How to repair Microsoft Office (Quick Repair and Online Repair)

Applies to: Microsoft 365 apps and Office 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2024 on Windows 11 and Windows 10. The steps follow Microsoft’s page on how to repair an Office application, with the Windows parts taken from its guide to repairing apps and programs in Windows.

A repair is the right move when every Office app misbehaves, when Office crashes at startup even in safe mode, or when an update failed halfway. It is less useful when only one file is damaged or one add-in is the culprit; for those, the app-specific guides linked at the end are a better start.

Check how Office is installed

Office reaches a PC in one of three ways, and each one is repaired from a slightly different place. Finding out takes a few seconds, as long as at least one Office app still opens.

1. Open Word, Excel or any other Office app.
2. Go to File > Account. In some versions the entry is called Office Account.
3. Under Product Information, select About (the button is labeled with the app’s name, such as About Word).
4. Read the version line at the top of the window.

Version line shows	Install type	Where to repair
Click-to-Run	Click-to-Run, used by Microsoft 365 and most home copies	Modify, then Quick Repair or Online Repair
Microsoft Store	Store app package	Advanced options, then Repair or Reset
Neither	Probably MSI, used by older volume-licensed copies	Change, then Repair

If no Office app will open at all, don’t worry about this step. Go to the Settings or Control Panel steps below: what Windows offers next to the Office entry tells you the type. A Modify button that opens a repair window means Click-to-Run, and an Advanced options link points to a Store package.

Quick Repair or Online Repair?

Click-to-Run installs offer two repair levels in the same window, titled How would you like to repair your Office Programs.

	Quick Repair	Online Repair
What it does	Checks the installed program files and replaces the ones it finds damaged	Goes further; Microsoft calls it the option that makes sure everything gets fixed
Internet needed	No	Yes, because Office files are downloaded again
How long	Usually a few minutes	Noticeably longer; it depends on your connection
Use it when	First attempt, or when you are offline	Quick Repair didn’t help, or Office won’t start at all

Microsoft’s own page recommends Online Repair for a complete fix and describes Quick Repair as the faster option that only finds and swaps corrupted files. Starting with Quick Repair still makes sense: it costs little time, and if it works you are done. Online Repair behaves much like a fresh install, so expect to sign in to Office again afterward, and on a metered or slow connection plan for a sizable download.

Both options repair the whole suite. Even if only Outlook is broken, Word, Excel and PowerPoint are checked as well. If you bought a single app on its own, such as Visio or Project, it has its own entry in the list; search for it by name and repair that entry instead.

Repair Office in Windows 11

Save your work and close every Office app first, including Outlook. A repair can’t replace files that are in use.

1. Select Start, then Settings > Apps > Installed apps. You can also right-click Start and choose Installed apps.
2. Type Office or Microsoft 365 in the search box above the list.
3. Select the More icon (three dots) next to your Office entry and choose Modify.
4. If Windows asks whether to allow the app to make changes, select Yes. On a work PC you may need an administrator to approve it.
5. Choose Quick Repair or Online Repair, then select Repair and confirm.
6. Wait for the progress window to finish, then restart the PC if asked.

If the More menu shows Advanced options instead of Modify, you have a Store install; see the Microsoft Store section below.

Repair Office in Windows 10

1. Close all Office apps.
2. Right-click the Start button and choose Apps and Features.
3. Select your Microsoft 365 or Office product in the list, then select Modify.
4. Approve the permission prompt if one appears.
5. In the repair window, pick Quick Repair or Online Repair and select Repair.
6. Follow the remaining prompts and restart when asked.

The repair window itself is the same on both versions of Windows; only the route into it differs.

Repair Office from Control Panel

Control Panel still works on Windows 11 and Windows 10, and some people find its plain list easier to scan than Settings. It is also a useful fallback if Settings won’t open or the Office entry looks wrong there.

1. Search the taskbar for control panel and open Control Panel.
2. Select Programs > Programs and Features.
3. Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office in the list.
4. Right-click it and select Change. (For some programs Windows shows Repair here directly.)
5. Choose Quick Repair or Online Repair and continue as above.

A Store install doesn’t appear in Programs and Features. If Office is missing from this list but you can open it, that alone tells you it came from the Store.

Microsoft Store installs

Some PCs, often ones that came with Office preinstalled, run Office as a Microsoft Store package. These copies are repaired through the Windows app tools rather than the Office repair window.

1. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps (in Windows 10, Apps and Features).
2. Select the More icon next to the Office entry, or select the entry itself in Windows 10, and choose Advanced options.
3. Select Repair. Windows tries to fix the app without touching its data.
4. If that doesn’t help, return to the same page and select Reset.

Before you use Reset: Reset goes further than Repair. It clears the app’s local data on this PC, such as preferences and sign-in details, and Windows shows a warning before it does so. Documents saved in your folders or in OneDrive are not part of that data, but anything not yet saved is lost, so close and save your work first.

Older MSI installs

Volume-licensed Office 2016 and earlier copies managed by a company often use the older Windows Installer (MSI) setup. On these, the repair window has no Quick or Online choice. Open the Office entry from Settings or Control Panel, choose Modify or Change, select Repair under Change your installation, then select Continue. The setup may ask for the original installation files. On a company PC, check with IT before you start; they may prefer to push a fresh copy.

What a repair keeps and removes

People often hold off on a repair because they worry about losing files. The short version: your documents are safe with every option here, including a full uninstall. Microsoft’s page on how to uninstall Microsoft 365 or Office says removal takes away the apps only, not the files you made with them.

Option	Replaces or removes	Leaves in place
Quick Repair	Damaged Office program files	Documents, settings, sign-in, add-ins
Online Repair	Office program files, downloaded again	Documents and your files in OneDrive; you may need to sign in again
Store Repair	Damaged app files	App data and settings
Store Reset	App files and the app’s local data on this PC	Documents in your folders and in OneDrive
Uninstall	The Office apps	Documents, workbooks and other files you created

Outlook mail deserves a separate note. Mail from Microsoft 365, Outlook.com and other server-based accounts stays on the server, and the local .ost cache can be rebuilt. A .pst file, which holds POP mail and archives, lives in your own folders rather than in the Office program files, so a repair doesn’t remove it. If you rely on a .pst file, a copy on another drive before an Online Repair or uninstall is still cheap insurance. Custom templates, ribbon tweaks and add-ins usually survive a repair; if one goes missing afterward, reinstall the add-in from its publisher.

If repair doesn’t fix it

When Office still crashes after an Online Repair, the program files are probably not the problem. A few things to try, in this order:

• Restart and update: restart Windows, then open any Office app and check for updates under File > Account > Update Options > Update Now. A repair puts files back; it doesn’t always bring them up to the latest build.
• Look at the app itself: a single misbehaving app is more often down to an add-in, a damaged file or a broken profile. Our guides to fixing Excel when it stops responding, fixing Word when it hangs and fixing Outlook when it won’t open cover those causes, with repair as one step among several.
• Activation messages: if Office opens but shows Unlicensed Product or Product Activation Failed, repair is only one part of the fix. See our guide to fixing Word product activation errors for the account and license checks to do first.
• Uninstall and reinstall: remove Office from Control Panel > Programs > Programs and features by selecting it and choosing Uninstall. Restart, then install again from your Microsoft account or your organization’s portal.
• Use the uninstall tool: if a normal uninstall fails or leaves pieces behind, the uninstall page above has an Uninstall button that opens a troubleshooter in the Get Help app. Microsoft says it needs Windows 10 or later, must run on the PC you are fixing, and can’t remove Office 2024.

Before you uninstall, make sure you can install again. Microsoft 365 and most recent home copies are tied to the Microsoft account you used to buy or redeem them, so you sign in rather than type a key. Our guide on Office copies linked to your account explains how to check which account that is, and what to do if your copy came with a product key instead.

To remove a Store install, Microsoft’s uninstall page gives a PowerShell method: in an administrator PowerShell window, run the command below, wait a few minutes, then run it again without the part after the pipe to confirm nothing is returned.

Get-AppxPackage -name "Microsoft.Office.Desktop" | Remove-AppxPackage

Related guides

• Excel not responding: how to fix freezes and hangs
• Word not responding: how to fix it on Windows
• Outlook won’t open: how to fix it in Windows 11
• Word Product Activation Failed: 7 Ways to Fix It
• How to find your Office product key (and when you don’t need one)
• Excel filter not working: how to fix it on Windows 11

Official sources

• Microsoft: Repair an Office application
• Microsoft: Repair apps and programs in Windows
• Microsoft: Uninstall Microsoft 365 or Office from a PC