Fixing Word

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 19, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2000, 2002, and 2003

Beginning with Word 2000, Microsoft added the ability for Word to "fix" itself. This means that you can instruct the program to examine all its components and reload them from the original installation CD-ROMs. In order to start this process in Word, follow these steps:

Press Alt+F8. Word displays the Macros dialog box.
Using the Macros In drop-down list, choose Word Commands. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Macros dialog box.

In the list of Word commands, select the FixMe option.
Click on Run.

This starts the process. You may be prompted by the program to shut certain documents or programs in order for the fixing to finish. Follow the instructions, as prompted.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (952) applies to Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Heading Changes for Multi-page Tables

When you have a long table that extends over multiple pages, Word allows you to specify one or more rows to be repeated ...

Discover More

Adding and Formatting a Shape via Macro

Excel makes it rather easy to add shapes to your worksheets. If you add a lot of shapes, you quickly discover that it can ...

Discover More

Removing Dashes from ISBN Numbers

ISBN numbers are used to denote a unique identifier for a published book. If you remove the dashes included in an ISBN, ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! Are you ready to harness the full power of Word 2013 to create professional documents? In this comprehensive guide you'll learn the skills and techniques for efficiently building the documents you need for your professional and your personal life. Check out Word 2013 In Depth today!

More WordTips (menu)

Changing the Company Name

When you install Office or Word, you are asked for your company's name as part of the installation process. If you later ...

Discover More

Modifying Behavior of the Open Dialog Box

The Open dialog box is one that few of us think about, but you can control how it behaves with a little bit of macro ...

Discover More

Increasing the Size of the Draft Font

When looking at your document in Draft view, you may want Word to use a larger font than what it normally does. Here's ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 2 + 2?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.