Microsoft Word Freezing Constantly

Copper Contributor

Word is freezing consistently after about 30 seconds in the document. Then, after a minute or so it'll let me delete a couple of characters or so and freeze right back up! This is only happening on my large document files (in the neighborhood of 400 pages).

 

Here's what I've tried:

*Restarting computer

*Running antivirus

*Defragmenting the computer

*Restore to an earlier point in time

*Cleaning the C drive

*Microsoft office repair tool (uninstalled and reinstalled Office 365/Word twice).

*Deleting unneeded programs and files

*Microsoft tech support chat

 

I don't know what to do. As I'm handicapped, my only job is to help people write their best book... which involves coaching and commenting on long documents in track changes. I can't work with things like this. I even looked at other computers, but that just kind of makes my head spin trying to figure out what I can do on a budget. I really just need Word to work properly on the larger documents like it always did before yesterday.

3 Replies
If the problem just affects that one document, try copying everything EXCEPT for the final paragraph mark (¶) and paste it into a new document.

@Subnautica2024 

In general, the Track Changes feature slows Word down substantially, all by itself, when there are many changes.

 

If for large documents in general, it may be due to how they are formatted.

I recently ran into a problem where Word stopped responding for long periods. I resolved it by disabling all Add-Ins and then re-enabling them one-by-one to see which was causing the problem. Before you do that, though, try running Word in safe mode with the problem document(s). This is a diagnostic step, not a way to use Word generally. Open Office apps in safe mode on a Windows PC - Microsoft Office 

@Subnautica2024 

This is an issue that I am experiencing too. I am currently working on a one name genealogy study. My document is currently at 131,000 words, and 411 pages, and I have yet to add a table of contents, table of figures and table of tables. There are 225 images and over 100 tables. Just typing a single sentance takes ages. I have tried to use styles as much as possible. Recent updates have removed the replace images with placeholders. I dread to think what will happen if I try and create an index! I have tried, and suffered massive document corruption, using Master Documents. Splitting the document up makes it imposible to add cross references and manage numbering of figures, tables, etc.. I'm running Win 10 and Word 2021 (not sure exectly which release).  I have other projects that risk becoming of a  of similar size as my research progresses. I also use links to Excel for the inclusion of statistical and charts and graphs. I really need practical help to overcome the constant freezing issues, and means to get Word working with my long and complex documents.