Why Can I Not Open Microsoft Word On My Mac

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Note

Sep 30, 2019  From the Finder, Control-click the file, then choose Open With Pages. If Pages is the only word processor on your Mac, you can just double-click the file. From the Pages for Mac app, choose File Open, select the file, then click Open. If a file is dimmed, it’s not a compatible format. Sep 30, 2019 You can open a file from the Finder or from the Pages app: From the Finder, Control-click the file, then choose Open With Pages. If Pages is the only word processor on your Mac, you can just double-click the file. From the Pages for Mac app, choose File Open, select the file, then click Open. If a file is dimmed, it’s not a compatible format.

Office 365 ProPlus is being renamed to Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. For more information about this change, read this blog post.

Symptoms

While using Word for Mac one or more Toolbars are missing and cannot be added.

Cause

This behavior can be caused by one of these things:

  • The oval button in the upper-right corner of the document was clicked. This button 'toggles' display of toolbars on and off.
  • There is an issue with the Normal template in Word.
  • The toolbars or menus are modified.

Resolution

To resolve this problem, try the following methods.

Method 1: Make sure that tool bar display is not turned off

  1. In the upper-right corner of the window click the oval button.

    Note

    When this button is clicked, it hides all the toolbars. A second click causes the toolbars to be displayed.

  2. If the toolbars reappear, quit, and then restart Word to make sure that the appropriate toolbars are displayed.

If Method 1 did not resolve the problem, try Method 2.

Method 2: Reset the toolbars and menus in Word

You can reset the toolbars and menus in the Customize Toolbars and Menus option, any saved customization is removed, and all settings are reverted to the original default settings.

  1. Open Word.
  2. Go to View in the menu.
  3. Choose Toolbars.
  4. Select Customize Toolbars and Menus.
  5. Select Toolbars and Menus in the top of the Customize Toolbars and Menus window.
  6. Select the item in the list you want to reset (Menu Bar, Standard, Formatting).
  7. Click Reset.
  8. Click OK when getting prompt: 'Are you sure you want to reset the changes made..'
  9. Click OK.

Note

When View is missing from the menu, then you can also Control Click the Standard Toolbar and go to Customize Toolbars and Menus here.

If Method 2 did not resolve the problem, try Method 3.

Method 3: Create a new Normal template Note

When a new Normal template is created, any saved customization is removed, and all settings are reverted to the original default settings.

Step 1: Quit all programs

To quit active applications, follow these steps:

  1. On the Apple menu, click Force Quit.

  2. Select an application in the 'Force Quit Applications' window.

  3. Click Force Quit.

  4. Repeat the previous steps until you quit all active applications.

Warning

When an application is force quit, any unsaved changes to open documents are not saved.

When you are finished, click the red button in the upper-left corner and proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Word 2008 and 2011: Move the Normal.dotm template file to the Trash

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
  2. On the Go menu, click Home.
  3. Open Library.

    Note

    The Library folder is hidden in MAC OS X Lion. To display this folder, hold down the OPTION key while you click the Go menu.

  4. Select the Application Support folder.
  5. Select the Microsoft folder.
  6. Open the Office folder.
  7. Open the User Templates folder.
  8. Move Normal.dotm to the Trash.
  9. Start Word, a new Normal.dotm template will be created when you choose Quit Word in the Word menu.

Note

When you had Word 2004 on your Mac previously and you now have Word 2008 or Word 2011, also check if the Word 2004 Normal file is present on the system, if so, trash this Normal template file as well.

Step 3: Word 2004: Move the Normal template file to the Trash

  1. Quit all Microsoft Office applications.
  2. On the Go menu, click Home.
  3. Select the Documents folder.
  4. Select the **Microsoft User Data **folder.
  5. Move Normal to the Trash.
  6. Start Word, a new Normal template will be created when you choose Quit Word in the Word menu.

You can convert and open documents in Pages on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. If you don't have an Apple device, you can use Pages online at iCloud.com.

Convert and open documents in Pages on iPhone or iPad

You can work with a variety of file formats in Pages on your iPhone or iPad. Check which formats are compatible with Pages on iPhone and iPad.

Convert a Pages document in Pages on iPhone or iPad

If you want to open a Pages document in another app like Microsoft Word, use Pages to convert the document to an appropriate format.

  1. Open the document that you want to convert, then tap the More button .
  2. Tap Export.
  3. Choose a format for your document.
  4. If you chose EPUB, set any additional options.
  5. Choose how you want to send your document, like with Mail or Messages.

Open a file in Pages on iPhone or iPad

To open a file like a Microsoft Word document in Pages on iPhone or iPad, tap the file in the document manager. If you don’t see the document manager, tap Documents (on iPad) or the back button (on iPhone), then tap the file that you want to open. If a file is dimmed, it’s not in a compatible format.

You can also open a file in Pages from a different app like the Files app, or from an email:

  1. Open the other app, then select the document or attachment.
  2. Tap the Share button .
  3. Tap Copy to Pages. The original file remains intact.

When the file opens, you might get a message that the document will look different. For example, Pages notifies you when fonts are missing. Tap Done to open the document in Pages.

Convert and open documents in Pages for Mac

You can work with a variety of file formats in Pages for Mac. Check which formats are compatible.

Convert a Pages document in Pages for Mac

If you want to open a Pages document in another app like Microsoft Word, use Pages to convert the document to an appropriate format.

  1. Open the Pages document that you want to convert.
  2. Choose File > Export To, then select the format.
  3. In the window that appears, you can choose a different format or set up any additional options. For example, you can require a password to open an exported PDF, choose to use the table of contents in an exported EPUB book, or choose the format for the exported Word document.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Enter a name for your file, then choose a location for the file.
  6. Click Export.

To send a file in a specific format through Mail, Messages, AirDrop, or Notes, choose Share > Send a Copy, choose how you want to send the document, then choose a format.

Open a file in Pages for Mac

You can open a file from the Finder or from the Pages app:

  • From the Finder, Control-click the file, then choose Open With > Pages. If Pages is the only word processor on your Mac, you can just double-click the file.
  • From the Pages for Mac app, choose File > Open, select the file, then click Open. If a file is dimmed, it’s not a compatible format.

When the file opens, you might get a message that the document will look different. For example, Pages notifies you when fonts are missing. You might see also see warnings when you open documents created in older versions of Pages.

Open and convert documents in Pages for iCloud

Pages for iCloud lets you open, edit, and share your files from a supported browser on a Mac or PC. Check which file formats are compatible with Pages for iCloud. If you don't have an Apple device, learn how to create an Apple ID.

Convert a Pages document in Pages for iCloud

  1. Sign in to iCloud.com with your Apple ID.
  2. Click Pages.
  3. In the document manager, click the More button on the file you want to convert, then choose Download a Copy. If you have the document open, click the Tools button in the toolbar, then choose Download a Copy.*
  4. Choose a format for the document. The file starts begins to download to your browser’s download location.

* To convert your document to an EPUB book, open the document, click the Tools button in the toolbar, then choose Download a Copy.

Open a file in Pages for iCloud

  1. Sign in to iCloud.com with your Apple ID.
  2. Click Pages.
  3. Drag the file you want to upload into the Pages document manager in your browser. Or click the Upload button , select the file, then click Choose.
  4. Double-click the file in the document manager.

Check file format compatibility

Formats you can open in Pages

You can open these file formats in Pages on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and online at iCloud.com:

If you have a one-time purchase of Office 2016 for Mac or you have Office 365 for Mac and are using the Office 2016 for Mac build on macOS versions earlier than 10.13, your Office system requirements will not change. Microsoft office is not working ios mac.

  • All Pages versions
  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx) and Office 97 or later (.doc)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf/.rtfd)
  • Plain Text files (.txt)

Formats you can convert Pages documents into

Pages on iPhone or iPad:

  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf/.rtfd)
  • PDF
  • EPUB

Pages for Mac:

  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx) and Office 97 or later (.doc)
  • Rich Text Format (.rtf/.rtfd)
  • Plain Text files (.txt)
  • PDF
  • EPUB
  • Pages ‘09

Pages for iCloud:

  • Microsoft Word: Office Open XML (.docx)
  • PDF
  • EPUB

Open Microsoft Word Document

Learn more

I Can't Open Microsoft Word On My Mac

  • Pages on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and online at iCloud.com use the same file format. If you create or edit a document in Pages on one platform, you can open it in Pages on any of the other platforms.
  • You can update to current versions of Pages on your iPhone or iPad from the App Store. To update Pages on your Mac, use the App Store app on your Mac.
  • If you convert a Pages document into Pages ’09-compatible document, learn more about changes that happen when you export to iWork ’09.