- May 19, 2018 Hi everyone, I have an iMac 2017 4K 21' with 1To FusionDrive and High Sierra 10.13.4. Each program of Microsoft Office 2016 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, v16.13) are very slow (around 30s) to start up after cold start of the Mac.
- Mac users have reported that Word, Excel, and Outlook applications started freezing or crashing. After the recent macOS High Sierra upgrade in September 2017, Microsoft claimed no issues had been registered. If you do experience Word freeze-ups on the earlier OS X.
Jul 14, 2018 Until High Sierra my macOS system has been super stable. But since the upgrade I am having periodic crashes were the system hangs and just freezes. Apps go into Spin, Mail usually disappears. I have to force reboot. There is no crash log to lead the way.
-->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 save a Word for Mac document, the application crashes or quits unexpectedly.
Resolution
Step 1: Download and install all Office updates
To obtain updates with Office for Mac applications, follow these steps:
Microsoft AutoUpdate for Mac, which comes with Office, can keep your Microsoft software up to date. When AutoUpdate is set to check for updates automatically on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, there's no need to search for critical updates and information; AutoUpdate delivers them directly to your computer. To do this:
- Start any Office for Mac application on your computer.
- Click Help menu, click Check for Updates.
For additional information about Office for Mac updates, seeWhere and how to obtain Office for Mac software updates.
If the issue continues to occur, proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Check the hard disc name
Make sure that your hard disc has a name. The name cannot be all numbers but can contain numbers. The name must start with a letter. It must not contain any special characters, such as periods, commas, semi-colons, quotation marks, and so on.
Step 3: Save to a different location
Microsoft Word 16 Mac High Sierra Freezes Startup Download
If you are saving a file in your Documents folder, instead try saving the file to the desktop or to a different location.
Remember that there is a 255-character limit to the file name, and the path of the saved file is included in the name. For example, a file that is saved to the desktop has the path 'HDusersyour user nameDesktop.' These characters are counted toward the 255-character limit.
If you want to save to a network share or to an external device (such as a flash drive), first save the file to your local hard disc. If you can save the file to the hard disc (your Documents folder), there is nothing wrong with the Excel installation or with the file. If you cannot save to your local hard disc, go to step 3.
If you cannot save the file to an external device, contact Apple or the manufacturer of the external device. If you cannot save to a network share, contact the network administrator (your IT department) or the owner of the share. If you do not have an IT department and you want to save to a network, contact Microsoft Professional Support.
Step 4: Empty the AutoRecovery folder
Important
The location of certain files are different if you have Service Pack 2 (SP2) installed. To check if it is installed, open Word, and then click About Word from the Word menu. If the version number is 14.2.0 or above, you have Service Pack 2 and you should follow the Service Pack 2 steps when provided in this article.
Microsoft Word 16 Mac High Sierra Freezes Startup 2017
If there are too many items in the AutoRecovery folder (userDocumentsMicrosoft User DataOffice 2008 AutoRecovery or Office 2010 AutoRecovery), this can cause memory problems and save problems because these files are loaded into memory when Word is started.
Move AutoRecovery files to the desktop or to another folder to see whether they are causing the problem. To do this, follow these steps:
To empty the AutoRecovery folder, follow these steps if have version 14.2.0 (also known as Service Pack 2) installed:
Quit all applications.
On the File menu, click New Folder.
A new folder is created on the desktop. The folder will be called 'New Folder.'
On the Go menu, click Home.
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.
Open Application Support, and then open Microsoft.
Open Office 2011 AutoRecovery.
On the Edit menu, click Select All.
Drag all files into 'New Folder' on the desktop.
The AutoRecovery folder should be empty.
Open Excel for Mac 2011 and try to save a file.
If you can save a file, review the contents of 'New Folder' to decide which files that you want to keep.
If the problem continues to occur, go to the next method.
To empty the AutoRecovery folder, follow these steps if you do not have Service Pack 2 installed:
Quit all applications.
On the File menu, click New Folder.
A new folder is created on the desktop. The folder will be called 'New Folder.'
On the Go menu, click Documents.
Open Microsoft User Data, and then open Office 2011 AutoRecovery.
On the Edit menu, click Select All.
Drag all files into 'New Folder' on the desktop.
The AutoRecovery folder should be empty.
Open Excel for Mac 2011 and try to save a file.
If you can save a file, review the contents of 'New Folder' to decide which files that you want to keep.
If the problem continues to occur, go to the next method.
Step 5: Remove Word preferences
Note
Removing the preferences will remove any customizations that you made. These customizations include changes to toolbars and custom dictionaries and keyboard shortcuts that you created.
Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac applications.
On the Go menu, click Home.
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.
Open Preferences.
Look for a file that is named com.microsoft.Word.plist.
If you locate the file, move it to the desktop. If you cannot locate the file, the application is using the default preferences.
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 then 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.
Quit all Office for Mac applications.
On the Go menu, click Home.
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.
Open Preferences, and then open Microsoft.
Locate the file that is named com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist.
Move the file to the desktop.
Start Word, and then 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 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.
Open Application Support, and then open Microsoft.
Open Office, and then open User Templates.
Locate the file that is named Normal, and then move the file to the desktop.
Start Word, and then 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, go to the next step.
Step 6: Create a new user account
Sometimes, user-specific information can become corrupted. This can interfere with installing or using the application. To determine whether this is the case, you can log on as a different user or create a new user account, and then test the application.
If the issue occurs even when you use the alternative account, go to the next step.
Step 7: Test saving the file in safe mode
Try to save when the computer is operating in safe mode. If you can save while in safe mode, the problem probably concerns software that is running in the background.
For information about how to enter safe mode in Mac OS, seeClean startup to see if background programs are interfering with Office for Mac.
More information
If the steps in this article did not resolve the issue, visit the Mac forums for possible resolutions/workarounds.
Experiencing a Word freeze-up in the middle of working on something important is very stressful. Let’s say, you are writing your term paper seeking an answer to the question that would make the life of millions of people around the entire globe much easier and more comfortable (for example, Do Woodpeckers Get Headaches?). And in the middle of the process, when your thoughts smoothly flow from your head into the text editor; when no slightest paper help is needed from anybody; when the inspiration is overflowing; when you feel on the verge of the greatest finding in the history of humanity – dear Lord! Word just crashes or freezes. If you’ve never suffered such a tragedy, you must be the luckiest person on Earth and should definitely play lottery right about now. Otherwise, scan the text below to find out how to straighten things out and minimize the damage from such a misfortune.
To partly recover the document you have been working on, try printing out the screen. After that, try force-quitting the application by using the Command-Option-Esc shortcut. When the Force Quit window appears, select the app you want to abort and press Force Quit.