Word/Excel for Mac won't load

December 7, 2018 3:53 PM

I've got the latest versions of the software and the Mac OS. I checked forums. There seems to be no definitive answer, either as a workaround or else something from Microsoft. You're asked to Force Quit. Sometimes it will open after that, sometimes it won't. Same with Excel. I've read where you have to go in and delete various plists or whatever they're called. That doesn't work. Is there consensus on how to deal with this? Microsoft won't respond to my inquiries, I can't find nothing conclusive on their forums, and I'm sure there has to be something to do. Thanks and happy holidays.
posted by holdenjordahl to Technology (5 answers total)

I don't have any mac-specific suggestions, but I'd say (a) back up all your important files, then (b) uninstall and reinstall your microsoft programs.
posted by number9dream at 4:27 PM on December 7, 2018

Response by poster: Hi number9dream.
Did and did. No luck.
thanks for responding.
posted by holdenjordahl at 4:29 PM on December 7, 2018

Response by poster: Oops, figured it out.
I hit Option at the same time that I close Word and Excel from the pull down menu.
Works every time.
Yay.
posted by holdenjordahl at 4:54 PM on December 7, 2018 [1 favorite]

Just in case, I'd assume that's opening it in safe mode (Ctrl does the same thing in Windows). So check and disable your Addins in options to see if that's where the problem is. Safe mode doesn't load them, so I'd guess it's the issue.
posted by Boobus Tuber at 4:14 AM on December 8, 2018

Just to be rule out the possibility, please go to the Font Book app, select All Fonts, and run File--> Validate Fonts

One corrupt font can cause pretty odd/semi-random behavior, or at least that used to be the case, some years back.
posted by kimota at 2:08 PM on December 8, 2018