A strange bug is hitting several Microsoft Office apps, but there is a workaround

If you’ve been trying to write essential documents in Word, draft an email in Outlook, or jot down notes in OneNote, only for the apps to crash unexpectedly, you should know that a bug is currently occurring with them.

Microsoft acknowledged the bug in Office version 2407, build number 17830.20138 and higher, causing crashes during typing, spell-checking, or other authoring tasks. This issue has been a thorn in the side of many users, prompting Microsoft to publish a support document detailing the problem and offering a workaround.

Microsoft suggests looking at the Windows Event Viewer Application Log for Event 1000 or Event 1001 to check if you’re affected. The faulting application name will vary, but if you see something like OUTLOOK.EXE with a specific version and time stamp, along with a faulting module name such as mscss7it.dll or mscss7de.dll (depending on your language packs), you’re likely facing this issue. The root cause? An out-of-date language pack might be to blame.

But don’t worry—there’s a relatively simple fix. Microsoft recommends repairing your Office apps online or reinstalling your language packs to mitigate the bug.

1. Do an online repair of the Office application, Repair an Office application.
2. If the event log event shows the faulting module with a version such as 16.0.4288.1000 then this means you have an older MSI version of the language installed. Go to Windows Settings > Apps > Installed Apps and look for the old Office language installation and uninstall it.
3. Uninstall and reinstall the language pack, see “Step 2: Configure Microsoft 365 language”, Language Accessory Pack for Microsoft 365.

If you’re unsure how to proceed, Microsoft’s official “Repair an Office application” and “Language Accessory Pack for Microsoft 365” documentation can guide you through the process.

In other news, Microsoft Word is getting a Quick Fix capability, which corrects many accessibility issues with just one click.