Message when starting: PowerPoint has run into an error
Problem
In mid-February, users started to report that when they started PowerPoint, Word or Excel they'd see an error message like:
We're sorry, powerpoint has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly. Powerpoint will need to be closed as a result. Would you like to repair?
If they chose to repair, it did no good.
Possible Solution
The apparent cause was a a bad or incomplete automatic Windows 10 update. Some of them found that forcing a manual Windows update fixed the problem. Here's how:
- Click the Windows icon in the lower left corner of the screen.
- Type UPDATE
- The best match should be "Check for updates". Click this.
- The Settings dialog will appear with a Windows Update pane on the right.
- Click CHECK FOR UPDATES and allow the update to complete.
- Restart the PC and try PowerPoint again.