PowerPoint won’t open or crashes – Fix

And it is that no matter how reliable any software is, none is exempt from suffering any problem that prevents us from using it correctly. If this is our case, and PowerPoint does not open correctly, does not respond or hangs for no reason, we are going to see what these causes may be and how to solve it.

PowerPoint won’t open or respond, why?

It may be that at a given moment we double-click on our direct access to PowerPoint and see how after a few seconds the program does not open or does not respond for no apparent reason. Some of the possible reasons why this can happen are the following:

• The program was blocked due to a mistaken installation or due to infection by a virus or malware.
• Error occurred after a Windows update, because there may be components that are not compatible or the update may be incomplete.
• The program has not been activated once the trial period is over, preventing us from writing and other functions from being disabled.
• Some component is missing or damaged, which prevents the application from responding correctly.
• The installed plugins are corrupted or suffer from some problem that prevents them from being used optimally.
• The PPT file may fail due to system problems which prevents the program from opening properly.
• Etc.

As we can see, the reasons why this problem occurs can be several. Regardless of the cause, the truth is that this can be quite an inconvenience for our work, so we are going to try different types of actions that we can carry out to solve it.

How to fix the problem

Next, we are going to look at possible solutions that we can try to solve the problem of PowerPoint not opening correctly, not responding or crashing.

Unlock problem file

In the event that the program does not open correctly, we can start by unlocking the file that is restricted due to privacy policies. Therefore, if it is a read-only file, we will not be able to modify the content at any time, so we must click on the “Edit anyway” button to unlock the file.

Update PowerPoint to the latest version

Microsoft’s presentation software receives enhancements and new features as new updates are released. That is why keeping the application updated to the latest version allows us to correct security and stability errors that prevent us from using it correctly.

To do this, click on the File tab and then click on “Account”. Here we click on the “Office Updates” section and then on “Update Now”. All that remains is to wait for the update process to complete.

Disable Protected View of PPT file

In the event that we can access the program, we can try to disable the protected view of PPT files . To do this, click on the Files tab and then in the Options section, where we must click on the Trust Center option that we will find at the bottom of the left column. Then we select “Trust Center Settings”.

In the new window that appears, we must click on the “Protected View” section in the left column. Once this is done, in the left panel we uncheck all the boxes in charge of enabling this function and click OK to save the changes.

open and repair

All the programs that are part of Office have a function called “Open and repair” that we can use to be able to repair any slide that is damaged or corrupted . To do this, click on the “File” tab and “Open”. Later we click on “Browse” to open the File Explorer. We select the file and click on the arrow of the Open button to select the “Open and repair” option. After a few seconds, PowerPoint will have completely repaired the file so that we can use it normally again.

Use the PowerPoint Repair Tool app

This program is capable of repairing corrupt PowerPoint files (PPT, PPTX and PPTM) that prevent them from being used correctly, causing the application to crash and recovering all your data. It is compatible with versions of 2019, 2016, 2013 and older. The application is priced at 39 euros, although it allows us to download a free trial version .

Once installed, we run it and find and select the corrupt PowerPoint file and click the Repair button. Later, it will show us a preview and we can save the file by clicking on Save as in the main menu. Once finished, we open the file and check if we can work normally.

Repair office

In the event that we cannot solve the problem, we can always choose to reinstall Office , making sure we have a backup of our most important files beforehand. Later we must access the Windows Configuration menu by pressing the keyboard shortcut “Windows + I”. Here, click on the “Applications” section.

Next, at the bottom where we find a list of installed applications, so we must look for the one corresponding to Microsoft Office 365 or our version of Office . We click on it and click on the “Modify” button. This will open an Office window where we can choose between “Quick Repair” or “Online Repair”.

Remove and reinstall Office

If the problem persists, you may need to uninstall Office and then reinstall it again. To do this we close all running programs and return to the “Settings” menu. Click on applications and search for Office or Microsoft 365 again. We click on it and this time we choose the “Uninstall” option.

Once the uninstall is complete, which may take a few minutes, we download Office again from this link to its official website . This should be able to fix any internal issues, getting everything back to normal and you can use PowerPoint properly.

try another alternative

If we can’t fix the problem with Microsoft’s presentation software, but we need to work, we can choose to turn to some alternatives that we can use that are compatible with PPT files.

Print (LibreOffice)

It is the tool to make presentations that we can find within the LibreOffice office suite. It is compatible with PowerPoint file formats and allows us to provide our presentations with special effects, being able to add different slides and other elements to give it a more attractive and dynamic touch. In addition, it allows us to insert images, videos, animations and sounds.

Impress belongs to LibreOffice, a free office suite that we can download from its website .

sway

This program belongs to Microsoft and allows us to use predetermined presentations or fill in templates to which we can insert videos, images, and other multimedia elements. It has full integration with OneDrive from where we can add files, as well as Word and OneNote where we can easily convert all our content.

Sway is an application to create presentations, newsletters, and documents that we can download for free from the Microsoft Store.