It’s less destructive because settings, templates, and other application data will not be deleted. I do it again, and I get this error — well, now I can’t show you because Excel is refusing to open up at all. The error indicates that my previous open was unsuccessful, and asks if I would like to open Excel in safe mode. So I close Excel, try to open it again without safe mode, and… nothing. Click the Close button, then try your problem Office application again.
Step 3: Try the Microsoft SaRA
This sort of thing does occur from time to time, and it is often quite easy to repair. If one or more Office apps is acting glitchy, work your way through this series of repair maneuvers, starting with the simplest. Come with me as I write this article in real time as I try to resolve the issue. If you’re lucky, you’ll find your problem covered, and SaRA will fix it for you. However, let’s return to Step 1 to start this process where it also usually ends. You’re working on a document or a spreadsheet, or using email, and BAM!
Step 1: Run the Office Quick Repair tool
If you’re not sure, the Installed Apps list we started with is a good place to look. If you’re coming from section 2, grab the download link for what Microsoft calls the “uninstall support tool” in its Support pages. Its filename is SetupProd_Offscrub.exe, so I’ve gotten in the habit of calling it “OffScrub” myself.
Automatically create a recovery file at set intervals
If you have to go this far during actual Office repairs, my condolences. You’re probably feeling pretty frustrated by now. We’re going to download and run a tool that completely obliterates your current Office installation. Then you’ll download and install a fresh, new installation from the Microsoft Office download page. This process seldom takes more than one or two minutes.
How long does a Microsoft Office repair take?
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One of your Microsoft Office applications starts acting weird or stops responding. Find solutions to common problems or get help from a support agent.
- If you’re lucky, you’ll find your problem covered, and SaRA will fix it for you.
- The installer window changed to an animated display that included what’s shown in Figure 8.
- I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.
- At least two computers at my workplace don’t have Office (or its components) showing in the Installed Apps.
Unfortunately, there’s no general-purpose Microsoft Office document repair tool. If your documents are the cause of the problem, hopefully you have backup copies that haven’t been damaged. Step-by-step Office troubleshooting Repairing Microsoft Office will not repair any of your Office data files. If a document has somehow been corrupted, it could crash Office. If the steps above don’t help, the next step is to uninstall and reinstall Office.
You’ll then need to re-download and reinstall Microsoft Office. When complete, a checkmark appears next to the Rest button. Unzip to a folder of your choosing, then run the file named SaraSetup.exe to install the program.
When you’re done, you might need to restart your computer. I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read. Microsoft SaRA is the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant. If you’re lucky, when you open your formerly balky or misbehaving Windows app, all will be well. With the Quick Repair radio button selected, click the Repair button near the bottom right corner of the window. Please relax, and don’t give in to panic or upset.
At least two computers at my workplace don’t have Office (or its components) showing in the Installed Apps. After the list of installed apps populates (it can take some time, depending on how much you have installed), scroll down and look for Microsoft 365 (Office). Then it took another 4 minutes and 24 seconds for the (genuine) progress bar shown above to download all the files. Watching my network access while this was underway, I saw the typical on-again, off-again download behavior for Windows Update occurring here. The download meter ran as high as 180 Mbps, and as low as a few Kbps while the download was underway. Office’s Online Repair option works and goes through exactly the same steps as Quick Repair, so I won’t walk through all those screen shots again.
You’ll see a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 9 open up and ask you to confirm installation. If you have any Office applications open, you’ll be asked to close them before the repairs can complete. On my test machine, for example, I had Outlook open. This provoked the request shown in Figure 4 (where, of course, I clicked Continue to close Outlook so repairs could work through to completion). A window opens to ask you if you’re ready to commence repairs.
