Microsoft Word troubleshooting and how-to guides
When you open Word, you may see a dialog box that says “Compile error in hidden module” followed by a module name. This error blocks your document from loading or causes Word to crash immediately. The root cause is almost always a corrupted or incompatible VBA macro stored inside an old Word template, such as … Read more
You try to repair a damaged Word document stored in OneDrive, but Word stops responding or freezes during the repair process. This problem occurs because the repair tool cannot obtain a read-write lock on the file while OneDrive holds the file open for syncing. This article explains the technical conflict between Word’s repair engine and … Read more
After installing a Windows 11 cumulative update, you may see Word display the error “0x8000FFFF” when opening a document, saving a file, or running a macro. This hex error code is a generic COM or component failure that the update can trigger by corrupting certain system files or registry entries that Word depends on. This … Read more
You insert a large image into a Word document, and the status bar hangs on “Working on it” for minutes or never finishes. This usually happens because Word tries to generate a preview thumbnail and compress the image simultaneously, which overloads the CPU and memory on systems with limited resources. This article explains why the … Read more
When you start Word on Windows 11, the splash screen appears but the application never finishes loading the document. This leaves you staring at the Word logo with no way to begin working. The problem is typically caused by a corrupted Normal.dotm template, a damaged add-in, or outdated graphics drivers that conflict with Word’s hardware … Read more
When you try to save a document to a network drive, Word may display a “Disk is full” error even though the server shows hundreds of gigabytes of free space. This error occurs because Word writes temporary files in the same location as the document, and the network share or the user account lacks the … Read more
You open a protected email attachment in Word and see an IRM decryption error instead of the document content. This error occurs when Word cannot decrypt the file because your Information Rights Management license is missing, expired, or incorrectly configured. This article explains the root cause of the IRM decryption failure and provides four proven … Read more
When multiple users try to edit a Word document simultaneously, the co-authoring feature allows real-time collaboration. Some document types trigger an “Upload Failed” error during co-authoring, preventing any user from saving changes. This error occurs because Word enforces specific file format and storage requirements for co-authoring to function correctly. This article explains why certain document … Read more
You try to edit a Word document, but you see the message “Selection is locked” and cannot change any text. This happens even though you have checked File > Info > Protect Document and confirmed that “Restrict Editing” is turned off. The cause is almost always a setting in the document that controls editing permissions … Read more
When you try to repair Microsoft 365 or Office through Windows Settings or the Office installer, you may see error code 30015-26. This diagnostic code stops the repair process before it can complete. The error means the repair tool cannot access or modify the Office installation files. This article explains what causes error 30015-26 and … Read more