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Fix Microsoft Word and Excel Freezing When Opening Add-ins Window
Question details
Users experience crashes or complete unresponsiveness in Microsoft Word and Excel when attempting to open the Add-ins window or related dialog boxes.
- Product
- Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- Windows
- Scenario
- Managing or opening add-ins in Office applications.
- Observed behavior
- The application freezes, crashes, or becomes completely unresponsive upon accessing the Add-ins window.
Ensure you have saved all open documents and closed out of any active dialog boxes to prevent data loss if the application crashes during troubleshooting.
Start Office in Safe Mode and Disable Conflicting Add-ins
This is the most effective way to identify if a specific third-party add-in is causing the application to freeze.
Starting Word or Excel in Safe Mode bypasses all installed add-ins. If the application opens the Add-ins window without freezing in Safe Mode, you can be certain an active add-in is causing the issue.
Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog. Type 'winword /safe' for Word or 'excel /safe' for Excel, then press Enter.
Click on 'File' in the top-left corner, select 'Options', and then click on 'Add-ins' in the left-hand sidebar.
At the bottom of the window next to 'Manage', select 'COM Add-ins' from the dropdown menu and click 'Go'.
Uncheck all listed add-ins to disable them and click 'OK'. Restart the application normally. If it no longer freezes, repeat the process to re-enable them one by one until the freezing returns, which will identify the problematic add-in.
Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration
Use this solution if outdated display drivers are conflicting with Office's rendering of the Add-ins window.
Run the Office Online Repair Tool
Perform an Office repair if Safe Mode and hardware acceleration adjustments do not resolve the freezing issue.
Try WPS Office for a Stable and Lightweight Experience
If Microsoft Office continues to freeze or crash despite troubleshooting, consider switching to WPS Office. It is a highly compatible, free alternative that offers seamless document editing without the heavy resource usage that often causes application unresponsiveness.
- 1. Download and Install: Visit the WPS Office website and download the free installer. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation.
- 2. Open Your Office Files: Launch WPS Office and directly open your existing .docx or .xlsx files without needing any format conversion.
- 3. Manage Add-ins Smoothly: Use the integrated tools and plugins in WPS Office without experiencing the freezing issues associated with legacy COM add-ins.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does opening the Add-ins window cause Word or Excel to freeze?
This typically occurs due to an incompatible or outdated third-party add-in. It can also be caused by graphics driver conflicts interfering with hardware acceleration, or a corrupted Office installation.
Will I lose my document data if Word freezes while opening add-ins?
If the application crashes before you have saved your work, you may lose recent changes. However, Office's AutoRecover feature frequently saves backups and may restore your document the next time you open the application.
How do I know which add-in is causing the application to crash?
By launching Word or Excel in Safe Mode, disabling all add-ins, and then re-enabling them one at a time, you can systematically pinpoint exactly which add-in triggers the freeze.
What if the option to disable hardware acceleration is missing in Word?
In newer versions of Microsoft 365, the hardware acceleration setting may be hidden in Word. You can change this setting in Excel (File > Options > Advanced), and the change will automatically apply to Word and other Office applications.
