Wait while Windows configures Microsoft Office – Fix the error

Whether we use Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) or Office 2019 or another previous version, it is inevitable that they cannot be exempt from errors that affect the office software and that can spoil our user experience.

Causes of the “Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft Office” problem

Problems and errors in Microsoft Office are not usually recurring, but there are times when we can find them. For example, it may happen that every time we open an application of this office suite such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., the message “Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft Office” appears and it is configured only each time it is running, being It is possible to find it indistinctly in its different versions.

Waiting for a while it is possible that the program opens, but the configuration window reappears every time we start one of the programs in the suite, causing the software to not start quickly enough. This particular problem can be quite frustrating, mainly because it is difficult to accurately diagnose what may be the root cause of this problem.

The most likely cause is that it is due to an internal problem, or that we have installed add-ons that cause the corruption or that we have installed the 32-bit version on a 64-bit version of Windows. Whatever the origin, the truth is there are different ways in which to solve this error.

Ways to fix the error

Next, we propose different ways to try to solve the Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft Office error.

Repair Office

The first step to help us fix this problem is to repair Office. In this way and internally, the application runs its own troubleshooter, looking for common errors and repairing any instance that may be causing the problem. This is something we can do from the “Control Panel” or the “Windows Settings” menu.

From the Control Panel

To repair Office, we can choose to launch the Control Panel. For this we will write control panel in the search box of the Start menu and select it. This will open a window where in the “Programs” section, we select “Uninstall a program”.

This will take us to a new window with all the applications installed on our computer. Here we must right-click on Microsoft Office 365 (or another version that we have) and select “Change”.

This will bring up a new window where we will select “Quick Repair” and then “Repair” to begin the process, without the need for an Internet connection. We can also opt for the Online Repair, it takes a little longer and requires an Internet connection, but it is useful to use in case the problem is not solved as the “Quick Repair”.

From the Settings menu

We can also carry out the same operation, but from the Settings menu, which we can access by pressing the keyboard shortcut “Windows + I”. Once it appears, click on the “Applications” section.

We scroll to the bottom where we find a list of installed applications, so we must look for the one corresponding to Microsoft Office 365 or the one corresponding to our version. 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”.

Disable third-party plugins

It is possible that the cause of the error can be found in third-party Office add-ins that we have installed. To check it, it will be necessary to deactivate all the add-ons that we have installed.

To do this, from an Office application that we have open we must click on the “File” tab and then select “Options” to open a configuration window where we must click on the “Add-ons” section. At the bottom, click on the “Go” button and the window will open with all the add-ons installed.

Now we just have to uncheck the boxes of all the add-ins and start Office again to see if this was the cause of the error. In case that is the case, we must carry out the same operation, but leaving a complement marked, until we verify which has been the culprit.

Activate Windows Search

Another possible cause for the Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft Office message appears is because we have the 32-bit version installed in a 64-bit version of Windows. To be able to solve it, it can be enough with the activation of the Windows Search Service (Windows Search).

This is something we can do by accessing the Windows “Services” section. To do this we press the shortcut «Windows + R» which will open the command «Execute», we write services.msc and press Enter.

Once in the Services window we must look for the entry Windows Search, almost at the bottom of the list. Right-click on it and select “Properties”. This will open a window and we must set the “Startup Type to Automatic (Delayed Start)” and in “Service Status”, select “Start”. Finally, click on “Apply” and “OK” to save the changes and restart the PC for the changes to take effect.

Restore Windows to a previous version

If none of the above has worked, as a last resort, we can try to restore Windows to a previous version where Office worked correctly. This should completely fix the problem. We should not worry about losing all our data with this option since the wizard when restoring will offer us the possibility of keeping them.

In order to restore the system, we must write restore system in the search box of the Start menu and select “Recovery”. In the new window we select “Open System Restore”, so that it undoes the changes made recently in the system.

Next, the wizard will appear that will give us the option to access the latest available recovery date. This way, if Office is working properly at the time, restoring it should work again. Once the system is restored, the PC will restart and we should be able to access any Office application without the annoying Please wait while Windows configures Microsoft Office message appears.