Office for Mac Issues

Fix Microsoft Word Opening and Saving Slowly on Intel Mac

Maira Mehtab Sep 28, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user is experiencing significant delays when opening and saving files in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on an Intel-based Mac.

Product: Microsoft 365
Device & OS: macOS 14.7.2 (Intel MacBook Pro)
Scenario: Opening and saving documents locally or to the cloud using Microsoft Office applications.
Observed behavior: The applications open and save very slowly compared to an Apple silicon Mac, and the issue persists even after downgrading the Office version.

Before you start

Before creating new macOS user profiles or performing system resets to fix Office performance, ensure your Mac is fully backed up using Time Machine to prevent accidental data loss.

Solution 1Recommended

Test Office in a New Local macOS User Account

Testing Office applications in a fresh user account helps determine if the slow performance is caused by your current user profile or accumulated data from previous macOS upgrades.

Over time, macOS user profiles can accumulate corrupted cache files or preference data from previous OS upgrades, which can severely impact the performance of heavy applications like Microsoft 365.

Open System Settings

Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions).

Add a New User

Navigate to Users & Groups, click the Add Account button, authenticate with your administrator password, and follow the prompts to create a new Standard account.

Test Office Applications

Log out of your current Mac account, log into the newly created account, open Microsoft Word, and test opening and saving a document to see if the delay persists.

Interpreting the Results: If Word runs smoothly in the new account, your original user profile contains corrupted data. If it is still slow, the issue may be a system-wide conflict.

Solution 2

Perform a Clean macOS Installation

If the issue persists across all user accounts and downgrading Office versions does not help, resetting your Mac can resolve deep system-level conflicts.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Switch to WPS Office for Faster Performance on Mac

If Microsoft Office continues to run slowly on your Intel Mac, consider switching to WPS Office. It is a highly optimized, lightweight alternative that runs smoothly on all Mac architectures while providing full compatibility with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.

1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website and download the installation package designed for Mac.
2. Install the Application: Open the downloaded .dmg file and drag the WPS Office icon into your Applications folder.
3. Open Your Documents: Launch WPS Office and open your existing Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files to enjoy faster performance without delays.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Office formats like .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx.Lightweight application that opens and saves files instantly on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.Familiar user interface that requires no steep learning curve.Free to use for essential document, spreadsheet, and presentation editing.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is Microsoft Word running slowly on my Intel Mac but fine on Apple Silicon?

This can be caused by corrupted user data accumulated over multiple macOS upgrades on the older machine, or background processes specific to the Intel architecture struggling with newer, heavier versions of Microsoft 365.

Does downgrading Microsoft Office fix slow saving issues on Mac?

Not always. Rolling back to an older version (such as 16.74) often does not resolve the issue if the root cause lies within corrupted macOS user profile preferences or cache data.

How do I know if my Mac user profile is causing Microsoft Office to lag?

You can isolate the issue by creating a new local user account in System Settings > Users & Groups. If Word, Excel, and PowerPoint run smoothly in the new account, your primary user profile likely contains corrupted data.

Office App Problems