I am getting a 50001 code every time I try to open a word doc

Question

Getting 'Microsoft Visual Basic Unexpected Error 50001' every time I open any document in Word for Mac — persists after a full clean uninstall, removal of all cache/preference files, and reinstall. Confirmed Full Disk Access is granted. Running Word 16.111.2 on macOS Tahoe 26.5.1, Apple M1.

Answer 1

Visual Basic errors typically are caused by add-ins or by faulty macros stored in the Normal.dotm template.

If you did do as you indicated it would rule out both possibilities.. The Normal.dotm would have been removed by a true removal of Office as would any templates & locally installed add-ins.

If you have a MS365 Subscription it could be an add-in from the MS Store or it could be a 3rd party program such as Grammarly. In thosee cases the add-in must be deleted or updated.

Answer 2

I fixed it just now to go to /Users/YOURNAME/Library/Group Containers/SOMENUMBER.Office/User Content.localized/Startup.localized/word

You can see the exact location in word, then in the help fill in Templates and Addins, then the location of the template file is there. Then delete the template file. From what I read it then generates a new .dotm file (although it did not do that, it did solve the issue and I could still use word).

Hope it helps!