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Summary: Unable to access your Word file? Users who depend on Microsoft Word for most of their tasks can get stressed when they see the error “Word file won’t open.” Find reasons to address the error from its root cause and quick ways to fix it and regain control of your Word files.
The error “Word file won’t open” often arises when a user tries to open a Word document created in an older version of Word in the latest version. As a result of the error, the application can freeze, show a blank screen, or even open multiple loading screens. Irrespective of the reason behind this “Microsoft Word won’t open” issue, it is important to resolve the error within time and get access to your Word documents again.
Why Won’t My Word File Open?
Here are a few causes of the “Word file won’t open” error:
- Document created using an outdated version of Microsoft Word.
- Installed add-ins are interfering with the Word application.
- File you’re trying to open is corrupted.
- Trying to save or open multiple documents at once.
Quick Ways to Fix the ‘Word File Won’t Open’ Error
To fix the “Microsoft Word won’t open” error, the below section will outline the best working manual methods. try the solutions given one by one and check which resolves your situation the best. But before trying out the solutions, look out for any new updates available for Word.
Method 1. Check the ‘Trust Center’ Settings
The Trust Center settings of the Microsoft programs allow you to customize the privacy and security settings. With these settings, you can share the Word document with other users and even restrict some information. Disable the protected view settings; it can also resolve and open corrupt Word DOC and DOCX files to fix the issue where the Word file would not open.
Follow these simple steps to change the Trust Center settings-
- Open the Microsoft Word application on your system.
- Click on ‘Options’ in the ‘File’ menu.
- Click on ‘Trust Center’ and then select ‘Trust Center Settings.’
- Go to the ‘Protected View’ tab, uncheck all the boxes, and click ‘OK.’
- Now, close the Word application and try to open the file.
Method 2. Change “Component Security” Settings
Follow the given steps to set the “Component Security” settings to the default option:
Step 1- Go to the search box, type “dcomcnfg” and press the Enter key.
Step 2- Now select “Component Services” from the left pane.
Step 3- In the middle pane, go to the “Computers” and double-click to expand.
Step 4- Right-click on the “My Computer” icon and select “Properties.”
Step 5- Lastly, navigate to the “Default Properties” tab.
Step 6- Now, in the “Default Distributed Com Communication Properties,” set the “Default Authentication Level” to the Default option from the dropdown menu.
Step 7- Set the “Impersonation level” to “Identify” from the Default impersonation level.
Step 8- Finally, click the “Ok” button.
Method 3. Utilize the ‘Open and Repair’ Feature
There is a chance that the Word file is damaged, which is preventing it from opening in its usual way. But the ‘Open and Repair’ command in Word might be able to repair and recover the Word file.
- Follow the steps to open and repair the file using Word-
- Open the Word application and click on the ‘File’ menu.
- Click on ‘Open’ and then on ‘Browse.’
- Pick the Word file that is not opening. Click on the ‘Open’ dropdown to select ‘Open and Repair.’
Method 4. Convert Word File to a New Format
An incompatible file format can cause a ‘Word file won’t open’ error. Here are the steps to follow:
Change the Word file into a new format using this procedure-
- Open the Word application and click on ‘File.’
- Select ‘Open’ and click on the corrupted document to open it.
- Under the ‘File’ section, click ‘Save As.’ Choose the destination and select ‘Rich Text Format’ under the ‘Save as type’ menu.
- Now, try to open the file.
Method 5. Insert the Document into a New One
Any file can be inserted into a new Word document. The file that won’t open can be easily inserted into a new document, and it becomes part of it, which can resolve the not opening issue. However, inserting a document leads to increasing the file size of the new Word document.
To insert the file, follow these steps-
- Open a new Word file and click on the ‘Insert’ tab.
- Click on ‘Object’, and a dropdown menu will appear. Click on ‘Text from file.’
- Choose the Word file and click on ‘Insert.’
Resolving MS Word Not Working Issue with Some Additional Methods
Some other methods that you can try to resolve Microsoft Word not opening error are as follows:
- Access the Word document in compatibility mode.
- Disable all the faulty or suspicious add-ins and extensions.
- Update the document (printer) driver from the Device Manager.
- Check your system for any malware or virus intrusion.
- Open Word in safe mode using Winword /safe in the Run window.
- Registry cleanup to remove the traces of old Word installations
Repair Word Files Using a Professional Approach
When manual workaround fails to help you fix the ‘Word file won’t open issue, there are high chances that the document has corruption. You need a solution like Kernel for Word Repair that repairs corrupted Word files without changing the formatting and layout of the documents. It can recover any Word file without any limitation of file size, number of files, or degree of corruption.
Follow these easy steps to repair the Word file and fix the “Microsoft Word won’t open” error-
- Install the Kernel for Word on your system.
- Launch the tool and click on ‘Add files’ to select the corrupted Word file.
- Choose the Word file from anywhere on the system and click on ‘Open.’
- All the selected files will be displayed on the tool. Select ‘Repair Files.’
- Choose a destination to save the repaired Word document and click on ‘OK.’
- The repairing process will begin. Once it is completed, click on ‘OK.’
Conclusion
Apart from the given solutions to fix “Word file won’t open” error, make sure you take regular backups of your documents and make multiple copies of them. One important tip would be to use the standard document (.docx) format and regularly update your Word and Windows OS. You can also use Kernel for Word Repair, which helps to repair corrupted and damaged Microsoft Word files.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is what you can do:
1. Save your document every few minutes or enable the Autosave option.
2. Shut down the Word application and Windows OS properly.
3. Run regular antivirus or malware scan to avoid errors.
You can use the built-in repair feature in Word that allows you to open and repair the file with an updated structure. Doing this often helps in recovering the document data.
