Word Document Error - Cannot open file

Question

Hi Guys,

My husband has been working on a file for work for a few days that he saved to the desktop. Unfortunately this morning after a computer update the file now will no longer open and is showing the following message.

He has Windows 11 and I have tried to:

1.uninstall the last update on the computer

2.open the file in safe mode

3.Restore the text and restore the file using the restore functions in word

4. Editing the trusted file locations.
5. Trying the repairit application.

All of which haven't helped. Does anyone have any other suggestions to recover the text from the file?

Thanks so much in advance! :-)

***Moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Recovery and backup***

Answer 1

And this is when using some version of MS Office/Word?

Answer 2

Hello , Tristan Fitzgerald

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

This problem usually occurs when the file was altered by a third-party software during the transmission process, and hence the file cannot be opened. Under these circumstances, the influence of third-party software can be excluded by a clean boot. A "clean boot" starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program.  This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem.  

1. Sign in to the computer as an administrator. If you are unsure if your account has administrator rights, see Create a local user or administrator account in Windows to find out how to see if your account has administrator rights, and grant them to your account, if necessary.
2. Select Search, type msconfig , and then select System Configuration from the list of results.

  **Important:**If the computer is connected to a network, network policy settings might prevent you from following these steps. Only use the System Configuration utility to change the advanced boot options on the computer with guidance from a Microsoft support engineer.  Using the System Configuration utility might make the computer unusable. 3. On the Servicestab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all. Select Apply.

4. On the Startuptab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.

5. On the Startuptab in Task Manager, for each Enabledstartup item, select the item and then select Disable. (Keep track of which items have been Disabled. You will need to know this later.)

6. Close Task Manager. 7. On the Startuptab of System Configuration, select OK. When you restart the computer, it will be in a clean boot environment. Follow troubleshooting steps to install, uninstall, or run your application. Your computer might temporarily lose some functionality while in a clean boot environment. Reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting and resume functionality.

For how to determine what is causing the problem after you do a clean boot, visit How to perform a clean boot in Windows.

Disclaimer: Clean start is a means of troubleshooting, not a condition suitable for normal long-term use. Some applications may not be able to be used in this mode, please exit after testing.

If the problem still can't be solved, please let me know, and I'll figure out another workaround.

Best Regard,

Yuhao Li| Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Answer 3

If the document is not too large to attach to an email message, send me a copy of it that way, referencing this thread in the covering email message and I will see if I can recover your document.

Alternatively, upload a copy of the document to the following folder of my OneDrive

https://1drv.ms/f/s!AmuIXmFDy-1a8nP3RpgnYHp-5zXK

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmuIXmFDy-1a8nMtZsb0KlLCYoJV?e=8BRHGe

and send me an email to the address shown in my signature to let me know that it is there.