Share via

Word and Excel won't open

Ellen Wilson 20 Reputation points
2026-05-01T21:20:04.43+00:00

Re-started my computer this morning after a windows update last night. Neither Excel nor Word will now open. After receiving a 'Something Went Wrong' notification, I shut down the computer and restarted and received the same notification. I followed the steps to 'repair' but it doesn't fix anything. What to do next? I do not want to lose the information/documents that I have saved.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows
0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

  1. John Jefferson Doyon 67,930 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-05-01T22:04:06.62+00:00

    Hi, I'm John! I will help you with this.

    Thank you for sharing the troubleshooting steps you've already tried. If you are repairing Office, please try the steps below.

    Are you able to see your Microsoft Office under the Services & subscriptions page here: https://account.microsoft.com/services (make sure you’re signed in with the same Microsoft account you used to activate Office)?

    If you can see it there, please follow these steps below.

    Before installing, it’s a good idea to uninstall all existing versions of Office to avoid conflicts.

    Here’s how:

    • Open the Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
    • Look for any version of Microsoft Office or Office apps, right-click, then choose Uninstall. Please uninstall all Office apps.
    • Once that’s done, restart your computer just to be safe.

    Then, to reinstall Microsoft Office:

    • Go to https://account.microsoft.com/services again.
    • Sign in using the same Microsoft account linked to your license.
    • Find your Microsoft Office or 365 subscription you have and click the "Install".
    • That will download the installer for the Office apps, just run it and follow the steps.

    If anything’s unclear or the "Install" option still doesn’t show, feel free to let me know. I’ll be happy to walk you through it.

    If the issue persists, please provide more details by answering my questions.

    Click "Add comment" below to let me kno

    1 person found this answer helpful.

1 additional answer

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Q&A Assist
    2026-05-01T21:20:18.9733333+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    Follow these steps in order; they will not delete existing documents.

    1. Restart the device again
      Fully shut down Windows, wait 30 seconds, then power it back on and try opening Word/Excel once more.
    2. Run an Online Repair of Microsoft 365/Office
      Since the built‑in “Repair now” from the error dialog did not help, use the full repair from Apps & Features:
      1. Close all Office apps.
      2. Open Settings in Windows.
      3. Go to Apps → Installed apps (Windows 11) or Apps & features (Windows 10).
      4. Find Microsoft 365 or Office in the list.
      5. Select the entry → choose Modify.
      6. In the repair window, select Online Repair → Repair.
        • This is a full repair that reinstalls Office components and fixes corrupted files.
        • It can take 15–30 minutes; do not cancel it.
      7. When it finishes, restart the PC.
      8. After restart, open Word and Excel again.
      This process repairs the Office installation only; it does not remove or change existing documents.
    3. If Office apps still won’t open
      If the Online Repair completes but Word/Excel still show “Something went wrong” and will not start:
      • Completely uninstall Office from Apps & features / Installed apps.
      • Restart the PC.
      • Reinstall Office from the Microsoft account or installation source originally used.
      Uninstalling/reinstalling Office does not delete personal files; documents remain in their folders (e.g., Documents, Desktop, OneDrive).
    4. If the issue persists after reinstall
      At that point, use the dedicated Office uninstall tool (as support agents do) to fully remove remnants, then reinstall Office again, or contact Microsoft Support for remote assistance.

    If, after Office starts working, any individual document shows a corruption error, use File → Open → Browse → Open and Repair on that file to try to recover it.

    References:

Your answer

Answers can be marked as 'Accepted' by the question author and 'Recommended' by moderators, which helps users know the answer solved the author's problem.