Microsoft Word runs very slow on my Mac

Broooook(e) wrote:

How do you install the .4? I only know how to do the last version.

You don’t. Microsoft released 16.85.2 this afternoon that fixes the issue. Use the usual update path...

Word->Help->Check for Updates

I was super frustrated forever like everyone since my Mac slowed to a crawl or worse on Word only this last two weeks, however by following the process of deleting Version 16.85, and the subsequent reinstall of Version 16.84, it works perfectly again.

If you can find the Microsoft link in this thread or anywhere else, just delete and reinstall Version 16.84.

They told me to delete every office application but that was unnecessary. I deleted the word application only, then reinstalled. Now full disclosure, I have not updated to Sonoma, and am using the most up-to date Ventura (Ventura 13.6.7), so maybe that is an issue for some after the reinstall.

If you get it to work, once you reinstall 16.84, don't forget to take off auto updates when prompted (Version 16.85 update is the issue. Don't let it update to it until they fixed the bugs!!!!).

I hope this works for everyone else. Good luck out there. I hope you hit all your deadlines.

JamesMullinger wrote:

I am having the same problem as everyone else here. And I am cursing Microsoft for charing me $150 a year for Word and it doesn't work! I have read every page of this but I can't see a solution yet. Does anyone have one please? Thank you! Like all of you I am getting desperate and cannot see a fix for this anywhere.

Then you’re not reading very well. The fix has been explained at least three time. Here it is once again. Yesterday Microsoft released Word 16.85.2 that fixes things. All you have to do is open Word (or any other 365 App, select Help->Check for Updates and way you go. Pretty simple.

I took the advice of earlier posters and downgraded to version 16.84 (released on April 16, 2024).

It's working perfectly. I was losing my mind with the 16.85 version.

Make sure you uninstall the version you have before installing 16.84.

It's here (scroll down). https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac

Change your MS AutoUpdate Channel from "Current Channel" to "Current Channel (Preview)" - as instructed below:

— From Microsoft Autoupdate, click on Advanced

— Change the Update Channel as instructed.

— This will allow AutoUpdate to install the MS Word 16.85.2 update, which fix the issue with excessive memory consumption.

This tip does seem to have worked for me, although I'm only using Word sporadically today.

It's not actually 16.85.1, it's an incremental update to 16.85.2 that isn't being pushed out yet. Apparently it is fully supported, but I think you might have to allow reports to be sent to Microsoft? Effectively you're part of the testing community? These are the steps you need to follow:

Click Help; Check for Updates; Advanced; change 'Update Channel' from 'Current Channel' to 'Current Channel (Preview)'.

Then check for updates again, and accept the update it finds.

Good luck!

Please review the thread before posting your comments. Microsoft is already aware of the problem and provided a solution. There is a solution in the thread regarding a release they made available yesterday (May 27th). I've been using the new update, and the high memory consumption issue has been resolved.

Cheers,

TIP: Change the Community Sort from Best to Oldest to read the last provided solutions.

I have deleted the latest version of word on my Mac (that had been downloaded as part of the office 365 suite). Instead, I have gone to the App Store and downloaded the word version there. That is the older version of word and does not suffer from the lags the latest version does! It also does not automatically update. So until Microsoft fixes the issue, I am going to work off this version.

Since I moved to 16.86, I've never faced lag issues anymore... For me, this is water under the bridge. I'm usually working with translations, which require me to work with two opened Word files (200 pages each) at the same time, and on 18.84 and 16.85, my life was a nightmare. Since the last update, my work life is back to normal.

I had the lag problem for MS Word on my Macbook Pro Intel Chip with current OS. I updated to MS Word v 16.86, and everything works great now.

I have been having the same problem with Word v 16.85 on my MacBook Pro, running the current version of Sonoma. The program slows down to the point that it is unuseable. When I go to exit the program, it hangs (pinwheel of death), which means that I have to force quit. Then I start it again, and get reasonable peformance for about 30 mins, and then slow down, hang, and force quit.

I followed the suggestion from above and I downgraded to Word v 16.84. but the problem remained the same. I then moved my Word document to the web version of Microsoft 365 and found that MS Word worked without any problem. This is my suggestion for a work around.

This tip does seem to have worked for me, although I'm only using Word sporadically today.

It's not actually 16.85.1, it's an incremental update to 16.85.2 that isn't being pushed out yet. Apparently it is fully supported, but I think you might have to allow reports to be sent to Microsoft? Effectively you're part of the testing community? These are the steps you need to follow:

Click Help; Check for Updates; Advanced; change 'Update Channel' from 'Current Channel' to 'Current Channel (Preview)'.

Then check for updates again, and accept the update it finds.

Good luck!

I've also been having the same problem since the most recent update. It seems to be an issue with the Find function in Word. After several searches, the CPU usage shoots up to 100% for MS Word. It happens on my older Mac and a new Mac I bought on Thursday in panic as I thought my MAC was giving up on me. Have same problem with new Mac. The problem is with the most recent MS Word update Word v 16.85. Please contact Microsoft as they need to work on a fix for this.

The issue was dealt with yesterday when Microsoft released Word 16.85.2.