cannot open word

Question

cannot open word appl it has a prohibited sign and says it may be damaged or incomplete

Answer 1

Hi @Brenda Mitchell ,
Welcome to Q&A forum!

What version of Office and operating system are you using? Please go to File>Account in Excel to check the detailed version of Office under the Product Information.
Besides, I would like to confirm the follwoing information with you at your convenience.

1. When did this issue start? Have you installed any other third-party progranm before this issue? Such as third-party Add-ins. If so, please uninstall them to check.
2. Do you also encounter this problem when opening Excel or PowerPoint?

Per my research, you could try the following steps to check this issue:

• Office for Windows:
  1. First, please update Office to the latest version.
  2. Check whether it can be opened normally in safe mode. Safe mode will help us determine whether the issue is caused by Add-ins or Startup items.
  3. Go to Control Panel to repair Office.

If the above do not work, please try to update Windows.
Besides, here is an official article: Troubleshoot problems that occur when you start or use Word, please check if it helps.

• Office for Mac:

Please refer to the following articles to uninstall and reinstall it.
Uninstall Office for Mac
Reinstall Office Mac

Any updates, please let me know.

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