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Microsoft Word error message 'Word could not create the work file. Check the amount of disk space on your startup disk.'

I have a MacBook Pro, Retina 13inch OS X el Capitan Version 10.11.1 with 16GB memory. It is very new and I have recently installed Microsoft Word/Powerpoint etc from a disc I bought a few years back for my previous MacBook. It seems to be working fine but every time I want to open up a word document a message comes up saying 'Word could not create the work file. Check the amount of disk space on your startup disk'. However, once I click 'OK' this message disappears and my word file opens up with no problem. I have 16GB worth of memory on this laptop and as it is new I have not reached anywhere near the maximum amount of storage so I am confused as to what this message means. How can I stop this message from appearing every time I open Microsoft Word? Any help would be much appreciated!

MacBook Pro with Retina display

Posted on Dec 14, 2015 2:59 AM

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26 replies

Dec 14, 2015 5:28 AM in response to Wilson8266

This has nothing to do with memory - it involves the SSD. Word is trying to create a temporary file which it uses as a backup if the program crashes while you are working. First, run the Microsoft updater program to see if there are any updates you’ve missed. Second, Microsoft is currently supporting only versions 2011 and 2016 so if yours is older you should consider upgrading. Third, I suspect that the temporary file isn’t getting created so you’ll have limited undos (perhaps none) and that if the program crashes you’ll have nothing to restore to.

Dec 16, 2015 8:45 PM in response to dwb

I'm having the same problem. Originally on Office 2011 on a Yosemite iMac. Then upgraded to a brand new iMac on 10.11. Then upgraded to Office 2016. Surprise surprise, getting these same errors with new everything.


Fixing this office issue wasn't the main reason we upgraded everything, but it was a part of the reason. These iMacs had hundreds of GB free on their drives. Both versions were fully updated.

Dec 17, 2015 4:56 AM in response to l008com

Microsoft has a help site - have you tried there? I’ve been using Office on both 10.10 and 10.11 for months (mostly the 2016 version but sometimes the 2011 version) and I’ve not seen this problem. I’ve seen many others but not this one.


It appears that Microsoft saves its temporary work files inside this folder: /Users/davidwb/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Word/Data/Library/Caches I do not suggest you do anything with this folder unless someone at Microsoft tells you do, but if you migrated your account to the new computer it would explain why the problem followed you to your new computer.

Dec 17, 2015 5:11 AM in response to dwb

I have a thread going on the MS forum and read many other threads on this problem. Lots of people have it, and no one really has any kind of answer as to why. If were a simple matter of permissions on that folder, you'd think the error message would be more specific (then again, it's MS) and you'd think MS would be able to figure it out and fix the app. That said, I'll have to check out that folder and make sure it's permissions are good. The other thing is that I don't get these errors all the time. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes they come. Which suggests it wouldn't be bad permissions otherwise it would be constant. But again, it's MS so who knows, the problem could be anything.

Dec 17, 2015 5:49 AM in response to l008com

Ok, now that’s really weird. I wonder if it is because Word isn’t correctly deleting a cache when the document closes and then when a new temporary files is created the name is reused and that’s why it fails. (they all have the same filename with just a different random number I think)

Jan 25, 2016 12:32 PM in response to Wilson8266

I fixed this problem by . . . repairing permissions.


This feature was removed from El Capitan, so I had to manually enter it. To do so:


1. Open Terminal

2. Copy and paste the following: sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs --volume /

3. Wait a few minutes...I had hundreds of permissions that needed fixed.

4. Quit and re-open Word. Warning dialog box is gone.

Feb 16, 2016 8:49 AM in response to wryink

Close Word before doing this:


Go > Utilities > Terminal


Copy and paste this into Terminal (from Robertharpool above): sudo /usr/libexec/repair_packages --repair --standard-pkgs --volume /


It'll ask you to enter your password after entering the sudo command. Let it do its thing...once it's done with the repair just restart you computer. I don't know why or how it works, but that's what worked for me. Hope this helps.

Mar 7, 2016 6:12 AM in response to Robertharpool

Just in case people were experiencing this issue as well as hyperlinks being turned into an error message- This sudo prompt also helped my hyperlink issue! Thank you! I actually had my entire hard drive erased and put back to factory to try to fix this a few days before this post by an Apple technician. I'm so glad I looked again!

Apr 10, 2016 6:54 PM in response to stu23

Problem has returned. I run the command. It is fine for a while, then the problem returns. Last two times, this is what terminal shows after running the command:


User differs on "private/var/db/displaypolicyd", should be 0, user is 244.

Group differs on "private/var/db/displaypolicyd", should be 0, group is 244.

Repaired "private/var/db/displaypolicyd"


First time I ran the command it was a laundry list, now it is just that one. Related?

Microsoft Word error message 'Word could not create the work file. Check the amount of disk space on your startup disk.'

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