When a document won’t open in Word, you might get an error message, launch another app, or the program might crash or not open at all. There are several things that can cause problems with Word documents, and we’ve got all the solutions.

It is unusual for Microsoft Word to have problems opening files, but it does happen. Besides file corruption, the most likely reason a document won’t open in Word is that your computer is set to start another program when you open the file. It is also possible that the program needs to be repaired or reinstalled.

There are several solutions depending on the problem.

Change file association settings to open your documents in Microsoft Word. Follow these instructions if another program (not MS Word) opens when you double-click a DOCX, DOC, or other document.