MS Word consistently crashes when I try to save a document

Hi Karen,

There's no indication of which Office version you are using but the instructions below should work - or point you in the right direction. I would recommend them in the order listed.

Check unavailable mapped drives

If Word crashes you or hangs when you save a document, the first thing to check is that you don't have any unavailable mapped drives. To disconnect a mapped drive:

1. Click on the Start button
2. Go to MyComputer
3. Click on Map Network Drive
4. Select the unavailable drive
5. DeselectReconnect at logon
6. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for each unavailable drive.

Open Word in Safe Mode

Check if you can save files in Safe Mode. Here's how:

1. Press the <Ctrl> key while you start Word
2. Click Yes at the prompt to open in Safe Mode.
3. Can you save the file? If yes, start Word normally.
4. Click on theMicrosoft Office Button
5. Click on theWord Options button
6. Click onAdd-ins and check the active Application Add-ins listed. It's quite likely that one of the Add-ins is interfering.

*Some fixes I have read recommend deleting the Normal template. You could always try this ... on the understanding that you may lose some personalization as Word will create a new default template next time you open it. 

Run the Office Repair tool

Have you tried running the Office Repair tool? If not, have a look at this knowledge base article:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924611

Scroll down to the heading "How to repair problems in the installed 2007 Office programs and features"

I would suggest Method 1 first if you can as it's directly from an Office application. Otherwise, Method 2 works just fine. 

Method 1: Run Office Diagnostics from a 2007 Office program

Method 2: Run the Detect and Repair tool from Add or Remove Programs

Delete the Word Data registry key

If the Office Repair tool doesn't do the trick, try the fix in "How to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word 2010, Word 2007, Word 2003, or Word 2002": http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/921541?p=1

I was able to resolve a similar problem recently by following the instructions to Delete the Word Data registry key under Manual steps to troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word.If you follow this method do this be sure to follow the steps in Microsoft Knowledge Base:322756  "How to back up and restore the registry in Windows" (nowhere near as scary as it sounds!)

I hope that helps. If any of the above solutions work do let us know for the benefit of future visitors.

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All the best,

Sharon

Sharon Roffey

Queensland, Australia