Microsoft Word 2011 Will Not Open On Mac

Hi, For the last couple of days, the word app on my mac won't open. It bounces after clicking in the icon and then nothing happens. I have to force the app to shut down. All the other office apps are working fine. I downloaded the latest version of Mac OS. What should I do to fix this? Previously Outlook wouldn't really open. It would bounce on the task bar and then have to be force closed. Now it opens perfectly. I also made sure all of Microsoft Office was updated by going to Microsoft Word Help Check for Updates, but it was the Apple firmware update that fixed my Outlook issue.

  1. Important: An Outlook for Mac 2011 identity can only be imported into an empty Outlook for Mac profile. An empty profile is one where there are no other accounts or other data associated with it. Here are the steps to create a new profile in Outlook for Mac: Note: These steps must be used with Outlook 2016 for Mac or Outlook 2019 for Mac.
  2. Apr 16, 2018  Now, open the Microsoft folder (in Preferences), and drag com.microsoft.Word.prefs.plist to the desktop. Note If you have Service Pack 2 installed, open Application Support Microsoft instead of Preferences Microsoft. Do you see the error? Quit Word, and drag one of the files back to its default location and test again.

Outlook has suddenly stopped working. Outlook 2011 for Mac application won’t launch or start. Splash screen comes up and then disappears again.Then the program quit.
Solution 1:- (Rebuild Outlook database)
Method 1: Press and hold Option key when launching Outlook to rebuild the identity.
Method 2: Press and hold Alt key (windows) and click the Outlook icon on on the Dock (If the icon not appears on dock, Go to /Applications/Microsoft Office 2011 folder and drag the outlook file to Dock).
Microsoft database utility will appear. Now click the Rebuild button.
It will reboot Outlook database. After it finished the process, click the Done button and close the Microsoft Database utility.
Method 3: Open Applications and choose Microsoft Office 2011 folder. Then select the office folder and find Microsoft Database Utility.app. Here you can find rebuild option.
Solution 2:- (Remove Outlook preference file)
Go to ~/Library/Preferences and delete Outlook preference file (file name starts with “com.microsoft”).
Solution 3: (Nano suggested)
Open Terminal app and type the following command to delete old preferences.

Next type or paste the following command to kill the cached preferences.

Then launch Microsoft Outlook.
If the above methods doesn’t work, re-install office 2011 software.

Summary

When you try to open a Word document on Mac document, Word stops opening. If you are faced with this issue and are willing to solve it, then follow the 3 solutions. If you have data loss problem after fixing the Word not opening issue, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac can do you a favor.

On this page, we have collected three practical solutions that can help fix the 'Word Not Opening' error on Mac. And if you mistakenly removed a Word file on Mac, let reliable Mac file recovery software as recommended here for help. Check out how to fix the not opening Word file to accessible again:

Workable SolutionsStep-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Repair DiskOpen Disk Utility > Select the primary hard disk on Mac and select 'First Aid' > Click 'Run'...Full steps
Fix 2. Remove Word PreferenceOpen 'Library' > Open 'Preferences' > Copy com.microsoft.Word.plist file to desktop...Full steps
Fix 3. Open and Repair WordStart Word > Click 'Open' on the File menu > Click 'Repair' on the Open button...Full steps
Fix 4. Recover Lost WordRun EaseUS Mac file recovery software > Scan mac drive > Restore lost Mac word file...Full steps

'Word 2016 on my Mac won't open. It flashes immediately by double-clicking and then closes unexpectedly. I didn't do anything or any change. How to fix it if Microsoft Word won't open at all?'

In addition to this situation, most users are also faced with these errors:

  • The application Microsoft Word quit unexpectedly
  • Microsoft Word cannot be opened because of a problem. Check with the developer to make sure Microsoft Word works with this version of Mac OS X

As Microsoft Word is widely used among people, owning some basic Word troubleshooting is recognized as an essential skill. Today you're going to learn three tricks in solving Word not opening on Mac. The given workarounds are applicable to all Word editions such as 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 2016.

1. Run Repair Disk Permissions

Step 1: On the 'Go' menu, click 'Utilities'. Start the Disk Utility program.

Step 2: Choose the primary hard disk drive for your computer. Then, click the 'First Aid' tab.

Step 3: Click 'Run' to repair the disk volume errors and permissions. When it finishes, click 'Done'.

2. Remove Word Preferences

Step 1: Open 'Library'. Usually, click 'GO' > 'Go to the folder', then type ~/Library

Step 2: Locate a file named as 'Preferences'.

Step 3: Find a file named as com.microsoft.Word.plist. Move the file to the desktop.

Microsoft word 2011 will not open on mac computer

Start Word, and check whether the problem still occurs.

If the problem still occurs, exit Microsoft Word, and then restore the 'com.microsoft.word.prefs.plist' file to its original location. Then, go to Step 4.

If the problem seems to be resolved, you can move the file to the trash.

Note: If you do not locate the file, the program is using the default preferences.

Step 4: Exit all Microsoft Office for Mac programs. Then, Click the Word icon. On the left, click 'Preferences'.

Step 5: Click 'File Locations'.

Step 6: Select 'User templates'.

Step 7: Locate the file that is named Normal, and move the file to the desktop.

You can also find the file named as Normal through this way: 'Library' > 'Application Support' > 'Microsoft' > 'Office' > 'User Templates' > 'Normal'

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.

3. Try to Open and Repair Word

Step 1: Start Word. On the File menu, click 'Open'.

Step 2: In the Open dialog box, select the file that you want to open. Click the down arrow on the Open button, click 'Open' > 'Repair'.

Recover Deleted and Missing Word on Mac

Do not worry if the 'Word not opening' issue causes data loss disaster, you can recover unsaved Word document on Mac from its Temporary folder and AutoRecovery save. While for a deleted Word document on Mac, the easiest way of recovery is using a third-party Mac data recovery software.

Open

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac also recovers Word document that is missing, deleted or lost due to formatting, virus infection and other misoperation, and the best part of using the software to recover Word is being able to preview the file entirety.

Step 1. Select the location where your important Word documents were lost and click Scan button.

Microsoft Word 2011 Will Not Open On Mac On Macbook

Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will start immediately a quick scan as well as a deep scan on your selected disk volume. Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the left pane.

My Microsoft Word Program Will Not Open

Step 3. By Path and Type, you can quickly filter the Word files you've lost earlier. Select the target files and click Recover Now button to get them back at once.