Office 365/2016/2013 Not Opening with 'Stopped Working' Error

Office 365, 2016, or 2013 Fails to Open on Windows 10 with 'Stopped Working' Error

According to Microsoft community forums and Google search results, it appears that the issue of Office applications not opening after a Windows 10 update, accompanied by an 'Office stopped working' error message, is not a new problem for Windows users.

If Microsoft Office 365, 2016, or 2013 has ceased functioning or fails to open normally, you may be unable to work on Word documents or edit Excel files. So, how do you resolve this issue and restore Office functionality in Windows 10/8/7? If you're experiencing similar problems with Office Word, Excel, PPT, or other files on your PC, and you can't open Office to work, don't worry. You can follow the methods provided in this article to troubleshoot the problem yourself.

Method 1: Resolve Office 'Stopped Working' Error in Windows 10 using an Online Repair Tool

When Microsoft Office 365, 2016, or 2013 stops functioning or fails to open on your PC, you can attempt an Office repair to resolve the issue in Windows 10/8/7:

1. Click "Start" > "Control Panel" > Choose "Programs" > "Programs and Features"; 2. Right-click on Office 365, Office 2016, or Office 2013 > Select "Change"; 3. Click "Online Repair" > Press the "Repair" button. Wait for the repair process to finish, then restart your Windows system and check if Word, Excel, or other Office applications are functioning correctly.

Method 2: Repair Corrupted System Files and Open Office in Safe Mode If the issue persists and Office applications still fail to open, you can try repairing corrupted system files and launching Office in Safe Mode. Follow these steps: 1. **Run System File Checker (SFC) scan**: - Press `Win + X` on your keyboard and select `Command Prompt (Admin)` or `Windows PowerShell (Admin)` if you're using Windows 10. - Type `sfc /scannow` in the command prompt and press Enter. This will scan for any corrupted system files and attempt to fix them. - Wait for the process to complete, which may take some time. Once finished, restart your computer. 2. **Repair Microsoft Office**: - Press `Win + I` to open Settings. - Click on `Apps` or `Apps & features` (depending on your Windows version). - Locate Microsoft Office in the list of installed apps, then click on it. - Choose `Modify` or `Change`. This will open the Office setup wizard. - In the wizard, select `Quick Repair` first, and then click on `Repair`. Allow the repair process to finish. - If the Quick Repair doesn't work, try `Online Repair` instead, which is a more thorough scan. 3. **Start Office in Safe Mode**: - After the repair process, restart your computer. - To start an Office application in Safe Mode, follow these steps: - For Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook: - Press `Win + R` to open the Run dialog box. - Type `winword.exe /safe`, `excel.exe /safe`, `powerpnt.exe /safe`, or `outlook.exe /safe`, respectively, then press Enter. - For Access or Publisher: - Navigate to the installation folder of Microsoft Office, usually `C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16` or `C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office16` (for Office 2016, adjust accordingly for other versions). - Right-click the respective application shortcut (e.g., `msaccess.exe` or `publisher.exe`) and choose `Run as administrator`. - Add `/safe` at the end of the target path in the Properties window, then click `OK`. 4. **Check for Improvements**: - Launch the Office application in Safe Mode and see if it opens without issues. - If it works fine, try running the application normally to confirm that the problem has been resolved. If the issue continues after trying these steps, you might need to consider re-installing Office or seeking further assistance from Microsoft support.

Bad sectors can result in corrupted system files within the Windows operating system, which may lead to issues with Office not functioning correctly or other problems. If Microsoft Office encounters issues where it fails to work or displays an "stopped working" error, you could attempt to repair the corrupted file system and restart your PC in Safe Mode to address the problem.

Part 1: Repair Corrupted System Files

Free download, install, and launch tools Partition Master on your computer.

Tools like Partition Master Free can help you effectively repair corrupted system files with the following steps:

Step 1. Launch tools Partition Master on your PC. Then, right-click the disk that contains the partition you want to check, and choose "Advanced" > "Check File System".

Step 2. In the Check File System window, select the "Try to fix errors if found" option and click "Start".

Step 3. The software will start to check your partition file system on the disk. When it is done, click “Finish”.

Part 2. Start and Open Office in Safe Mode

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog;

2. Enter the following command in the Run dialog box.

For Excel: Type excel /safe, and then click OK. For Outlook: Type outlook /safe, and then click OK. For Word: Type winword /safe, and then click OK. For PowerPoint: Type powerpnt /safe, and then click OK. For Publisher: Type mspub /safe, and then click OK. For Visio: Type visio /safe, and then click OK.

3. After this, you can launch an Office application to check if the issue has been resolved or not.