Troubleshooting Damaged Documents in Word: A Comprehensive Guide

Summary

This guide provides expert insights into identifying and resolving issues with damaged Word documents in Word 2013 and later versions, including Microsoft 365, Word 2019, and Word 2016. While often users might be looking into functionalities like how to scan with Word 2013, document corruption can disrupt even basic tasks. This article focuses on diagnosing document damage and offers step-by-step methods to recover your valuable text and data.

This article is designed for users with beginning to intermediate computer skills. For ease of use, printing this article might be beneficial as you follow the troubleshooting steps.

Ensure Software is Up-to-Date

Keeping your software current is a crucial first step in resolving many software-related problems. Updating Microsoft Office and Windows can often fix underlying issues that may contribute to document corruption.

Windows Update FAQ

Install Office updates

Update Office with Microsoft Update

Is it Document Damage or a Software Problem?

Several factors can lead to Word document corruption, preventing you from opening your files. This can stem from damage to the document itself or the template it’s based upon. Signs of a damaged document can include:

• Pages renumbering unexpectedly
• Page breaks shifting repeatedly
• Layout and formatting errors
• Garbled or unreadable characters
• Error messages during file operations
• Word freezing or becoming unresponsive when opening the document
• Any abnormal behavior not typical of Word’s normal operation

However, these symptoms aren’t always due to document damage. To distinguish between document corruption and broader software issues, follow these diagnostic steps:

1. Check other documents: Attempt to open other Word documents. If these open without issues, the problem is likely isolated to the specific document in question.
2. Test other Office applications: See if similar problems occur in other Microsoft Office programs. If so, the issue may lie with the Office suite or your operating system.

If these checks indicate the problem isn’t document-specific, you’ll need to troubleshoot Word, the Office suite, or your computer’s operating system.

Troubleshooting Steps for Unopenable Damaged Documents

Try these methods in the order presented. If one method doesn’t work, proceed to the next.

Method 1: Opening in Draft Mode Without Link Updates

This method aims to bypass potential corruption related to linked content or complex layouts by opening the document in a simplified draft mode.

Step 1: Configure Word Settings

1. Launch Word.
2. Go to the View tab and select Draft within the Views group.
3. Click the File Menu, then Options, and then Advanced.
4. In the Show document content section, check Use draft font in Draft and Outline views and Show picture placeholders.
5. Scroll to the General section, uncheck Update automatic links at open, click OK, and then close Word.

Step 2: Open the Damaged Document

1. Restart Word.
2. Go to the File Menu, and then Open.
3. Select the damaged document and click Open.

If the document opens, close it and try reopening using Method 6 to attempt repair. If not, proceed to Method 2.

Method 2: Inserting the Document as a File into a New Document

This method tries to isolate the text content by inserting the damaged document into a fresh, new Word document, potentially leaving behind any corrupted structural elements.

Step 1: Create a New Blank Document

1. Click the File Menu, and then New.
2. Select Blank document, and then Create.

Step 2: Insert the Damaged Document

1. Go to the Insert tab, select Insert Object, and then choose Text From File.

2. In the Insert File dialog, locate and select the damaged document. Click Insert.

   Note: You might need to reapply some formatting, particularly to the last section of the newly created document.

Method 3: Creating a Link to the Damaged Document

This technique uses Word’s linking feature to access the content of the damaged document indirectly.

Step 1: Create a Placeholder Document

1. In Word, click the File Menu, and then New.
2. Select Blank document, and then Create.
3. Type “This is a test.” in the new document.
4. Click the File Menu, and then Save.
5. Name the document “Rescue link” and click Save.

Step 2: Establish the Link

1. Select the text “This is a test.” you just typed.
2. On the Home tab, click Copy in the Clipboard group.
3. Click the File Menu, and then New.
4. Select Blank document, and then Create.
5. On the Home tab, click the arrow on the Paste button in the Clipboard group, and select Paste Special.
6. Select Paste link, then Formatted Text (RTF).
7. Click OK.

Step 3: Redirect the Link to the Damaged Document

1. Right-click the linked text, hover over Linked Document Object, and select Links.

2. In the Links dialog box, select the file name of the linked document, and click Change Source.

3. In the Change Source dialog box, select the damaged document and click Open.

4. Click OK to close the Links dialog box.

   Note: If recoverable text or data exists, it should now appear from the damaged document.

5. Right-click the linked text again, hover over Linked Document Object, and select Links.

6. In the Links dialog box, click Break Link.

7. When prompted with “Are you sure you want to break the selected links?”, click Yes.

Method 4: Utilizing the “Recover Text from Any File” Converter

Word’s built-in “Recover Text from Any File” converter can extract text from corrupted documents, though formatting and non-text elements will be lost.

Note: This method will strip document formatting, graphics, fields, drawing objects, and non-text content. However, text from fields, headers, footers, footnotes, and endnotes will be preserved as plain text.

1. In Word, click the File Menu, and then Open.
2. In the Files of type dropdown, select Recover Text from Any File(.).
3. Select the document you wish to recover text from.
4. Click Open.

After recovery, you may see binary data text at the beginning and end of the document. Delete this extraneous data before saving the file as a Word document.

Note: In Word 2007, use the Office Button instead of the File Menu if there is no File button in the User Interface.

Opening a Word document in Notepad as a recovery method if other methods fail.

Troubleshooting Steps for Openable Damaged Documents

If you can open the damaged document, try these methods to repair it.

Method 1: Copying Content Except the Last Paragraph Mark to a New Document

This method isolates content from potential corruption residing in the last paragraph mark of the original document.

Step 1: Create a New Document

1. In Word, select File on the Ribbon, and then New.
2. Select Blank document, and then Create.

Step 2: Open the Damaged Document

1. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Open.
2. Select the damaged document, and then Open.

Step 3: Copy and Paste Content

Note: If your document contains section breaks, copy only the text between them, excluding the section breaks themselves to prevent carrying over corruption. Switch to Draft view during copy and paste to avoid transferring section breaks. To switch to Draft view, go to the View tab and select Draft in the Document Views group.

1. In the damaged document, press CTRL+END, then CTRL+SHIFT+HOME to select all content except the last paragraph mark.
2. On the Home tab, click Copy in the Clipboard group.
3. On the View tab, select Switch Windows in the Window group.
4. Select the new document you created in Step 1.
5. On the Home tab, click Paste in the Clipboard group.

If the issue persists, proceed to Method 8.

Method 2: Changing the Document Template

Document corruption can sometimes be linked to the template the document uses. Changing the template can resolve these issues.

Step 1: Determine the Current Template

1. Open the damaged document in Word.
2. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Options.
3. Select Add-Ins.
4. In the Manage box, select Templates under View and manage Office add-ins.
5. Click Go. The Document template box will display the current template. If it’s “Normal”, proceed to Step 2. Otherwise, go to Step 3.

Step 2: Rename the Global Template (Normal.dotm)

1. Exit Word.
2. Click the Start button.
3. Search for normal.dotm in your operating system. It’s typically located at: %userprofile%appdataroamingmicrosofttemplates
4. Right-click Normal.dotm, and select Rename.
5. Type “Oldword.old”, and press ENTER.
6. Close File Explorer.
7. Restart Word and open the document.

Step 3: Attach a Different Document Template

1. Open the damaged document in Word.
2. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Options.
3. Select Add-Ins.
4. In the Manage box, select Templates, and then click Go.
5. Click Attach.
6. In the Templates folder, select Normal.dotm, and then click Open.
7. Click OK to close the Templates and Add-ins dialog box.
8. Exit Word.

Step 4: Verify Template Change

1. Restart Word.
2. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Open.
3. Select the damaged document, and then Open.

If problems continue, go to Method 3.

Method 3: Starting Word with Default Settings

Using the /a switch starts Word with only default settings, disabling add-ins and bypassing the Normal.dotm template, which can help isolate template or add-in related issues.

Step 1: Start Word with the /a Switch

1. Exit Word.
2. Click the Start button and search for “Run”. In the Run dialog box, type: winword.exe /a

Step 2: Open the Document

1. In Word, select File on the Ribbon, and then Open.
2. Select the damaged document, and then Open.

If the issue remains, proceed to Method 4.

Method 4: Changing Printer Drivers

Incorrect or corrupted printer drivers can sometimes interfere with Word document display and functionality.

Step 1: Try a Different Printer Driver

1. Search for “Devices and Printers” in your operating system.
2. Click Add a printer.
3. In the Add Printer dialog, select Add a local printer.
4. Choose Use an existing port, and then click Next.
5. In the Manufacturer list, select Microsoft.
6. Select Microsoft XPS Document Writer, and then click Next.
7. Choose Use the driver that is currently installed (recommended), and then click Next.
8. Check the Set as the default printer box, and then click Next.
9. Click Finish.

Step 2: Verify Printer Driver Change

1. Restart Word.
2. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Open.
3. Select the damaged document, and then Open.

If the problem persists, continue to Step 3.

Step 3: Reinstall Original Printer Driver

Windows 10 and Windows 7

1. Search for “Printers” in your operating system.
2. Select your original default printer, and then click Delete.
   If prompted for administrator credentials, enter them or select Continue.
3. If asked to remove all files associated with the printer, click Yes.
4. Click Add a printer or scanner, and follow the Add Printer Wizard to reinstall your printer driver.

Step 4: Verify Driver Reinstallation

1. Restart Word.
2. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Open.
3. Select the damaged document, and then Open.

If the problem continues, go to Method 5.

Method 5: Forcing Word to Repair the File

Word has a built-in “Open and Repair” feature to attempt automatic file repair.

Step 1: Repair Document

In Word, select File on the Ribbon, and then Open.

1. In the Open dialog box, single-click to select your Word document.
2. Click the arrow on the Open button, and then select Open and Repair.

Step 2: Verify Repair

Check if the document behaves normally after repair. If issues persist, restart Windows and proceed to Method 6.

Method 6: Changing Document Format and Converting Back

Saving the document to a different format and then back to Word format can sometimes strip out corruption.

Step 1: Open the Document

1. Restart Word.
2. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Open.
3. Select the damaged document, and then Open.

Step 2: Save in Rich Text Format (RTF)

1. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Save as.
2. Select Other Formats.
3. In the Save as file type list, choose Rich Text Format (*.rtf).
4. Click Save.
5. Select File on the Ribbon, and then Close.

Step 3: Convert Back to Word Format

1. In Word, select File, and then Open.
2. Select the converted document, and then Open.
3. Select File, and then Save as.
4. Choose Word Document for the Save As type.
5. Rename the document and click Save.

Step 4: Verify Format Conversion

Check if the document now works correctly. If not, try saving to other formats (in order):

• Webpage (.htm; .html)
• Other word processing formats
• Plain Text (.txt)

Note: Saving as Plain Text (.txt) can remove corruption but will strip all formatting, macros, and graphics. Reformatting will be necessary. Use this as a last resort if other formats fail.

If problems persist, proceed to Method 7.

Method 7: Copying Undamaged Parts to a New Document

This method involves manually salvaging content from undamaged sections of the document.

Step 1: Create a New Document

1. In Word, select File, and then New.
2. Select Blank document, and then Create.

Step 2: Open the Damaged Document

1. Select File, and then Open.
2. Select the damaged document, and then Open.

Step 3: Copy Undamaged Sections

Note: If using section breaks, copy text between breaks, excluding the breaks themselves. Use Draft view for copying and pasting to avoid section break transfer.

1. In the damaged document, select an undamaged portion of the content.
2. On the Home tab, click Copy in the Clipboard group.
3. On the View tab, select Switch Windows in the Window group.
4. Select the new document created in Step 1.
5. On the Home tab, click Paste in the Clipboard group.
6. Repeat steps 3a-3e for each undamaged part, manually reconstructing damaged sections.

Method 8: Using Document View to Remove Damaged Content

If the document appears truncated, switching views and deleting potentially corrupted content can help.

1. Determine the Truncation Page:
   1. In Word, select File, and then Open.
   2. Select the damaged document, and then Open.
   3. Scroll to the last visible page before truncation and note the content.
2. Switch Views and Remove Content:
   1. On the View tab, in the Document Views group, select Web Layout or Draft view.
   2. Scroll to the content noted in step 1.3.
   3. Select and delete the subsequent paragraph, table, or object.
   4. On the View tab, in the Document Views group, select Print Layout. If truncation persists, repeat view switching and content deletion until resolved in Print Layout.
   5. Save the document.

Method 9: Opening the Document with Notepad

As a last resort, Notepad can extract plain text content, sacrificing all formatting.

Note: This method recovers only text content, losing all formatting.

1. Locate the damaged document in Windows File Explorer.

2. Right-click the document and select Open with.

3. Select Notepad.

4. The document will open in Notepad with extraneous code.

   Note: You might need to change the file type in the “Open with” dialog from “Text Documents (.txt)” to “All Files (.*)” to see your Word document.

5. Clean up the text by removing the extra characters and code as much as possible.

6. Select File, and then Save As… Rename the document to avoid overwriting the damaged original.

Open the new document in Word. You can then reformat and clean up the recovered text.