Word is slow to start, print, or load documents

Microsoft Word starts very slowly, or other operations, such as opening or printing documents, also are very slow.

This issue may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

• Microsoft Windows is using a printer driver that is located on a network print server, instead of a local printer driver on your hard disk. When you use a remote printer driver, you may notice that it takes longer to change your default printer setting, and sometimes Word may print documents more slowly than you may expect.
• Word is installed on your computer, but Word was once running from the network. When the computer is not connected to the network, there is a long delay when you are opening documents.
• Fonts that are used in the Word document are damaged or missing from the system, and Word cannot substitute other fonts in the document.

When you start Word, it gathers information to use for document formatting and printing operations. If the files, drivers, or fonts are damaged, missing, or located on a remote server, Word can require more time to connect to the server and gather the information that it needs.

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Reinstall the printer driver by using a local port

Delete and reinstall your printer driver by using a local port. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Quit all Windows programs.
2. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
3. Right-click your printer, and then click Delete on the shortcut menu. You receive the following message
   Are you sure you want to delete the printer 'printer name'?
   where 'printer name' is the name of your installed default printer.
4. Click Yes.
5. You may also receive an additional message when you delete your printer driver:
   Some files were used only for this printer and are no longer needed. Would you like to delete these files now?
   If you receive the message, click Yes.
6. After Windows removes your installed default printer and its associated files, reinstall the printer. To do this, use one of the following procedures, depending on the version of Windows that you are using.
   
   Microsoft Windows XP
   1. Click Start, click Control Panel , click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Printers and Faxes.
   2. Double-click Add Printer to start the Add Printer Wizard, and then click Next.
   3. Click Local printer, clear the "Automatically detect and install" check box, and then click Next.
   4. Click Create a new port, and then click Local Port in the Port type section.
   5. In the Port Name box, type the path to the printer in the following format where server is the name of the print server and printer is the name of the printer:
      \\ server \ printer
   6. Click Next, and then select a Windows 2000 or Windows XP driver for your printer.
   7. Click Next, and then follow the instructions to finish the wizard.
   Microsoft Windows 2000
   1. In the Printers dialog box (click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers), double-click Add Printer. When the Printer Wizard appears, click Next.
   2. Click to select Local Printer, and then click Next.
   3. Click Create a new port, select Local Port in the Type box, and then click Next.
   4. Type the network share name for the printer in the Port Name box. For example, type \\Server name\My printer, and then click OK.
   5. Click Next, select your printer manufacturer and model from the list, and then follow the remaining steps in the wizard to reinstall your Windows printer driver.
      Click Next, and then use the disk that was provided by your printer manufacturer, and then install it according to the installation instructions. For more information about how to install the printer driver that was provided with your printer, please contact your printer manufacturer.

For information about how to contact your printer manufacturer, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about troubleshooting steps that may help you solve printing problems, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 2: Reset the Word data key in the Windows Registry

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
If Word is installed on your computer but the program was once running from the network and there is a long delay when you open documents when you are not connected to the network, try the following procedure.

The Word Data key stores information that is specific to the printer that is installed. To remove this printer information from Word, rename or delete the Word Data key in the Windows registry. When you restart Microsoft Word, Word recreates the Word Data key automatically.

Note After you rename or delete the Word data key, some settings in Microsoft Word are reset to their default settings.

To rename or delete the Word data key in the Windows registry, follow these steps:

1. Quit all Windows programs.
2. Click Start and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type Regedit and then click OK.
4. Open the following registry key that is for your version of Word:
   
   Word 2003
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Word
   
   Word 2002
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word
   Word 2000
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Word
5. Under the Word key, click the Data subkey.
6. On the Edit menu, click Rename or Delete.
7. Click Yes if the following message appears:
   Are you sure you want to delete this key?
8. On the Registry menu, click Exit.
9. Start Word.

Method 3: Repair or replace damaged or missing fonts

Damaged or missing fonts can cause the problem that is described in the "Symptoms" section. To correct this problem, remove or reinstall the fonts, or do both, in your version of Microsoft Windows.

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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