8 Solutions to "Not Enough Memory or Disk Space to Run Word"

There is not enough memory or disk space to perform this operation.

If you encounter the error – Not enough memory or disk space to run Word, you can use the following solutions to fix this error. These tools provide you with the best methods to resolve this issue.

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Word cannot open because there is not enough memory or disk space to run Word.

"I get an error message when attempting to open an existing Word .doc file, stating that there isn't enough memory or disk space to run Word. What's the issue here? I checked my laptop's memory usage, and it's running at 8GB, with over 389GB of available disk space. To make matters worse, the same issue occurs with other Office suite apps, like Excel and PowerPoint, aside from the Word application."

What would you do when Microsoft Word 2003/2007/2010/2013/2016/2017/2019 fails to open properly and displays an error message that there is not enough memory or disk space to run Word? If you don't know how to free up memory or disk space to relaunch the Word app, read on and try out the eight methods here.

Please also read: There is not enough space on C drive to extract this package

Solution 1: Free up disk space to resolve the issue of insufficient memory for running Word If you receive an "insufficient disk space" error while trying to run Microsoft Word, you can follow these steps to free up memory on your disk: 1. **Close unnecessary programs and applications**: First, check and close all non-essential running programs and apps. You can do this by using Task Manager (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on Windows) and ending tasks that consume a lot of memory. 2. **Delete temporary files**: Temporary files often take up a significant amount of disk space. In Windows, press Win + R to open the "Run" dialog box, type `%temp%`, and hit Enter. Then, delete all contents in the folder. 3. **Empty the Recycle Bin**: Make sure to empty the Recycle Bin, which permanently deletes deleted files and frees up space. 4. **Compress files**: If you have large files, consider compressing them using compression software like WinRAR or 7-Zip to save disk space. 5. **Uninstall unused applications**: Through the Control Panel or Settings menu, uninstall apps you no longer need or use infrequently. 6. **Use the Disk Cleanup tool**: In Windows, you can use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool to find and remove unnecessary files. Right-click on the hard drive icon, select "Properties," and then click "Disk Cleanup." 7. **Consider external storage**: If you frequently encounter space issues, think about purchasing a USB flash drive or external hard drive to store non-essential files. By following these steps, you should be able to free up enough disk space to run Microsoft Word. If the issue persists, you might need to consider upgrading your hard drive or using cloud storage services to expand your storage capacity.

If the situation is indeed as the error message accurately describes, freeing up some RAM or disk space will help resolve the issue pleasantly. CleanGenius offers an easy-to-use disk cleanup and optimization solution for all Windows users, which comes in very handy when you receive the 'not enough disk space' error while running Word.

Step 1. Download and install the Partition Master package.

Step 2: Run PC Cleaner and install the CleanGinus tool. Click on “Cleanup” and then “Scan” to begin the process of cleaning your system and restoring your computer to its original state.

Step 3: The software will scan your computer for idle data files that are taking up a lot of disk space. You can choose to get rid of large unnecessary files, system junk files, and invalid Windows entries, then click on “Clean” to initiate the system cleanup process.

4. After the scan is finished, click “Finish” to clean up system junk files.

Solution 2: Disable hardware graphics acceleration to run Word

If Word 2003/2007/2010/2013/2016/2017/2019 opens slowly, you can try this solution. Here, we take Word 2016 as an example.

Step 1: Open Word, and click on “File” > “Options” > “Advanced.”

Step 2: Look for the "Display" section in the right-hand panel.

Step 3. Untick “Disable hardware graphics acceleration.” Click “OK.”

Then, try opening Word again to see if that resolves the issue.

Fix 3: Delete the “Normal” template to fix out-of-memory issues

If a corrupted Normal.dotm file is causing the problem, you can be in for a world of hurt. Here's how to delete the Normal.dotm file and get things working again.

Step 1: Press the Windows key + R, then type cmd in the Run box.

Step 2: Type the command ren %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dotm OldNormal.dotm, and then press Enter.

Step 3. Close the Command Prompt window, and see if you can open Word.

Solution 4: Increase Virtual Memory on Windows 10

Another way to fix the “Not enough memory or disk space to complete this operation” error is by increasing the virtual memory.

Step 1: Click on the Start menu, then choose "Settings," and search for "Performance" in the search bar.

Step 2: Click on "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows" and then choose "Customize."

Step 3. In the new window, go to Advanced System Settings > Settings, and under the Virtual Memory section, click Change.

At the bottom of the new window, look at the “Recommended” amount, and how it compares to the “Current allocation.”

If the current setting is significantly lower than the recommended value, uncheck the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” check box at the top of the same window, and then click Custom Size.

Step 4: Type the recommended value into the Initial Size text box, and a larger value into the Maximum Size text box. Click OK to save your new settings.

Solution 5: Reset the Word Registry Keys to Run Microsoft Word

Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys, then type cmd in the Run dialog box.

Step 2: In the left pane, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Word, where xx represents your version of Word.

Click on the “Data” folder, and then choose “Export” to back up your current settings.

Step 4: Right-click the folder again, and select “Delete.”

5. Open Word and see if the issue is still there. If it is, double-click the backup you exported to restore your settings, and do the same with the "Options" folder.

Fix 6: Extend the C drive to fix the out-of-memory issue when opening Word

When you receive the error "There is not enough space (or available memory) to complete this operation," you can extend the C drive to solve it. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional offers basic and advanced disk and partition management features to easily increase the C drive space. Download this software and extend the C drive immediately.

Step 1: Click "Resize" to extend C drive.

When the C drive is low on space, hover the mouse over it, and you'll see a “Low disk space” warning on the Partition Master tool. Click “Resize/Move” to extend it.

Click "OK" to automatically extend the C drive space.

Click “OK” and Partition Master will automatically allocate space from other drives to C drive to solve low disk space problem.

Optional: You can also click "Customize" to manually expand C:.

Switch to "Manually adjust size," select the C drive, and then drag the dot to the right to expand the C drive's space. Click "OK" to confirm.

Step 3: Confirm the resolution of the issue with insufficient disk space on Drive C

Click the “Run Tasks” button in the upper right, and then click “Apply” to begin all pending operations.

Fix 7: Disable autocorrect and grammar check

You can turn off the spell check and manually check your spelling after you finish writing. Here's how.

For Word 2019/2017/2016/2013/2010/2007

Step 1: Click the "File" tab and then choose "Options."

Step 2: Click “Proofread.”

Step 3: Deselect the Check spelling as you type checkbox.

Step 4: Clear the Check grammar as you type check box.

Word 2003, Word 2002, and Word 2000

Step 1: On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.

Step 2: Clear the Check spelling as you type check box.

Step 3: Clear the Check grammar as you type check box.

To turn spell checking back on, repeat the process and select the Check spelling as you type check box.

Fix 8: Run the repair tool to open Microsoft Word

The Repair tool is a built-in Microsoft Office feature that can resolve many common Word issues. Go to the Microsoft support page and download it. If freeing up disk space doesn't resolve the “Not Enough Memory” error in Word, try using this program instead.

Conclusion

Above are the solutions to “Not enough memory to complete this operation”. If you still have any questions, feel free to let us know. By the way, partition manager can also help you manage hard disk partitions. You can easily shrink, create, delete and extend partitions.