Default Editing Language Changed message every time Word opens

Question

Hello all,

We are having an issue with Word using Office 2016 for Mac. After the latest update (16.10), each time our users open a document while Word isn't running, they get a pop-up message that says:

"Default Editing Language Changed

Word has updated the default editing language to the Primary Language you chose in System Preferences. We replaced your default document template (Normal.dotm) to support the new language settings, and we made a backup copy of your old template for you."

This prevents the user from being able to open the document, as it just takes them to the Word home screen, where they then have to manually open the document again each time. Any ideas on how to get this to stop coming up? Thanks very much!

Answer 1

I came across this problem earlier today when working with a client machine that wanted to open documents from her mails but needed to go download and manually open them, digging around I found the same fault as listed above. I tried finding a solution online and everyone pointed me towards doing either an update or rollback to get it working (safe mode never worked)

After doing both of the above it still gave me the same problem so I instead followed the link provided and did the following

-First, go into settings and make sure regional and language settings are correct

-Reopen word so that the same error occurs and close word again.

-Search in the spotlight for Normal.dotm (I found multiple entries, others will have normal.dotm-{numbercombination} )

-Delete every normal.dotm file I can find but leave 1 of the normal.dotm files with the number combination and rename it to Normal.dotm

Reopen word and no more error

^if this is confusing follow the link: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/recover-your-default-template-a85ad0e7-d067-49c8-9692-7db95a87ae47?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US

Best of luck and hope this helps the way it helped me

Answer 2

It is possible that 16.10 version of Office has this bug as many issues are being reported in this new version.

Try to update your Office again so that if any patch is released by Microsoft that would flow in. Sometimes you have to try many times before an update is recognised by your Office.

Another option is roll back to previous stable version which you had. To rollback -

1. Uninstall the latest version of Office - https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Uninst...
2. Install the previous stable version - https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Update...

I would suggest that you should post simultaneously to Technet forum also as this will be looked into by MS Product team also. So, your question will be on two forums - This and Technet.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/off...

Answer 3

i tried the safe reboot. While starting word, it still popped up with default editing language changed message. then i closed Word and opened word again while still in safe boot mode. This time no message.

So i restarted in regular mode. Opened Word and  the same message appeared. So that fix did not work for me. thanks for suggesting and hopefully someone else will find a new fix or Microsoft might even try to solve it.

Answer 4

Hi Jared Giff,

Have you tried MVPs’ suggestions above? If you have any updates, please tell us.

Regards,

Rosen

Answer 5

As a first troubleshooting step, I advise testing in Safe Mode. Restart your Mac and hold the Shift key down the moment you hear the startup chime. Once you see the swirling circle you can let go of the Shift key. Your Mac will automatically fix problems with your startup disk and reduce the available font set, and prevent other apps from launching at startup. It takes longer to boot to safe mode, so don't be alarmed if it seems like it's taking forever

Once you get to the desktop, open the problem app(s). Does it work OK (yes or no)?

If yes, then maybe simply starting in Safe Mode fixed the problem. Do a regular restart and test again. Does the app work now (yes or no)?

There are a lot of possibilities for troubleshooting based on the results of testing is Safe Mode. Please reply with the results of your testing.