Excel and word issues

Question

When opening word or excel I get this we are sorry but word/excel has run into an error preventing it from running correct. Do you want microsoft to repair. It does nothing

Answer 1

Hi Chris Thompson,

The message “We are sorry, but Word/Excel has run into an error preventing it from running correctly” usually means Office starts, detects a damaged or blocked startup component, and then cannot complete the built‑in repair. Since this happens with both Word and Excel, it points more to an Office startup or installation issue than a document issue.

Please try these steps in order:

Test in Safe Mode

• Press Windows + R, type winword /safe, and press Enter.
• Close Word, then press Windows + R again, type excel /safe, and press Enter.

Check the Software Protection service

Press Windows + R, type services.msc, and press Enter. Find Software Protection and make sure it is not disabled (this service is required for Office licensing and startup).

Run Office Repair

Go to Settings > Apps > Installed apps

Find Microsoft 365 > Modify Run Quick Repair first, then Online Repair if the issue persists (Online Repair is more thorough).

Check for third‑party conflicts

If you use Citrix Workspace or other virtualization/security tools, temporarily close or test without them, as they can sometimes interfere with Office startup.

If Office still will not open

Use Microsoft’s Office uninstall troubleshooter / Get Help tool to fully remove Office, restart the PC, then reinstall it. Before reinstalling, please make sure you know your Microsoft account sign‑in details.

If the issue continues, please reply with:

• Whether Word or Excel opens in Safe Mode
• The exact last line of the error message (in quotes)
• Whether this started after a recent update or software change

Please let me know if this proves useful to you, or if you would like further assistance.

I'm looking forward to your reply.

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Answer 2

The built-in “repair now” prompt is often not sufficient. Use a full Office repair, and if needed, a clean reinstall.

Follow these steps on Windows 10/11:

1. Close all Office apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.).
2. Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps (or Apps & features).
3. Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office in the list.
4. Select it → choose Modify (or Change).
5. Choose Online Repair (this is more thorough than Quick Repair) and confirm.
6. Let the repair complete (can take 15–30 minutes), then restart the PC.
7. Open Word and Excel again and test.

If the error still appears after Online Repair:

1. Uninstall Office from Settings → Apps → Installed apps (or Apps & features) → select Microsoft 365/Office → Uninstall.
2. Restart the PC (full restart, not shutdown).
3. Reinstall Office from the Microsoft account portal where the subscription is managed.

These steps repair or fully reinstall all Office components that commonly cause the “we’re sorry, but Word/Excel has run into an error” message when the in-app repair does nothing.

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References:

• "Something went wrong" error when you try to start a Microsoft 365 app
• I get a "stopped working" error when I start Office applications on my PC
• we are sorry, but word has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly. Word will need to be closed as a result. Would you like us to repair now? - Microsoft Q&A
• word will not open "Would you like to repair now? - Microsoft Q&A
• When I open an excel file it shows - We're sorry, but excel has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly, Excel will need to be closed as a result. would you like us to repair now? then shows the option "repair now","help","close" - Microsoft Q&A
• We're Sorry but Word Has Run Into an Error - Microsoft Q&A
• How can I get office 365 to work? - Microsoft Q&A