Microsoft Word suddenly fails to start

[TriciaMacMillan]

I've got Microsoft Office 2019 on my Mac, and out of the blue, Word fails to start, just showing an empty splash screen and staying like that forever:

It looks like either installation has some defect, or the latest macOS 13.5 update broke something?

I've tried the following, but to no avail:

• deleted com.microsoft.Word.plist
• deleted normal.dot
• logged in as a different user (same issue there)
• performed a secure system start
• downloaded the latest Word installation package from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac and installed it
• deleted Word app, rebooted, and installed again with above package

Anything else I could try? Anyone also experiencing issue like this?

I should note that Excel and PowerPoint work as usual.

 

[bogdanw]

Is Ventura installed with OCLP? It’s known to prevent apps from starting.

 

[TriciaMacMillan]

No OCLP. It’s on a MacBook Pro M1.

 

[bogdanw]

You could try Office-Reset (not made by Microsoft) https://office-reset.com/
or Microsoft's license removal tool
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...on-a-mac-b032c0f6-a431-4dad-83a9-6b727c03b193
Of course, if only you have the information needed to re-activate
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...-for-mac-7f6646b1-bb14-422a-9ad4-a53410fcefb2

 

[TriciaMacMillan]

Thanks for the instructions! If there’s nothing else I can do, I will try this. However, since the other Office apps work without problems, I don’t think it’s a license problem. But who knows exactly?

 

[TriciaMacMillan]

You could try Office-Reset (not made by Microsoft) https://office-reset.com/

Tried this one with "Reset Word". Seems it resets not only Word, but also my license. However, after that, I was able to launch Word, and after re-applying my license, it looks like everything works again.

Thanks a lot! Will save the links for future reference.