The other reasons you may experience the above issue include Word’s Protected View feature blocking your document access, your file being corrupt, Word having problems, and more.
Unblock Your Word File
When you get the “Word experienced an error trying to open the file” error, unblock your Word file, and your issue may be resolved. You can do this using the Properties window on your Windows PC
Fix the Problem With Multiple Word Documents
If you get the same error for your multiple Word documents, you don’t have to fix the issue for each file individually. Instead, you can add your document folder as a trusted location in Word, and you can then access all your documents in Word without an issue.
Turn Off Protected View in Word
If you continue to get the above error for your file, disable Word’s Protected View feature that restricts the app’s certain functionalities. Your issue should then be fixed.
Repair Your Word File
One reason your file doesn’t open and displays a “Word experienced an error trying to open the file” error is that your file is faulty. Third-party apps or viruses may have modified your file, making it unusable. In this case, you can use Word’s built-in repair feature to possibly fix your file. Once you’ve done that, your file should open in Word without issues.
Access Your File in Word’s Office Safe Mode
It’s possible your file is fine but the Word app is experiencing issues, preventing you from viewing your documents. These issues can occur due to various factors, with add-ons being one of them. In this case, you can run Word in Office Safe Mode, which isolates third-party elements in the app, allowing you to view your documents.
Repair Microsoft Word
If you continue to get the above error while trying to launch your file, Word’s core app files might be corrupt. You can’t fix these files manually, but you can use a built-in repair tool to repair all these faulty files.
Open Your Word File in Another Word Processor
The good thing about Word documents is that you don’t necessarily need the Word app to view and edit your documents. There are many other word processors that you can use to access and make changes to your Office files. You can use your computer’s built-in tools like WordPad (Windows) and TextEdit (Mac) to view your Word documents. For more features, use alternative office suites like OpenOffice and LibreOffice. You’ll be able to make nearly all the changes you want to your Word documents using these third-party office suite apps.
Fix Issues Preventing You From Opening Your Word Files
Word files are an important part of many people’s work life. If you get a “Word experienced an error trying to open the file” error, you’ll find yourself frustrated as your file simply won’t open no matter what you do. Luckily, you can resolve the issue by unblocking the file or making a few other changes in Word, as described above. Your file will then launch without any problems.
