This article published byMiniTool brandoffers you 19 solutions to fix Microsoft Office won’t open problem.
Those ways are popular online and have helped thousands of users.
Microsoft Office wont open refers to the Microsoft Office apps wont open.
![]()
It can be one, several, or all of the Office programs that dont open.
The following are some of the typical ones among all kinds of situations.
Case 1.
![]()
Case 2.
What does this mean?
Case 3.
![]()
Or This action is only valid for products that are currently installed.
Why is Excel opening in Protected View?
How to take off Protected View in Excel?

How to turn off Protected View completely?
Read and find answers here.
Case 4.
![]()
Microsoft Office Has Stopped Working
Microsoft Word has stopped working.
Many of you have ever encountered such an error.
When it appears, it also states that Windows can check online for a solution to the problem.

Besides the various cases, the situations of the Office opening problem are also different.
How to Fix Microsoft Office Wont Open Issues?
XLS vs XLSX: What are the differences between them?

How to convert between them?
This article compares them in 7 aspects & offers 3 ways to convert between.
Solution 1.

Launch the correct Microsoft Office app, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
On its top menu, selectFile > Open.
Find and select your target file.

If you’re able to successfully bring up the target file, congratulations!
If, unfortunately, you cannot, just go to the next solution.
Solution 2.

Or, after right-clicking on an Office file and select Open, there is no response.
Does the file really not open?
To confirm it, just go to Task Manager to check out in the Process tab.

Yet, you still cant see the file.
Cant save changes to old Office files after upgrading to Windows 11?
This post fixes your changes could not be saved because of a sharing violation error.

Solution 3.
To do that, first of all, you gotta find where the Office executive files are.
Once you find the executable files of Office programs, double-click to open them.

If you succeed, then, it is the shortcuts that should be blamed.
So, recreate the shortcuts will fix the problem.
Just right-choose the executable file and selectCreate shortcut.

If that is true, you wont be able to use any Microsoft Office programs.
So, just use a genuine version of Office.
In such a case, just activate your Microsoft Office with your license.

How to check whether the Office is activated or not?
What is the get genuine Office message?
How to remove the get genuine Office warning?
![]()
Why does the get genuine Office banner show and its potential damages?
Solution 5.
Keep Microsoft Office Up-to-date
Sometimes, Office programs cant work properly for they are out-of-date.

So, just implement the latest update of Microsoft Office will fix the problem.
you’re able to simply do it by clicking theUpdate Optionsin the right above picture and selectUpdate Now.
Solution 6.
Stop ClickToRunSvc Service
The above Case 4 usually happens when a computer wakes up from sleep or hibernation.
If a Microsoft Office app is forever responding, the most likely culprit is theClickToRunSvc service.
Just disable it to solve the problem.
Right-punch Taskbar and chooseTask Manager.
Find and right-click onClickToRunSvc.
Solution 7.
Search control panel in Windows Taskbar and openWindows Control Panel.
In Control Panel, selectUninstall Programsunder the Programs section.
In the programs list, right-select Microsoft Office and chooseChange.
When the repair finishes, reboot your PC.
If not, it means your problem still exists.
Then, move to the next solution.
Solution 8.
Go toUninstall Programssection in Windows Control Panel.
Then, just follow the guidance to finish the uninstallation.
Solution 9.
Reinstall Microsoft Office
Many software problems may be solved by reinstallation.
So asMicrosoft Office wont open Windows 10/11.
Just go to theofficial website of Office, download, and install your Office version.
Solution 10.
Troubleshoot Microsoft Office File Association
In this method, you gotta rely on an official troubleshooting pack cabinet.
Step 2. tap on the downloaded file to trigger the troubleshooting process.
In the pop-up window, clickNextand follow the guide to deal with Microsoft Office File Association problem.
If not, continue with the following solutions.
Solution 11.
In Windows 10/11, clickStartin the bottom left corner and selectSettings.
In the Windows prefs window, choose theAppsoption.
On the Apps & Features screen, selectDefault appstab in the left menu.
Scroll down to find Set defaults by app and click it.
On the next screen, find the problematic Microsoft Office app, punch it, and selectManage.
Then, find the file extension you failed to open and set its default app as the Office program.
Just choose the current matched app and go for the target Microsoft Office app.
Solution 12.
The following will take open a Word file in safe mode for example.
Open Windows Run box by pressing Windows + R.
Step 2. bang out winword /safe and pressEnter.
Then, you will see the Word opens in safe mode.
The following are the orders for opening other Office programs in Safe Mode via Run box.
They are all based on Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2016 on Windows 10/11.
Solution 13.
So, disable or remove them will solve Microsoft Office wont open problem.
The following guide is based on Microsoft Word.
Launch the Word program.
Navigate toFile > Options > Add-ins.
At the bottom of the Add-ins tab, selectCOM Add-insin the drop-down menu and clickGo…
In the COM Add-ins dialog, uncheck all add-ins and clickOKto exist.
Then, reopen your Word document to see the result.
you might also uncheck one add-in at one time to figure out which add-in is the culprit.
Solution 14.
Update Windows
As we all know that Office and Windows are of the same Microsoft family.
Microsoft regularly releases Office updates withinWindows Update.
Thus, update those system apps by update Windows will help.
Solution 15.
Then, just uninstall the update is the fix.
In Windows prefs, continue toUpdate & Security.
In the defaultWindows Updatetab, click View update history.
There, clickUninstall updateson the top.
In the Uninstall Updates window, right-choose the latest you have installed and selectUninstall.
Solution 16.
Repair Corrupted File System
Sometimes, the file system crash will also result in files not open.
So, have a check at yours and repair the crashed file system.
Download and install a reliable tool that can repair the file system.
Here,MiniTool Partition Wizardis recommended.
MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 2.
Right-tap on the partition (volume) where the problematic files are located and selectCheck & fix detected errors.
ClickStartto carry out the diagnosis.
Solution 17.
If you have, just remove those drivers.
you’re free to find a way in this article.
Where to download Canon printer drivers for Windows 11?
What Canon printers are compatible with Windows 11?
How to fix Canon printer and driver problems?
solution 18.
Solution 19.
Or, you may consider contacting the Microsoft Office support team for a method.
Then, what should you do?
If you have a backup of those files that were created before the virus attack, you are lucky.
you’re free to restore those Microsoft Office files based on the backup.
So, yes, to create a backup of important files is of great importance.
Then, how to make a backup of computer files?
Lets hand it to a professional and reliable data backup tool calledMiniTool ShadowMaker.
This process is free of charge.
MiniTool ShadowMaker TrialClick to Download100%Clean & Safe
Step 1.
Launch MiniTool ShadowMaker on your machine and clickKeep Trialon its first screen.
On its second screen, switch toBackup.
Click theDestinationmodule on the right to go for the backup target place.
you might choose another local disk or external hard drive.
Then, you’ve got the option to review the backup task.
If everything is right, just clickBack up Nowto start the process immediately.
Wait until the backup task completes.
The time it will take depends on how much data you set to back up.
In general, it wont take too long.
Of course, there are still other fixes that havent been listed in this article.
If you are willing to, feel free to post them in the comment section.
Thanks for your reading!