I have a 4707 error with Word for the Mac, Beta Version 16.97

Question

I have a 4707 error with Word for the Mac, Beta Version 16.97

Norman St. Pierre 25

I'm running a Beta version of Word for Mac, 16.97 and I recently encountered a 4707 error whenever opening Word and I can't debug or clear the error message without Force Quitting the application.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Norm.

Tarleton Gillespie 10 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2025-05-05T15:10:12.9333333+00:00

I'm having the same problem. No way to send feedback, given that the error won't clear and I havr to force quit the entire application.

Word 16.98

Mac OS 15.4.1
Tarleton Gillespie 10 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2025-05-05T16:07:54.5166667+00:00

I was able to resolve this problem by throwing away my Word application and reinstalling Office.
Stefan Blom 2,676 Reputation points MVP

2025-05-05T16:42:18.6033333+00:00

This is the downside of using beta versions. You will see bugs that other users may never encounter.
Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid 10 Reputation points

2025-05-14T16:18:02.4033333+00:00

I am running into this issue on the new public release from the app store that auto-updated this morning. I am unable to open word docs for work.
Hannah 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T16:27:23.0266667+00:00

I have the same problem.
Already installed Word again, but nothing helps - did you solve the problem?
Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid 10 Reputation points

2025-05-14T16:33:08.4033333+00:00

Have not been able to solve the problem. I am just using my parallels VM for now until the issue is fixed, unfortunately.
GW 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T17:16:16.61+00:00

Delete word and Install the older version can fix it https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac
M 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T17:27:01.5033333+00:00

The error went away when I uninstalled Adobe Acrobat DC.
MsSuCkS 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T18:03:30.3566667+00:00

I have the same problem. All this software is buggy af.
Kisielius, Gil 0 Reputation points

2025-05-15T01:24:07.8633333+00:00

I am in the same situation. While working remotely, the Update prompt appeared and I left it until after the meeting. Update completed, I cannot open ANY Word documents. I have followed all "fixes" that have been posted but error reappears. Adobe completely removed. 365 removed and reinstalled. Library cache deleted.

OS Sequoia 15.4.1

Apple M3 Max

Word Version 16.97 (work 365 subscription)
Raed Zeno 0 Reputation points

2025-05-15T11:21:39.34+00:00

I'm having the same problem. No way to send feedback, given that the error won't clear and I havr to force quit the entire application.
amorshed 0 Reputation points

2025-05-16T19:41:43.6466667+00:00

Word: 16.97 (25051114), MacOS Sequoia 15.5

Was having the same issue as mentioned above since the morning of May 16, 2025. Read the other comments and searched for '.dotm' files on my machine. Found two: linkCreation.dotm and Zotero.dotm. I have Zotero installed but not sure where the other one came from. Anyway, instead of deleting these two, just tested by renaming them (i.e., from Zotero.dotm to Zotero.dotm_bak).

That fixed the problem for now and word is opening fine.
Keith Johnston 10 Reputation points

2025-05-16T19:47:40.7433333+00:00

I have Zotero installed too, but I was able to keep Zotero.dotm in folder. Only linkCreation.dotm had to be deleted to solve the problem. Different files must cause the issue for different people.
Jie Zhang 0 Reputation points

2025-05-17T14:32:41.08+00:00

I solve the problem by deleting linkCreation.dotm.

4 answers

Your answer

Tarleton Gillespie 10 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2025-05-05T15:10:12.9333333+00:00

I'm having the same problem. No way to send feedback, given that the error won't clear and I havr to force quit the entire application.

Word 16.98

Mac OS 15.4.1
Tarleton Gillespie 10 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2025-05-05T16:07:54.5166667+00:00

I was able to resolve this problem by throwing away my Word application and reinstalling Office.
Stefan Blom 2,676 Reputation points MVP

2025-05-05T16:42:18.6033333+00:00

This is the downside of using beta versions. You will see bugs that other users may never encounter.
Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid 10 Reputation points

2025-05-14T16:18:02.4033333+00:00

I am running into this issue on the new public release from the app store that auto-updated this morning. I am unable to open word docs for work.
Hannah 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T16:27:23.0266667+00:00

I have the same problem.
Already installed Word again, but nothing helps - did you solve the problem?
Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid 10 Reputation points

2025-05-14T16:33:08.4033333+00:00

Have not been able to solve the problem. I am just using my parallels VM for now until the issue is fixed, unfortunately.
GW 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T17:16:16.61+00:00

Delete word and Install the older version can fix it https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac
M 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T17:27:01.5033333+00:00

The error went away when I uninstalled Adobe Acrobat DC.
MsSuCkS 0 Reputation points

2025-05-14T18:03:30.3566667+00:00

I have the same problem. All this software is buggy af.
Kisielius, Gil 0 Reputation points

2025-05-15T01:24:07.8633333+00:00

I am in the same situation. While working remotely, the Update prompt appeared and I left it until after the meeting. Update completed, I cannot open ANY Word documents. I have followed all "fixes" that have been posted but error reappears. Adobe completely removed. 365 removed and reinstalled. Library cache deleted.

OS Sequoia 15.4.1

Apple M3 Max

Word Version 16.97 (work 365 subscription)
Raed Zeno 0 Reputation points

2025-05-15T11:21:39.34+00:00

I'm having the same problem. No way to send feedback, given that the error won't clear and I havr to force quit the entire application.
amorshed 0 Reputation points

2025-05-16T19:41:43.6466667+00:00

Word: 16.97 (25051114), MacOS Sequoia 15.5

Was having the same issue as mentioned above since the morning of May 16, 2025. Read the other comments and searched for '.dotm' files on my machine. Found two: linkCreation.dotm and Zotero.dotm. I have Zotero installed but not sure where the other one came from. Anyway, instead of deleting these two, just tested by renaming them (i.e., from Zotero.dotm to Zotero.dotm_bak).

That fixed the problem for now and word is opening fine.
Keith Johnston 10 Reputation points

2025-05-16T19:47:40.7433333+00:00

I have Zotero installed too, but I was able to keep Zotero.dotm in folder. Only linkCreation.dotm had to be deleted to solve the problem. Different files must cause the issue for different people.
Jie Zhang 0 Reputation points

2025-05-17T14:32:41.08+00:00

I solve the problem by deleting linkCreation.dotm.

Answer 1

Miquel 20

In my case, I had installed a complement add-in from Mendeley and that was causing the problem. I had to locate (in the word tools menu: forms (.dotm) & complements) and manually erase the Mendeley file. That solved it!

JonahFM 0 Reputation points

2025-05-15T23:55:25.43+00:00

WORKED FOR ME! THANK YOUUU 🙏🏽
Gyan Prakash 20 Reputation points

2025-05-16T00:08:44.15+00:00
I followed this and it worked.

/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T398Q3.Office/User Content/Startup/Excel.

Delete SaveAsAdobePDF.ppam.

Go to: /Library/Group Containers/UBF8T398Q3.Office/User Content/Startup/Word.

Delete linkCreation.dotm
John Korchok 6,111 Reputation points

2025-05-16T04:04:57.22+00:00

The correct number is UBF8T346G9, as in ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/

The Excel file will have a .xlsm file ending.

The file with the .pptm ending is from the PowerPoint add-in, which is found in ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/PowerPoint.

Answer 2

pf zhu 15

Mac beta 15.5 + Word 16.97 — deleting .dotm files seems to fix my problem too.

Just searched for .dotm, deleted them, and restarted Word.

I had only 4: Normal, LinkCreation, Zotero, and Normal Email. Don’t think I use any of them, so I kept only Normal (seems like the default).

John Korchok 6,111 Reputation points

2025-05-15T12:36:03.06+00:00

LinkCreation.dotm is the file used by Adobe Acrobat, so you may have issues with creating PDFs from Word. But another user solved the issue by uninstalling Acrobat, so LinkCreation.dotm could be the culprit.

Answer 3

John Korchok 6,111

Beta versions are published to find bugs like this. Please choose Help>Feedback>Report a problem and include as many details as possible of the circumstances that lead to the error, so the problem can be reproduced and eliminated. Submitting sends the report to the PowerPoint programming team. They are unlikely to reply.

Answer 4

Keith Johnston 10

I have Word Version 16.97 (25051114) and also have Adobe Acrobat installed. I solved this issue by deleting LinkCreation.dotm in /Users/USERNAME/Library/Group Containers/XXXXXXXXXX.Office/User Content.localized/Startup.localized/Word

John Korchok 6,111 Reputation points

2025-05-16T15:36:02.5666667+00:00

To clarify, the path will be Users/{YourActualUserName}/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Word if viewed in the Finder.

Share via

I have a 4707 error with Word for the Mac, Beta Version 16.97

4 answers

Your answer