Microsoft Office’s standalone safe mode can save your butt from bugs

Microsoft Office users are well aware that bugs and problems in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook can seriously affect productivity and processes.

As with any software, MS Office issues can drive you crazy. But don't panic – the built-in troubleshooting tool can help you solve the problem.

Take a deep breath and try running Office in safe mode and you may find those annoying bugs missing. It's definitely worth a try before trying other more drastic approaches or switching to a competitor's product.

What is safe mode?

Enable security mode in Microsoft Office without any security training. This setting launches a thin version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook, disables certain features. Only the core part of the program will be active, which in many cases may help you identify the problem and resolve it permanently.

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For example, you will not see any custom changes made to the toolbar and you will not be able to edit Office's preferences. Safe Mode also disables the autocorrect list and the program does not attempt to open any files that were not saved correctly last time. Add-ins, templates, and extensions will also be unavailable, and you will not be able to open or create documents with restricted permissions.

Perhaps Office works well when you first install it, so any changes made thereafter (such as add-ins or corrupted documents) may be the source of the problems you are experiencing right now.

If you find that the program in MS Office exits unexpectedly or fails to start properly at all, try Safe Mode. If your app is running but feels slow or there are bugs, comparing how they run in normal and safe mode should give you some clues.

Exiting safe mode is as easy as exiting the program and restarting it as usual. It is also worth noting that if Office detects that it has problems, safe mode will sometimes be automatically loaded. This means if you see a Safe Mode entry in the window title bar.

How to start Office in safe mode

Safe Mode is only available for Microsoft Office for Windows, so if you have trouble using Office on your Mac, you will need to try additional troubleshooting methods. Disabling extensions and add-ins may work if you are able to get into the application. If the problem revolves around a specific file, try saving it in a new location and using the new file name.

To open an Office application in safe mode, hold down the Ctrl key when launching the application: Whether you click an entry in the Start menu or double-click a shortcut on the desktop. If it is done correctly, you should see a confirmation message asking if you want to start the application in this mode.

Another way to start Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook in safe mode is through the Run dialog box. Open the Search options from the taskbar, type Run, and select Run the Application. Type the name of the application you want to start, followed by the "/safe" flag, and press Enter. The complete line should look like this:

winword /safe

excel /safe

powerpnt /safe

outlook /safe

When the application is running in safe mode, the title bar of the window will be displayed. If the program starts, you can do some troubleshooting: For example, click the File, Options, and add-ins to view third-party extensions that may cause Office to crash . You can enable these add-ins separately on the same screen, which may help you find out which add-ins are causing the problem.

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Office has many bugs and problems, so it is impossible to provide step-by-step guides to solve all problems. Still, Safe Mode should help you with troubleshooting and at least get your program running so you can check some settings and files. If you still encounter problems after trying this method, you may need to completely reinstall or repair the Office installation.

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