Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close? Here's what to do.  

Microsoft Word Has Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close


Workable Solutions Step-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Solutions for Windows 10 Open Windows Explorer > click "Program Files" > "Microsoft office" >"Office". Right-click "Winword.exe"....Full steps
Fix 2. Solutions for Mac
  • Run Repair Disk Permissions on Mac
  • Reset Word for Mac preferences
  • Create a new user account...Full steps

"Microsoft word has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

Microsoft has encountered a problem and needs to close

The full error messages "Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close" may occur when you open a document in Word 2003/2007/2010/2013/2016. When you see this on Windows PC or Mac, it suggests that something serious has happened, and you're no longer able to open the Word file properly!

The causes of this problem may be:

So, how to fix such a Microsoft error without losing Word contents? Here, solutions to the 'Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close' problem on Windows and Mac are both covered, try the methods to resolve it and open Word without showing a blank page. Besides, in the end, get to know powerful Word file recovery software in case you need it to recover deleted or lost Word document.

Read also how to fix Microsoft Word has stopped working.

Fix Microsoft Word Has Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close in Windows 10/8/7

There are 2 options available for users who choose to proceed, which is "Send Error Report" or "Don't send". Actually, neither options are effective in resolving the problem. Click either of the options, you'll be brought to safe mode. Sometimes entering into safe mode would revive Word, but most of the time it doesn't solve the problem. In this part, we will show you the step-by-step guide to completely remove the error and lets you open the Word document without shutdown.

Fix Microsoft Word Has Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close on Mac

You may see this error when start Microsoft Word for Mac 2011 or 2008. Altogether, you have 3 ways to rectify the problem and prevent Word closing.

Run Repair Disk Permissions

The "Repair Disk Permissions" is available in 10.2 or later versions on Mac. You can use it to figure out the reasons for the "Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close" on Mac error and fix it.

On the Go menu, please click "Utilities" > "Disk Utility" > choose the primary hard drive for your Mac > click "First Aid" > "Repair Disk Permissions".

Once the scan is over, open Word again and check is the error occurs. If this method doesn't work, move to the next one.

Reset Word for Mac preferences

As said before, corrupted Word preferences are one of the main reasons for "Word has encountered a problem". So you can troubleshoot by resetting Word preferences.

Or, try another alternative method.

Create a new user account

If the problem is caused by a corrupted user account, you can try to create a new user account to fix the issue.

Good luck if the at least one method works, otherwise you got no choice but to remove or reinstall Office for Mac.

Bonus Tip: How to Recover Deleted/Lost Word Document on Windows and Mac

Word document loss happens from time to time due to accidental deletion, hard drive formatting, virus attack, application crashes, etc. It is a disaster to deleted a Word file that you have been working for a very long time. If you have this problem on a regular basis, don't worry anymore, now, you have Qiling data recovery software to help you. With this tool, it will be quite easy for you to recover the lost document, photos, audios, videos, email, and other 200+ files from HDD, SSD, USB flash drive, Pen drive, CF/SD card, etc on Windows and Mac computer.

Qiling Data Recovery is famous for its powerful capability for hard drive formatting recovery, RAW partition recovery, lost partition recovery, virus attack recovery, recycle bin emptied data recovery, and so on. Now, follow the tutorial below to recover Word document within three steps. 

Step 1. Select file types and click "Next" to start

Launch Deep Data Recovery software. Select file types and click "Next" to start.

Select file types that you want to recover

Step 2. Choose the Word file location

Choose the drive or a specific folder and click the "Scan" button.

select a location and click scan

Step 3. Locate your Word files

The software will start immediately scanning all lost data on the selected drive. After the scan, click the "Documents" option in the left panel. Choose "Word" from the category bar. Then, click "Preview".

select word documents and recover

Step 4. Recover Word files

After previewing the lost Word files, select the desired Word files and click "Recover". Then, select a folder to store the Word files.

Related Articles


Is this information helpful?     

What can we do to improve this information? (Optional)
Refresh Please enter the verification code!