Work with Office safe modes

Microsoft Office safe modes can allow you to safely use a Microsoft Office program that has encountered certain problems. There are two types of safe modes:

• Automated Safe mode When you start a program and a problem is detected, the program goes into this mode and either fixes the problem or isolates it, allowing the program to start successfully.
• User-Initiated Safe mode You can start a program in this mode to try to resolve certain issues.

Important If you are having problems with a Microsoft Office program, we strongly recommend that you use Microsoft Office Diagnostics to diagnose and potentially solve the problem. For more information, see Diagnose and repair crashing Office programs by using Office Diagnostics.What do you want to do?

Understand and work with Automated Safe mode

Use a Microsoft Office program in User-Initiated Safe mode

Understand the difference between Office safe mode and Windows safe mode

Understand and work with Automated Safe mode

When you start a program:

1. Office checks for problems such as an add-in or extension that won't start or a corrupted resource, file, registry, or template. If a problem is found, the program may not be able to start.
2. If the program is not able to start, the next time you try to start the program, Automated Safe mode is triggered. A message is displayed to identify the problem and ask whether you want to disable the part of the program that has a problem.
3. If the program is still not able to start, you may be prompted to disable more functionality that may be preventing the program from starting normally.

To view the list of disabled items, display the Disabled Items dialog box by doing the following in the Microsoft Office program that you are using.

Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Program Name Options.
2. Click Add-Ins.
3. On the Manage menu, click Disabled Items, and then click Go.

Visio, Outlook, Publisher, or InfoPath

1. On the Tools menu, click Trust Center, and then click Add-ins.
2. On the Manage menu, click Disabled Items, and then click Go.

OneNote, Project, or SharePoint Designer

1. On the Help menu, click About Microsoft Office Program Name.
2. Click Disabled Items.

After you view the items listed in the Disabled Items dialog box, you can select an item and then click Enable to turn it on again. Enabling some items may require you to reload or reinstall an add-in program or reopen a file. After you enable an item, the program may run into a problem the next time it starts. In this case, you are prompted to disable the item again.

Use a Microsoft Office program in User-Initiated Safe mode

If you are having problems with a Microsoft Office program, you may be able to use User-Initiated Safe mode to make it possible to run the program. Some situations in which this can be helpful include:

• You need to view a file and the Microsoft Office program that you are using is crashing before you can do so.
• You are trying to resolve a problem with your Microsoft Office program. You may need help from a technical support representative to do this.

Use User-Initiated Safe mode

To start a Microsoft Office program in User-Initiated Safe mode:

On the Microsoft Windows Start menu

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then point to Microsoft Office.
2. Press and hold the CTRL key, and then click the name of the Microsoft Office program that you want to run.

In the Command Prompt window

At the command prompt, use the /safe option when you start the program.

To stop User-Initiated Safe mode, exit the program, and then start it again normally.

What User-Initiated Safe mode does

The following restrictions apply when you start a program in User-Initiated Safe mode. (Some items listed below do not apply to all Microsoft Office programs.)

• No templates can be saved.
• In Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer, the last used Web site is not opened.
• Toolbar or command bar customizations are not loaded, and customizations cannot be saved.
• The AutoCorrect list is not loaded, and changes are not saved.
• Recovered documents are not automatically opened.
• Smart tags are not loaded, and new tags cannot be saved.
• All command-line options are ignored except /a and /n.
• Files cannot be saved to the Alternate Startup Directory.
• Preferences cannot be saved.
• Additional features and programs are not automatically loaded.
• Documents with restricted permission cannot be created or opened.

Understand the difference between Office safe modes and Windows safe mode

The Office safe modes are not the same as Windows safe mode. For more information about Windows safe mode, do the following:

1. Click Start and then click Help and Support.
2. Type safe mode in the Search list, and then press ENTER.
3. Open a topic on the Search Results list.

See also:

• Diagnose and repair crashing Office programs by using Office Diagnostics