Word becomes so slow

Question

Microsoft Word has become extremely slow. Initially, I suspected that the reference manager might be the cause; however, this does not appear to be the case. I have also tried disabling the auto-save feature, but the performance remains slow. I am using a macbook, and it's a brand new.

I would greatly appreciate your assistance in resolving this matter. Considering that I have already paid for the service, I am concerned about the current level of quality.

Answer 1

Follow these steps to troubleshoot slow performance of Word on a MacBook:

1. Check for documents with many tracked changes or comments
   Word can become very slow or appear to hang if a document has excessive tracked changes or comments.
   1. Close all Word windows.
   2. Start Word and create a new blank document.
   3. Go to the Review tab. In the Tracking group, set All Markup.
   4. Select Show Markup, and set Balloons to Show only comments and formatting in balloons.
   5. Use File > Open and open the slow document.
   6. If it becomes responsive, accept or reject tracked changes and remove comments until performance improves.
      Note: Table-related tracked changes have the biggest performance impact.
2. Update Word for Mac to the latest version
   Performance and crash issues are frequently fixed in updates.
   • Open Word.
   • Use Help > Check for Updates (or Microsoft AutoUpdate) and install all available updates for Word/Microsoft 365.
3. Check if Word is hanging when opening specific documents
   If Word stops responding or is very slow only when opening certain files:
   • Clear the AutoRecovery folder:
     1. In Finder, select Go > Home.
     2. Open Documents > Microsoft User Data > Office Autorecovery.
     3. Move the contents of this folder to the Desktop (do not delete yet).
     4. Restart Word and test again.
   • If the issue is tied to a specific file name with symbols (for example, %), rename the file without symbols and reopen it.
4. Test Word without custom preferences
   Corrupted Word preferences can cause performance issues. Removing them resets customizations (toolbars, dictionaries, shortcuts).
   Follow the “Remove the Word preferences” step from the Word for Mac troubleshooting article to temporarily remove preference files, then restart Word and test performance.

If performance is still poor after these steps, test with a completely new blank document (no tracked changes, no comments, simple text only). If that is fast while existing documents are slow, focus on cleaning tracked changes and comments in those documents as described in step 1.

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References:

• Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Word for Mac
• Word for Mac document stops responding when you try to open a document
• Word slows or stops responding if there are excessive tracked changes or comments