Microsoft 365 Apps on Mac Keep Closing Without Error After a Few Minutes

Question

I'm using Microsoft 365 Business through my workplace on a MacBook Pro running macOS Monterey 12.1. Recently, Word, Excel, and Teams all open normally but then close or crash after about 10 minutes (sometimes sooner or later) without any error message or warning.

I've already tried:

• Reinstalling Office (both an older version from Microsoft's website and my company's software manager)
• Confirming Office is up to date (Word version 16.77.1)
• Checking Disk Utility (no disk errors found)

Everything else on my Mac works fine, and only Microsoft apps are affected.

Has anyone experienced this issue? Where can I find useful crash logs or diagnostic reports, and are there any other troubleshooting steps I should try?

Answer 1

I am having the same problem with MS Word only: It crashes within a few seconds of opening. I am running MS Office 365 on Mac OS 26.5.2. I am sole proprietor so not sure if I should categorize my Mac as personal or company-managed.

This morning I did the following:

• Verified that I am/was running the MS Word release from last week.
• I could not find a plist file for Word; I found one for MSOffice and moved it to my desktop
• I'm not technical enough to follow the instructions for using Terminal
• I deleted the Word app and reinstalled it using MS Office 365 Installer.pkg

The problem still exists.

My work-around is to Place the Word file into InDesign, Copy what I need, and work in Google Docs. Blech.

Answer 2

Hello samar writer,

Thank you for providing the detailed information and the troubleshooting steps you have already completed.

To help me better understand your environment, could you please confirm whether this MacBook is a company-managed device or your personal computer? If it is managed by your organization, please also let me know whether any device-management or security software is installed.

Are any colleagues using the same macOS version and Microsoft 365 build experiencing similar behavior, or does the issue appear to affect only your Mac? This comparison will help determine whether the problem may be related to the Office installation, the device configuration, or an organizational policy.

In the meantime, please try clearing the Office cache on your Mac by following Microsoft’s guidance below: Clear the Office cache - Office Add-ins | Microsoft Learn

Before clearing the cache, please close all Microsoft applications completely. After completing the steps, restart your Mac and test Word, Excel, and Teams again.

Please let me know whether the applications still close unexpectedly after clearing the cache, whether the Mac is company-managed, and whether other colleagues are experiencing the same behavior. This additional information will help me better understand the scope of the issue and determine the most appropriate next step.

Kind regards,

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