Repairing Your Microsoft Office Installation

For a wide variety of reasons, you may see errors pop up in Microsoft Office when trying to use 3rd party tools. Usually the messages are somewhat technical in nature, like "Class does not support Automation" or "Error in loading DLL."  The errors can be caused when the installation doesn't quite complete everything it needs to, or where a conflict exists between multiple Office installations.  Fortunately Microsoft Office has a fairly comprehensive repair capability that can seek out these anomalies and put your Office installation back in working order.

Repairing Office 2000 and Office 2003

In Office 2000 and 2003, the repair feature is located in the Help menu.  Just select "Help" then "Office Diagnostics."
 Office 2000 Diagnostics

Repairing Office 2007

First, ensure you are running the latest Office Service Pack for 2007, which is Service Pack 3.  If you do not have SP3 installed, do so here:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=27838

Excel, Access, Word:  Select the Office Icon, then "[Application] Options."  Select the "Resources" tab and then "
Office 2007 Diagnostics

Outlook: Select "Help" then "Office Diagnostics."
Office 2000 Diagnostics


Repairing Office 2010 and Higher

Repairing Office 2010 and higher is accessible only from the Add/Remove programs component in the Windows Control Panel.  Open the Windows Control panel, and select "Add/Remove Programs" ("Uninstall Programs" in Windows 7).  Right-click the "Microsoft Office ####" item and select "Change."  When the Office installation dialog appears, select "Repair."

Office 2010 Repair