General troubleshooting for installing Office 2013 and Office 365

Before you start, we recommend you look at the More Information section to find articles that may cover specific install problems. If your problem isn't listed, we recommend you run the following Fix it in this article first:
Fix this problem

(http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9815935)

Microsoft Fix it

IMPORTANT The File Download dialog box appears at the bottom of the Internet Explorer windows. When you download the Fix it, click Save in the File Download dialog box. When it's done, click Open folder, find the file (the name should start with O15CTRRemove) and double-click it to run the Fix it. If you click Open, you may have problems running the Fix it.


 
After you run the Fix it, restart the PC, and then try to reinstall Office.

If your Office installation problem continues to occur, follow these steps:

Temporarily disable your antivirus and firewall

Antivirus or antimalware software can potentially interfere with your Office install. Try disabling or temporarily uninstalling your software. For more information, please see this article: Disable antivirus software.

Try updating your router firmware

Outdated router firmware can cause errors when downloading and installing Office 2013. For information on how to do this, check with the manufacturer of your router.

Use Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files and temporary internet files

Use Disk Cleanup to delete temporary internet files and temporary files from the PC.

For information on how to use Disk Cleanup, please see this article if you have Windows 7: Delete files using Disk Cleanup. Or, see this article if you have Windows 8: Delete files using Disk Cleanup (Windows 8).

Reset Internet Explorer settings

For information on how to reset settings, click the version of Internet Explorer you have on your PC:

• Internet Explorer 10
  (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/change-ie-settings#ie=ie-10)
• Internet Explorer 9
  (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/change-ie-settings#ie=ie-9)
• Internet Explorer 8
  (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-explorer/change-ie-settings#ie=ie-8)

Not sure which version of Internet Explorer you have? Click the Tools button, and then click About Internet Explorer.

Stop the print spooler

If Office setup hangs between 80 percent and 90 percent, follow these steps:

1. On a Windows 8 PC, type services.msc from the Start screen and tap or click services in the list of results.
   On a Windows 7 PC, click Start > Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
   
   
2. Look through the list of services, find Print Spooler, and open it.
3. Tap or click Stop, and then tap or click OK.
4. Try installing Office again.
5. Once Office is installed on your PC, go back to the list of services and open Print Spooler.
6. Tap or click Start, and then tap or click OK.

For more information, please see Microsoft Office 2013 or Office 365 hangs during setup.

Remove older versions of Office

Check Programs and Features in Control Panel for earlier versions of Office on your PC. If you find an earlier version, click Uninstall.

Note Before you uninstall an earlier version of Office, you may want to find the product key and installation media that came with it in case you'd like to reinstall it at a later point.

If there are problems uninstalling the earlier version of Office, use the appropriate Fix it in this article to remove Office from the PC: How to uninstall Office 2003, Office 2007 or Office 2010 suites if you cannot uninstall it from Control Panel.

Start Internet Explorer without add-ons

If setup fails immediately after clicking on install, the issue may be related to your internet browser. Try starting Internet Explorer without add-ons:

1. On a Windows 8 PC, type run from the Start screen and tap or click run in the list of results (or press the Windows Key + R).
   On a Windows 7 PC, click Start > Run (or press the Windows Key + R).
   
2. Type iexplore -extoff and tap or click OK.
3. Try installing Office again.

Run system file checker: sfc /scannow

The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions. Choose the operating system you have for steps on how to run the system file checker:

For Windows 8

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
   
   
2. Enter command prompt in the search box.
3. In the list of results, swipe down on or right-click Command Prompt, and then tap or click Run as administrator.
4. In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter: sfc /scannow.
5. When the system scan is complete, try to install Office again.

For Windows 7

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories, and then right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter: sfc /scannow.
3. When the system scan is complete, try to install Office again.

Turn off hardware acceleration

Sometimes, it may not be clear if setup completed or not. If you see Office 2013 shortcuts on the Start screen in Windows 8, or under All Programs > Microsoft Office 2013 in Windows 7, it's likely that setup completed successfully.

If the problem happens when you try to start one of the Office applications, and it crashes or nothing occurs (perhaps the screen flashes briefly), there may be a video card compatibility problem. To workaround this problem, follow the information to turn off hardware acceleration in this article: Visual features or video quality may differ from one computer to another in Office 2013.

Reset the Task Scheduler

Office 2013 uses the task scheduler during the install process. If something goes wrong with the task scheduler, it can prevent Office from installing. To clean up any remaining scheduled tasks, follow these steps:

For Windows 8

First, try starting the scheduler service:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)
   
   
2. Enter command prompt in the search box.
3. In the list of results, swipe down on or right-click Command Prompt, and then tap or click Run as administrator.
4. In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter: net start schedule.
5. Try installing Office again.

If Office setup fails, try these steps:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
2. Enter Schedule Tasks in the search box, and then tap or click Settings.
3. Tap or click Schedule Tasks in the list of results.
4. Expand Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Office and tap or click Office.
5. In the top-middle window, check if there's a task listed starting with the word "Office" under the Name column.
6. Tap and hold or right-click on each of these "Office" tasks and tap or click Delete.
7. Restart Windows and try installing Office again.

For Windows 7

First, try starting the scheduler service:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories, and then right-click Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator.
2. At the command prompt, type the following command and press Enter: net start schedule.
3. Try installing Office again.

If Office setup fails, try these steps:

1. Click Start, type task scheduler in the search box and press Enter.
2. Expand Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Office and click Office.
3. In the top-middle window, check if there's a task listed starting with the word "Office" under the Name column.
4. Right-click each of these "Office" tasks and click Delete.
5. Restart Windows and try installing Office again.

Try a hardwired connection

Try connecting your PC using a network cable instead of using a wireless connection. This may also speed up the download and install process.

Create a new Windows Admin profile (Windows 7 only)

Create a new Windows profile and then try installing Office.

First, create a new Windows account. To do this, follow the steps in this article: Create a user account.

Next, add the user account you just created to the Administrator's group. To do this:

1. Start Control Panel.
2. Click User Accounts.
3. Click Give other users access to this computer.
4. Choose the user you created and click Properties.
5. Click the Group Membership tab.
6. Choose Administrator and click OK, and then click OK again.

If you're getting one of these error messages or problems, there are existing articles that address the issue:

Need More Help?

Get help from the Microsoft Community, search for more information on Microsoft Support or Office support, or contact support for Office 2013 or Office 365 Home.