Summary
This article describes how to start your computer by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with Microsoft Office for Mac applications. This kind of startup is known as a "clean startup" or "Safe Boot."
When you start your operating system by using a normal startup, several applications and services start automatically and then run in the background. These programs include basic system processes, antivirus software, system utilities, and other software. These applications and services can sometimes cause interference when you install or run Office for Mac. The steps in this article may help isolate the problem if you receive an error message when you install or start the product or if the application crashes or closes unexpectedly.
This article is intended for the beginning to intermediate computer user.
You may find it helpful to print this article before you follow the steps.
More Information
Prerequisites
You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group on the computer to perform the methods that this article contains. If this is your personal computer, you are likely already logged on with an administrator account. If this is a computer that is part of a network at work, you might have to ask the system administrator for help.
Restart your computer in Safe mode
For information about how to start an Office for Mac application in Safe mode, see the following articles:
How to use safe mode on your Mac
