Open Office apps in safe mode on a Windows PC
Starting a Microsoft Office for Windows application in Office Safe Mode can allow you to safely use it when it has encountered certain problems. This is useful when you need to open a file that you can't under normal mode because the application is crashing or if you need help in identifying an add-in or extension that may be causing a problem on startup.
Important: April 30, 2016: A update was released to fix the "We're sorry..." error when you launch Office 2016 applications in safe mode on Windows 7. For more information, see the heading Office 2016 on Windows fails to launch in safe mode [FIXED] in one of these recent issues articles for Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook.
How to start Office for Windows applications in Office Safe Mode
Use one of these methods to start an Office application in Office Safe Mode on a Windows PC:
1. Find the shortcut icon for your Office application.
2. Press and hold the CTRL key and double-click the application shortcut.
3. Click Yes when a window appears asking if you want to start the application in Safe Mode.
Note: To stop Office Safe Mode, exit and restart your Office application. It will start in normal mode unless there's a problem opening the application.
Use the /safe option to open an Office application
This method works for most Office versions on a Windows PC:
1. Right-click the Start button (lower-left corner) in Windows, and click Run.
Alternatively, you can press the Windows logo key and the R key on your keyboard.
2. In the Run box, type one of these commands:
- For Excel: Type excel /safe, and click OK.
- For Outlook: Type outlook /safe, and click OK.
- For Word: Type winword /safe, and click OK.
- For PowerPoint: Type powerpnt /safe, and click OK.
- For Publisher: Type mspub /safe, and click OK.
- For Visio: Type visio /safe, and click OK.
Note: To stop Office Safe Mode, exit and restart your Office application. It will start in normal mode unless there's a problem opening the application.
If you can't start a Microsoft Office application in Office Safe Mode or you have recurring problems opening applications in normal mode, you can try to repair Office. For more information, go to Repair an Office application
Note: Office Safe Mode is different than Windows safe mode. If you're looking for information about Windows safe mode, go to start your PC in safe mode.