Office Apps Freezing

Fix Office Apps Freezing When Opening the Print Tab

John Wilson Oct 10, 2026 871 views

Question details

The user needs to resolve an issue where Microsoft Office and other applications become completely unresponsive when trying to access the print settings.

How to Fix Office Apps Freezing When Opening the Print Tab

Product: Microsoft 365
Device & OS: Windows
Scenario: Attempting to print a document or navigating to the Print tab in an application.
Observed behavior: Microsoft Word and other applications freeze and stop responding as soon as the Print tab is opened.

Before you start

Ensure you have saved all open documents before proceeding, as testing the print function might cause the application to freeze and force you to restart your computer.

Solution 1Recommended

Isolate the Issue Using Non-Office Applications

Determine if the freezing issue is caused by Microsoft Office specifically or if it is a system-wide Windows printing error.

If Word and other Microsoft 365 applications freeze when opening Print, the issue is often related to the Windows Print Spooler or corrupted printer drivers rather than Office itself. Testing with other apps helps narrow down the root cause.

Open a non-Office application

Launch a lightweight application such as Windows Notepad or Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Attempt to print

Type some basic text (if using Notepad) and go to File > Print, or press Ctrl + P.

Observe the behavior

If Notepad also freezes, the issue lies with your Windows printing system or printer drivers. You should post the issue in the Windows support community with your Windows version and printer model. If Notepad does not freeze, the issue is isolated to Office.

Isolate the Issue Using Non-Office Applications

Next Steps: If only Office is affected, proceed to check for Microsoft 365 updates by navigating to File > Account > Update Options in Word.

Solution 2

Restart the Windows Print Spooler Service

Resetting the Print Spooler service can instantly resolve system-wide printing freezes caused by stuck print jobs or driver conflicts.

Solution 3

Update Microsoft 365 and Printer Drivers

Ensure both your printer software and Microsoft Office are fully updated to prevent software incompatibility bugs.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Try WPS Office for a Seamless Printing Experience

If Microsoft Office continues to freeze or struggle with system compatibility, WPS Office offers a free, lightweight, and highly compatible alternative. It uses fewer system resources and integrates smoothly with standard Windows printer drivers, helping you avoid frustrating freezes.

1. Download and Install WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website to download the free installation package and follow the on-screen instructions to install.
2. Open your Document: Launch WPS Writer and open your existing Word documents directly without any format conversion.
3. Print smoothly: Click Menu > Print (or press Ctrl+P) to easily access print settings without system lockups.

Highly compatible with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file formats.Lightweight architecture reduces application freezing and performance issues.Free to use with a familiar, easy-to-learn user interface.Built-in PDF tools for seamless document printing and formatting.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my computer only freeze when I select the print option?

This usually happens when the application tries to communicate with the Windows Print Spooler and encounters a corrupted printer driver, an unreachable network printer, or a stalled print queue. The application freezes while waiting indefinitely for the spooler to respond.

How do I clear a stuck print job that is causing Office to freeze?

You can clear stuck jobs by stopping the Print Spooler service via 'services.msc', navigating to 'C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS' in File Explorer to delete all files in that folder, and then restarting the Print Spooler service.

Will reinstalling Microsoft Office fix the print tab freezing issue?

Reinstalling Office will only fix the issue if the freeze is strictly isolated to Office applications. If you test printing in Notepad or Adobe Acrobat and they also freeze, the problem is with your Windows printer drivers, meaning reinstalling Office will not solve the problem.

Office App Problems