Suddenly unable to print or export to PDF in Word

[usagora]

I posted this on MS's help forums just now, but wanted to post here too in case any of you have had this issue.

All of a sudden, today I go to print a Word document using Command + P, and although the command highlights as I press the key combination, nothing happens - no print dialogue appears. If I click on File > Print... nothing happens either. I restarted my Mac, then I checked for updates for Office apps and macOS - everything is up to date. Also, if I try to export a Word document to PDF using the Save As dialogue, I get the following error dialogue:



It doesn't matter which document I try to print/export - not even a brand new document will print/export. I do not have this problem in Excel or PowerPoint, nor with any other app on my Mac. It's just Word. So bizarre. Any suggestions beyond what I've done already other than completely removing all Office 365 apps from my Mac and reinstalling?

macOS 12.4 running on Mac Mini M1
Microsoft Word 16.61

The same version of macOS and Word are installed on another Mac (27" i9 iMac) at home and it's working as expected, so I'm wondering if it has something to do with Word running on Apple silicon. I have another M1 Mac at home (Macbook Air), but it's not available to me at this moment to test (will do so tonight).

 

[usagora]

Well, just found the solution:

System Preferences > Printers & Scanners > right click in blank area in the printer list on left and then click "Reset printing system"

You will have to re-add any printers after that, though, because it will delete them all. Very bizarre bug and I don't understand why it only affected Word and no other apps.

 

[chown33]

That is a pretty weird bug.

I was thinking it might be some kind of protected document, which won't allow you to print, export, copy text, etc. Then I saw this: "not even a brand new document will print/export" and decided it was definitely a weird bug instead of some inscrutable document property.

If you can get it to happen again, I suspect the MS team would like to see the bug-report, but if not, c'est la vie.

 

[usagora]

That is a pretty weird bug.

I was thinking it might be some kind of protected document, which won't allow you to print, export, copy text, etc. Then I saw this: "not even a brand new document will print/export" and decided it was definitely a weird bug instead of some inscrutable document property.

If you can get it to happen again, I suspect the MS team would like to see the bug-report, but if not, c'est la vie.

Yes. Apparently I wasn't the only one with this issue, as a Microsoft agent referred me to this other thread that the solution was posted in:

Redirecting

 

[aday213]

Yes. Apparently I wasn't the only one with this issue, as a Microsoft agent referred me to this other thread that the solution was posted in:

Redirecting

Thank you so much. Worked for me.