Publisher Crashed

Question

was in the middle of using publisher when it crashes and wont let me back in. says it needs to be repaired?

Answer 1

Run an Online Repair of Microsoft 365 or Office, then restart Windows and reopen Publisher.

Repair Publisher

Online Repair repairs the entire Office installation, even when only Publisher is affected.^1^

Windows 11

1. Right-click Start and select Installed apps.
2. Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
3. Select the three dots beside it, then Modify.
4. Select Online Repair → Repair.
5. Complete the prompts and restart the computer.

Windows 10

1. Right-click Start and select Apps and Features.
2. Select Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office, then Modify.
3. Select Online Repair → Repair.
4. Complete the prompts and restart the computer.

If your installation shows an MSI repair screen instead, select Repair and then Continue. Online Repair is more comprehensive than Quick Repair, although it takes longer and requires an internet connection.

If Publisher still will not open

Test it in Office Safe Mode:

1. Press Windows key + R.
2. Enter:

mspub /safe

3. Select OK. Publisher should open with Safe Mode shown in its title bar.^2^

If Publisher opens in Safe Mode, isolate a problematic add-in:

1. Go to File → Options → Add-Ins.
2. At the bottom, select COM Add-ins under Manage, then select Go.
3. Clear one add-in at a time and restart Publisher normally.
4. When Publisher opens normally, leave the responsible add-in disabled or obtain an updated version.^3^

If Publisher does not open in Safe Mode after Online Repair, add-ins are unlikely to be the issue. The next supported fallback is to uninstall and reinstall Microsoft 365 or Office. Ensure the Microsoft account used to purchase or subscribe to Office is available before uninstalling, because it will be needed to reinstall and activate the applications.

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References

1. Repair an Office application | Microsoft Support
2. Open Office apps in safe mode on a Windows PC | Microsoft Support
3. I get a "stopped working" error when I start Office applications on my PC | Microsoft Support