu, select the Applications which you can find under the Go menu from the top of the screen.
Step 2:
In the Applications menu, click on Apple’s Font Book to make several edits on it. To do that, go to the Edit menu and click on the option called ‘Select Duplicated Fonts’ from the menu.
Step 3:
Again from the Edit menu, click on “Resolve Duplicates’ option to get rid of all the duplicate fonts. If you want to remove the font duplicates, then follow the steps.
- Once the duplicates are resolved, you have to select the disabled fonts individually and then click on File.
- After that, click on the option called ‘Reveal in Finder’ and it will show you the files. What you have to do here is to move those files to the trash.
- If you find two versions of the fonts like the old and the new one, then move the old copy to the trash.
Once you have deleted the unwanted fonts, restart the computer and check if the issue is still there on the system. Hopefully, now you know what to do when Microsoft Word is not responding and you didn’t save the document that you were working with.
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How Do You Recover A Word Document That Is Not Responding On Mac?
There are numerous ways by which you can solve the error with the Microsoft Word application on Mac. To do that, you have to click on the Home button and then open the Documents folder. Go to the ‘Microsoft User Data’ folder and then find the Autorecovery file to make some necessary changes in it. You can rename the file as you want and add a ‘.doc’ extension with it. After doing that, check if the issue still persists. It also helps you to solve Microsoft Word not responding Mac several documents on it.
What To Do If Word Freezes On Mac?
In certain circumstances, you will find that the Microsoft Office Word application freezes while working with it. Thus, to get rid of such problems, you need to navigate to the Mac menu and force quit the process completely. There are some key combinations also available to force quit the application which is Command + Option + Esc keys.
What To Do At The Time When Microsoft Word Not Responding When Printing?
If you are facing the problem that the Microsoft Office Word not responding while printing, then there are a few things you can try. Close the application and start it again to print your documents with its help. If you are still facing the error, then start your computer in Safe Mode and then try to perform the print operation.
We hope that this brief guide on Microsoft Word helped the Mac users. So, when you face some issues, at first, try the hacks given in this write-up.
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