Microsoft Word is a powerful word processor, but it can also be frustrating at times. Knowing how this can sometimes test your patience and how to deal with it can lead to a better experience.

Unwanted automatic fixes

Sometimes Microsoft Word may change words based on your AutoCorrect settings. For example, you might want to write facade but find that Word changed it to facade by including a cedilla under the letter c. Word can also automatically capitalize or uncapitalize words when you don’t want them to.

To fix these unwanted corrections, go to File > Options > Proofing and click “AutoCorrect Options” in the dialog box.

Next, select the “AutoCorrect” tab and adjust the settings accordingly. You will see several checkboxes that you can check or uncheck here. For example, if some words continue to be edited automatically, you can uncheck “Replace text as you type” to turn off this feature for all words.

Alternatively, you can remove a specific word from the list to prevent it from being autocorrected. To do this, select the word from the list and click the “Delete” button.

Then click the “OK” button to close the dialog box and apply the changes.

If you intentionally misspelled some words and don’t want to Word’s reliable spell checker To automatically replace them with its top suggestions, you can uncheck “Automatically use spell checker suggestions” at the bottom of the dialog box.

Unwanted automatic formatting

In addition to autocorrecting words, which can be annoying if that’s not something you want, Word can also sometimes automatically apply formatting. It can be frustrating to undo formatting every time Word thinks it knows more than you do what your document needs.

For example, if you type a number followed by a period and then press the spacebar, Word will automatically format it into a numbered list. Another example is if you type two hyphens (–), Word can automatically change them to an em dash ().

If you want to turn off these auto-formatting annoyances, go to File > Options > Proofing and click the “AutoCorrect Options” button. In the AutoCorrect dialog box, select the “Autoformat as you type” tab and uncheck the boxes for items you don’t want to format automatically.

If you turn off some auto-formatting options, you can still improve your formatting skills in Word to have better control of this aspect of your document.

Cluttered user interface

Word has many features that you won’t use and that tend to clutter the interface. This can make Word confusing and overwhelming, especially for new users. You can hide or disable certain UI elements to make it less cluttered.

For example, you can hide the ribbon by clicking the down arrow in its lower right corner and selecting “Show tabs only” from the menu. You can also press Ctrl+F1 to hide it.

The ribbon will collapse each time you select a tab. It will be hidden again each time you select a different part of the document.

You can also select the “View” tab and uncheck “Gridlines”, “Ruler”, and “Navigation Pane” in the View section of the ribbon.

But if you want to work without distraction, you can do it in full screen mode. Simply click the down arrow in the bottom right corner of the ribbon and select “Full Screen Mode” from the menu.

Disappearing toolbar

I mentioned setting the ribbon display option to only show tabs earlier. If this behavior is not what you wanted and is enabled somehow, it can be extremely frustrating because you now have to click tabs to view the ribbon.

You can easily fix this problem by selecting any tab to display the ribbon. Next, right-click anywhere on the ribbon and check if the “Minimize Ribbon” option is checked next to it. If so, click on it to uncheck it.

This will allow the ribbon to still display. You can also press Ctrl + F1 to display the ribbon. This will also ensure that it will always be visible.

AutoRecover Failed

Sometimes you may accidentally close documents without saving them first, or Word or your computer may crash. Word has a feature called AutoRecover that temporarily stores a copy of the document at set intervals, allowing you to restore unsaved work in the event of an unexpected event.

However, you may lose unsaved work if the document closes unexpectedly before AutoRecover can make a copy of it.

To resolve this issue, you must first make sure that AutoRecover is working. Go to File > Options > Save and make sure the box next to “Save AutoRecover information every X minutes” is checked. If not, check it out.

If you are concerned about this happening again, you can reduce the time intervals between backups. Alternatively, you can enable autosave to ensure that any changes you make are automatically saved to OneDrive.

File corruption

Sometimes Word files can get corrupted. This can happen for several reasons, including crashes or file format incompatibilities. To resolve this issue, you can use Word’s Repair feature by opening the document and clicking “Yes” on the prompt asking if you want to recover it.

You can also use the Recover Text from Any File feature. This will remove all formatting from the document and give you only plain text.

To do this, click File > Open and select the file in the Open dialog box. Click the drop-down box next to the File Name text box and select “Recover text from any file” from the menu.

Then click the “Open” button to start the recovery process.

Slow performance with large documents

A Word document with complex formatting and many elements (for example, tables, images, shapes, tables, and charts) is not a problem if it is small. But in larger ones, it can slow down Word, especially when loading or saving documents.

Even typing and scrolling can become a chore, leading to frustration. These problems are particularly noticeable on less powerful computers.

Besides waiting for Microsoft to make Word even more memory efficient or buying a better computer, you can reduce the size of the document by making it less complex. For example, you can simplify or clear formatting, use smaller images, or replace large media files with links.

You can also speed up your Word document in other ways, for example by disabling autosaving or removing unnecessary add-ins and macros. You can even try splitting the document into two or more separate documents.

Although Microsoft Word can be frustrating at times, understanding its common problems and their solutions can greatly improve your experience. By applying these tips when the problem arises, you will be able to use Word more effectively and efficiently in your daily work.