Fix: Word Cannot Open this Document Template

There may be times when you start Microsoft Word you encounter the error: “Word cannot open this document template template name. I have encountered other Word errors in the past, and while this error may not happen all too often, but when it does a similar problem can also produce other error messages when Word is started. The issue has to do with the compatibility of an add-in with Microsoft Word, and the steps below outline how to solve the problem.

Word Cannot Open this Document Template During Word Startup

As I mentioned above, the error is caused because an add-in is not compatible with Microsoft Word. To help find the troublesome add-in use the following steps:

Temporary Remove the Microsoft Word Add-ins

  1. Close all Microsoft Office applications that are currently running.
  2. Open the “Startup” folder for your version of Microsoft Office. The table below shows the location of the folder.
  3. Office VersionStartup Folder Location
    2010Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\Startup
    2007Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Startup
    2003Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Startup
    2002Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\Startup
    2000Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup
  4. Move all files that are in the “Startup” directory to another location on your hard drive.
  5. Next, open the following folder: “Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Word\Startup” – replacing username with the name of your log in name.
  6. Move all files that are located in the above directory to another location on your hard drive.
  7. Restart Word to see if the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” error disappears. If it does, continue to the next section.

Find the Add-in That Causes the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” Error

Once the add-ins have been removed, and the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” error has disappeared, it is time to find the add-in that is causing the problem. Use the following steps to find the problem add-in

  1. Close Microsoft Word.
  2. Begin to copy one file that you moved from one of the two “Startup” directories back to the proper “Startup” directory and restart Microsoft Word.
  3. After copying one file and restarting Word, if the “Word Cannot Open this Document Template” reappears, then you found the problem add-in.

The above steps should help you to solve the problem of the error message “Word cannot open this document template template name” being displayed when Word is started.

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