View original (French)

Word opens a document indefinitely

Solved
Marie -  
Aliboron Martin Posted messages 3661 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   -
Hello,

I am working with a MacBook Air (2010) running High Sierra v10.13.6.
While using Word alongside Zotero, Word crashed. Now, whenever I launch Word, the document (.docx) that caused the crash opens endlessly (approximate measure, I have no way to check ; )
I tried to delete the document in question from the folder where it was saved, as well as its backups. I also searched my machine for traces of this doc, emptied the trash, but nothing works: every time I launch Word, it opens in overlapping windows and I have to force quit.
Of course, I haven't made a Time Machine backup in at least 2 months...

I miss Word, Open Office is not sufficient for my work.

Can you help me?

Configuration: Macintosh / Firefox 93.0

2 answers

  1.
    _Ritchi_ Posted messages 21130 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   6 135
     
    Hello,
    I suggest removing the Word preferences file:
    • Just in case, make sure Word is closed
    • In Finder, open the "Go" menu and press the Alt key (also known as Option) to reveal the "Library" sub-menu
    • In the "Library" window that opens, open the "Preferences" folder
    • In this "Preferences" folder, locate the file named "com.microsoft.Word.plist"
    • Drag this file to your desktop to create a backup, then delete the "com.microsoft.Word.plist" file in the "Preferences" folder
    • Launch Word
    Hoping this resolves your issue.
    If it doesn’t, you can put the "com.microsoft.Word.plist" file back in its original place
    Ritchi
    1
    1. Marie
       
      Hello,
      Thank you very much for your very clear response, but unfortunately it did not work.
      0
  2. Aliboron Martin Posted messages 3661 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   992
     
    In fact, you are a victim of the automatic document recovery mechanism in case of a crash. Basically, every time you launch Word, the document you were working on is automatically reopened. But since the document is corrupted, it causes the application to crash. And it starts all over again...

    In a situation like this, you can usually regain control by holding down the "Shift" key while launching Word: this inhibits automatic openings and therefore the corrupted document will not come back (temporarily). But the best thing to do is obviously to go to the folder ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Preferences/AutoRecovery (Word 2016 or 2019) or to the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Office 2011 AutoRecovery (Word 2011) to delete the backup file corresponding to your document (and possibly the others that may be there, since they probably don't correspond to anything).

    Logically, your problem should be resolved... If needed, remember to specify the version of Office in question as well as its update level.

    As _Ritchi_ mentioned above, let's remember that by default, the folder ~/Library (the User Account Library - not to be confused with the one at the root of the hard drive or the one in /System) is hidden. You can access it through the "Go" menu in Finder while holding down the "Option" key.
    You can also request that this folder be unhidden in the "Show Options" of the "Home" folder of the user account (the one with the little house icon). Or, more simply, create a shortcut in the sidebar of Finder windows.

    --
    Hello at your place!
    Bernard
    1
    1. _Ritchi_ Posted messages 21130 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   6 135
       
      Thank you Bernard for these very clear explanations about the issue discussed. I am discovering the existence of this Autorecovery directory and its usefulness.
      Have a nice evening
      Ritchi
      0
      1. Aliboron Martin Posted messages 3661 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   992 > _Ritchi_ Posted messages 21130 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention  
         
        In a "normal" crash situation, this feature is very useful. However, in rare cases, things can get stuck in a loop, making it quite difficult to get out of that situation. Indeed, we don't always think that we can stop the automatic processes by holding down the "Shift" key (in many applications on macOS) during the application's launch.

        Combined with a good Time Machine backup, this feature also has the advantage of allowing, in some cases, the recovery of a previous version of a document that we might have modified or accidentally deleted, or that has become corrupted and unusable. By navigating to the AutoRecovery folder and "going back" with Time Machine, we can possibly find the backup copy from a time when we were working on the document.

        However, let's not forget that this backup copy only exists from the moment we have saved the document at least once. And it is not retained when we normally close the document, whether we chose to save it or not. It is normally intended solely for recovery in the event of a crash.

        Have a good end of the weekend (really the end...)
        0
    2. Marie
       
      Yes! It worked, my Word opens like it did on the first day with the Zotero toolbar.
      A thousand thanks and have a good evening.
      Mariette
      0