Fix: Stuck at “Updating Office, Please wait a moment” on Windows?

Nearly every Windows user uses Microsoft Office but some of the unfortunate ones get stuck on the “Updating Office, Please Wait a Moment” splash screen whenever they launch an Office application like Word, Excel, etc.

Some of the users reported that they also got the following error message after the splash screen closes:

Unable to start correctly, error code 0xc0000142

The issue is usually reported to occur after an Office update.

Your Office may keep saying it is updating due to many factors but we can identify the following primary causes of the issue:

Before diving into more technical solutions, check if launching the Office applications in their safe modes clears out the error. If so, then try to identify and remove a plug-in or add-on causing the issue.

Also, some users have reported that unpinning the Office applications from the system’s Task Bar solved the problem, so check if that works for you.

Restart the Click to Run Process and Service

If the Click to Run service is stuck in an error state after an Office update, Office applications like Word may show the updating error on the application launch.

In that case, restarting the Click to Run service and process in the Task Manager may solve the problem. Before proceeding, close all the running Office applications.

1. Right-click Windows and open Task Manager.

   

2. Now, right-click on Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (SxS) process and select End Task.

   

3. Then confirm to end the process and head to the Services tab.
4. Now right-click on ClickToRunSvc and select Restart.

   

5. Then launch an Office application like Word and check if it is operating fine.
6. If not, repeat the above steps thrice and check if the issue is resolved.

Restart Your System and Update Office to the Latest Build

The updating Office splash screen may be shown on your screen if the Office update could not be completely applied to the installation. In such a case, restarting your system and re-updating the Office installation may solve the problem.

1. Press the Windows key to open the startup menu and click on Power.
2. Then click on Shut Down and let the system powered off.

   

3. Now wait for 1 minute and then power on the machine.
4. Afterward, check if any of the Office applications like Word can be opened without issue.
5. If so, open the application’s File menu and head to the Account tab.
6. Now, in the section of Office Updates, click on Update Now, and in the resulting menu, select Update Now.

   

7. Once the Office application is updated, relaunch it and check if its updating issue is resolved.

Update Windows of Your PC to the Latest Build

The latest Office update applied to your Office installation might become incompatible with the outdated Windows version of your system, resulting in the updating issue at hand. Here, updating the Windows of your PC to the latest version may clear the office update error.

1. Click Windows and search for Check for Updates.

   

2. Now open Check for Update (System Settings) and in the Windows Update window, click on the Check for Updates button.

   

3. If some updates are available, download/ install them, and afterward, restart your system.
4. Upon restart, launch an Office application like Word and check if it is working fine.

Launch Office Apps as an Administrator

If the Office apps require to access a protected system resource after an Office update, but UAC is not letting it do so, the Office apps may throw the updating Office error. In such a scenario, launching the Office apps (like Word, Excel, etc.) as an administrator may solve the problem.

1. Click Windows and search for an Office application like Excel.
2. Now right-click on it and select Run as Administrator.

   

3. If a UAC prompt is received, click Yes, and when the Office application launches, check if it is operating fine.

Perform the Quick or Online Repair of Microsoft Office

If the last Office update could not be properly applied to the Office installation, it may have caused corruption of the Office apps, resulting in the updating Office issue. Here, performing a repair (quick or online) may solve the problem.

1. Right-click Windows and open Apps & Features.
2. Now expand the problematic Office installation and click on the Modify button.

   

3. Then select the option of Quick Repair and click on the Repair button.

   

4. Follow the prompts to complete the repair process and afterward, check if the Office is clear of the updating issue.
5. If not, then repeat the above steps but at step 3, choose Online Repair and follow the prompts to check if the Online Repair has solved the updating problem. If you are using an enterprise Office key, then you may use the “Have a Key” link to activate the Office.

   

6. If the repair was successful, then open an Office application like Word and use the File>> Account>> Update Options>> Update Now to update it.

Uninstall the Conflicting Version of Microsoft Office

If your system has more than one Office version installed, then both Office versions may conflict with each other, causing the Office updating issue at hand. In this context, uninstalling the older version or another architecture version (32-bit or 64-bit) may solve the problem.

1. Right-click Windows and open Apps & Features.
2. Now check if you have more than one Office Product installed like Office 2019 and Access 2010 or another Office installation either 32-bit or 64-bit.
3. If so, then expand the other or older version of the Office product and click on Uninstall.
4. Now confirm to Uninstall the Office and follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation.
5. Then reboot your PC and upon reboot, launch an Office application e.g., Word, and check if it is clear of the office updating splash screen.

Disable the Fast Startup of Your System

The Fast Startup feature of your system paces up the system’s boot time as it stores the mixed system state of hibernation and sleep on your system’s hard drive. But during this process, it may “overlook” a resource essential for the operation of Microsoft Office and hence cause the updating Office issue. In such a scenario, disabling the Fast Startup feature of your system may solve the problem.

1. Right-click on Windows and select Power Options.
2. Now, under Related Settings, open the link of Additional Power Settings, and in the resulting window, open Choose What the Power Buttons Do.

   

3. Then click on Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable and in the Shutdown Settings, uncheck the option of Turn on Fast Startup.

   

4. Now save your changes and reboot your PC.
5. Upon reboot, launch an Office application e.g., Word, and check if the Office updating issue is resolved.

Clean Boot Your PC and Disable/ Uninstall the Conflicting Applications

Microsoft Office apps might show the updating error if another application on your system is conflicting with Office. In this context, clean booting your PC and disabling/ uninstalling the conflicting applications may solve the updating Office problem.

1. Firstly, boot your PC into the safe mode and check if Office is working fine.
2. If so, click Windows, search and open System Configuration.
3. Now head to the Services tab and checkmark Hide All Microsoft Services.
4. Then click on Disable All and head to the Startup tab of the System Configuration.

   

5. Now click on Open Task Manager, disable every entry by right-clicking on each and selecting Disable.

   

6. Once disabled, apply your changes in the Task Manager window and System Configuration window.
7. Then reboot your PC and upon reboot, check if the Office apps are working fine.
8. If so, then you may enable back the applications/services disabled in the above steps one by one till the problematic one is found.
9. Once found, either disable the problematic application/process or uninstall it, if not essential.

The following are reported to cause the issue at hand:

Re-register the System DLLs

The Office apps might show the updating error if essential system DLLs have been deregistered from the system’s Registry by a registry cleaner application or security product of your system.

Here, re-registering the System DLLs may solve the problem. Before proceeding, make sure to create a system restore point, just in case things do not go well.

1. Firstly, make sure no Office application or any related process is operating in the Task Manager of your system.
2. Then click Windows and search for Command Prompt.
3. Now right-click on Command Prompt and in the mini-menu, select Run as Administrator.

   

4. Then execute the following:

   for %i in (%windir%\system32\*.dll) do regsvr32.exe /s %i

5. Now exit the Command Prompt and reboot your PC.
6. Upon reboot, launch an Office application like Word and check if the Office updating issue is cleared.

Reinstall the MS Office Suite

If the corrupt Office installation could not be repaired by Quick or Online Repair, then performing a clean reinstallation of MS Office may solve the problem. Before proceeding, make sure to backup your Office credentials or license keys.

1. Right-click Windows and open Apps & Features.
2. Now expand the problematic Office installation and click on the Uninstall button.

   

3. Then confirm to uninstall the MS Office and follow the prompts to complete the uninstallation process.
4. Afterward, restart your PC and upon restart, reinstall the Office from the Office or Organization portal, not from the previously downloaded setup.
5. Upon completion of reinstallation of Office, check if the updating Office issue is cleared.
6. If the issue does not resolve or resurfaces, then launch a web browser and steer to the Microsoft Office Uninstaller page.
7. Now under option 2 of Completely Uninstall Office with the Uninstall Support Tool, click on Download and let the download complete.

   

8. Then launch the downloaded uninstaller as administrator and follow the prompts to completely uninstall Office.
9. Now restart your system and upon restart, reinstall MS Office and hopefully, it will be working fine.

If the issue persists, then check if restoring the system to an earlier time (if possible) when the Office was working fine and updating the Office again solves the issue. If that did not work, then check if resetting the Windows 10 PC while keeping your files and apps sorts out the problem. If the issue persists, then check if performing a repair install of Windows 10 clears out the error.