Word crashes when changing font color

15.13.3 is practically the initial release of Office 2016, which was pretty darn buggy.

With any Office 2016 app open, choose Help > Check for Updates. It will first want to update the updater. After that, it will update the apps to 15.41, which is the current version.

Completely removing and reinstalling Word did solve the issue for me.
Somehow Word wasn't automatically updating to the latest version.

To remove the application, just drag it into the recycle bin.

Here you can get the latest version :
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/update-history-for-office-2016-for-mac- 700cab62-0d67-4f23-947b-3686cb1a8eb7#bkmk_current

It's about 1GB download but the install itself was pretty quick.

Microsoft requires Office 2016 for Mac v15.35 or later for compatibility with High Sierra. You are in the doghouse. Microsoft released v15.41 in December 2017, and v16.9 in January as a major update.

Update your Office 2016 for Mac, and while you are at it, there have been several updates to High Sierra since 10.13.1 and the later versions of Office may play nicer if your macOS was current (e.g. 10.13.3).

If you're using Office 365 (the subscription version of Office 2016), then no, you won't find an update option

Thanks for pointing that out. You're the first person who actually mentions this!

That at least adds some clarity to the discussion.

(We're using the subscription version because this is the only version that is easily available here locally.)

You mention that it is supposed to update automatically but it doesn't seem do it immediately although I am daily connected to a proper internet connection at the office.

Version 16 seems to be out for a while now but I was still stuck on a version 15.

But unfortunately no way to force an update.

For all people with similar issues :

As a last resort I finally completely removed Excel because there is no way to force an update.

Here you can download the latest version and install it again :

Update history for Office 2016 for Mac - Office Support

After downloading it will use the original license so after installing you can start right away.

It seems to have solved some of the silly things Excel would crash on like selecting cell colors.

That you are having problems does not mean the entire Mac community is having problems. If it were actually that awful, you'd be reading about it all over the web.

Well, I read the same problems all over the web.

And those are people who have taken the effort to write about their problems.

Most people just read in order to find a solution for their problems (including myself).

On the official forums from Microsoft, all moderators just pretend that everything is just an isolated case and repeat the same standard answers over and over again.

But in most cases, people can clearly point out how to reproduce the issue, followed by a dozen users who have taken the effort to mention that they have the same issue.

In comparison to other software vendors, it's hard to file a bug report with Microsoft as if their products are without any issues.

The 2016 version is actually the most parity feature equivalent version of Office MS has ever released.

In terms of features it's maybe close to the PC version, but it is not stable enough.

Every update seems to introduce new bugs of which one wonders if they could not have been caught during testing.

I mean, a full application crash on something simple as selecting a color?

I've worked with Excel for over 10 years on many PC's and a crash is almost unthinkable.

After starting to work Office with a Mac, I realized the luxury of being able to rely on software not to crash.

Usually Apple will put some pressure on software developers if applications are crashing frequently on certain products. But Microsoft circumvents this Apple crash reporter and only Microsoft gets a notification.

I think that is also something that Apple needs to address.

Are you using a compatible version of Office?

Microsoft Office support for macOS 10.13 High Sierra - Office Support

I had this problem. Tried the "Help" page – no joy. Then I tried going through the colour change process VERY SLOWLY – and it worked!

Microsoft(R) Word for Mac does not have a 'check for updates' option.

Yes, it does. Any Office app you have open has the option to check for updates in the same place. And I very clearly noted where to find it. The very top menu bar:

Help > Check for Updates

so Apple has no clue how often all Office products are crashing on the Mac.

That you are having problems does not mean the entire Mac community is having problems. If it were actually that awful, you'd be reading about it all over the web.

As I noted above, the very early perpetual license release was indeed pretty buggy, but MS fixed those worst bugs early on. It's been a very long time now since I've had even a slight issue using Office 2016. The only one I can even think of is this: if you have over 3500 fonts open and try to send an attachment with Outlook, you'll get a message that it can't send or save the email. Other than that, no problems at all.

The best solution : get rid of your Mac and buy a PC.

Not a chance. But, spend your money however you wish.

Microsoft has no serious intention of supporting Office products on the Mac.

And again, your experience is not everyone's. The 2016 version is actually the most parity feature equivalent version of Office MS has ever released. The Mac version still doesn't do everything the Windows version can, but it's getting there.

Microsoft(R) Word for Mac does not have a 'check for updates' option.

Microsoft was so nice to omit that from their Mac products.

And they found a way to circumvent Apple's crash reporting features

so Apple has no clue how often all Office products are crashing on the Mac.

The best solution : get rid of your Mac and buy a PC.

Microsoft has no serious intention of supporting Office products on the Mac.

I've got the exact same problem and it's massively frustrating. Did you ever find a fix for this? It's having a huge impact on my workflow.

Same here

Or this, which I should have thought of earlier.

If you're using Office 365 (the subscription version of Office 2016), then no, you won't find an update option since the apps are updated automatically by MS when they are ready to release new features and fixes. There is a way to check what version you're currently running, but you have no control over it.

You've already discovered the "fix". Office 365 definitely should not be stuck on version 15.x. That it is means it's not updating. Microsoft says to follow these directions for reinstalling Office 365. I would presume that means deleting the current items in the Applications folder so the latest versions will install. Call MS to be sure.

Well, I read the same problems all over the web.

There is almost no software you can't find complaints about in relatively small numbers. By all over the web, I mean a severe issue where not just a couple of thousand users (a very small overall percentage) are complaining, but most users are reporting the same issues.

That said, Office 365 is a completely different product with its own code, so it wouldn't be at all surprising if it has its own slew of repeatable bugs. I don't know what those may be since I use the perpetual license, Office 2016 version.

In comparison to other software vendors, it's hard to file a bug report with Microsoft as if their products are without any issues.

Do the Office 365 apps not have this button?

That's Word 2016. PowerPoint and Excel also have this button. But for whatever reason, Outlook doesn't. If you select "What Can Be Better", a brief bug reporting sheet appears.

In terms of features it's maybe close to the PC version, but it is not stable enough.

Well, I can't agree with that. I use Excel, Word, and Outlook heavily in an office environment. Particularly massive and often complicated Excel spreadsheets. None of the apps crash - ever.

You are obviously having problems, but they aren't normal.