PowerPoint unstable. Please save your presentations and restart PowerPoint

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Hello,

My computer runs Windows 10 Pro (v1903) and Office 2013.

When I open the PowerPoint application and press any character key on the keyboard I get the error “We’re sorry something went wrong that might make PowerPoint unstable. Please save your presentations and restart PowerPoint.” It is then impossible to continue until Powerpoint is restarted.

I have noticed that the Ribbon suddenly changes when attempting to edit the file – see attachments.

All other Office 2013 applications – Word, Excel – are working perfectly.

I have tried to uninstall and reinstall Office but the error persists.

 

Does anyone know what is the fix to this error, please?

Many thanks

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This page might be useful to you if the content applies to your scenario:

Powerpoint: We’re sorry something went wrong that might make PowerPoint Unstable. Please save your presentations and restart PowerPoint

https://desk.zoho.com/portal/sdsuapex/kb/articles/powerpoint-we-re-sorry-something-went-wrong-that-might-make-powerpoint-unstable-please-save-your-presentations-and-restart-powerpoint

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Many thanks for your kind reply.

However, I do not use Google Drive – this happens with any ordinary Powerpoint which I have created.

The problem started only after I (rather stupidly) failed to follow Woody’s advice and was updated to version 1903 of Win10; everything worked well with version 1809, so I am guessing that this is a gremlin caused by the new version of Win10.

 

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Try opening and repairing an affected file.
From within PowerPoint, go to File > Browse > Locate an affected file > Select > Choose Open & Repair from the Open dropdown menu.

If it opens OK in a Read Only state, save it (Save As) and then try open the newly renamed file for a comparison.

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Moonshine wrote:

an affected file

Um. That presupposes there is an affected file (or several), which we don’t actually know yet.

donihue wrote:

When I open the PowerPoint application and press any character key on the keyboard I get the error

Opening a file was not included in the problem description, even if it is the most common scenario. Therefore I’d possibly consider the following test cases:

1. Start PowerPoint from the menu. This would usually open a dialog where you can open a previously used file or start from blank presentation.

1.1. Does it “become unstable” if you use the keyboard to navigate the dialogs and use the search function to start typing a previous file’s name?
As in, press a character key from the keyboard, before opening a file to work on.

1.2. Does it “become unstable” if you start a new unsaved file, then click in the font selection field and type a character to search font names? As in, input a character while presentation open, but not actually into the presentation, and not having a backend file allocated to save things in.

1.3. Does it “become unstable” if you start a new file and then start typing? Depends on the template where that goes but MS default “fully blank” presentation places that in the first slide’s title.

2. In an empty LOCAL directory, not synchronized anywhere else, do a “New file” -> PowerPoint presentation, give it a name, and open that.

2.1. In this blank file with a name and thus backend for autosaving changes, repeat from 1.2
2.2. … and 1.3

3. In a local directory synchronized to somewhere (either cloud or local server), if you have one…

4. On a LAN disk share, if you have one…

MS Office applications can develop all kinds of weird problems without warning. Is this a Click-to-Run or a “MSI” installation? (Click-to-Run should have an “Office Updates” section in the File / Account section usually saying things about updates being automatically downloaded and installed, MSI should not have that; see https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/office_integration__sharepoint/2016/06/23/determining-your-office-version-msi-vs-c2r/ )

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Sorry to say, I have tried that multiple times, always with no success. I must say that it is very frustrating, as I use Powerpoint all the time (I am a professor). I am reduced to pasting in text from Word (that works!). Any attempt to write text in Powerpoint causes it to crash.

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mn- :

Many thanks for your detailed suggestions. I have followed them to the letter.

It appears to remain stable in all situations under 1 and also 2.1 and 2.2; I do not have the elements described in 3 and 4.

However, whenever I do 2.3 (type into an existing  saved presentation – blank or not) – boom!

I fear that I may have to roll back to Win10 version 1809 (assuming that that is still possible), but that prospect rather unnerves me as I use Bootcamp on an iMac to run Windows and am not sure if everything will work as planned…

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Are you able to copy the content from an existing PPS  to a new PPS without it breaking?

cheers, Paul

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As you have mentioned Macbook Air under Bootcamp, have a look at these pages for potential help:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/powerpoint-2010-crashes-when-typing/3ff1a764-c2bf-4767-998d-37559bab3903?page=1

. . . . and particularly a suggested fix by Rafelo MS in regard to a Keyboard Layout towards the bottom of page 1.
Read all post thereafter to see other replies/potential fixes referring to keyboard/language etc.

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Paul T,

Thanks for your message. I have tried and am NOT able to copy from an existing PPT into a new PPT without the usual crash. Does that suggest something to you?

 

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Moonshine,

Many thanks for your suggestion. I had already stumbled onto the thread you mentioned, and tried to resolve the problem in the way indicated, but to no avail.

Like the others on the thread, I have an iMac 27″ using Bootcamp to run Windows and a wireless Apple chicklet keyboard. Mine is laid out as Swiss French. I cannot find a way to have English as the editing language and Swiss French (Apple) as the keyboard, so maybe that is the problem.

However, the problem did not occur until the (automatic from Microsoft) upgrade to Win10 version 1903, so I am not sure the keyboard issue is the real one.

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Are there any error messages in Windows Event Viewer relating to PP?

cheers, Paul

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As I don’t use a Mac or Bootcamp, I’m not best suited to advise/help any further with your issue.
However, after reading various articles in forums regarding the same/similar issue(s) as yours, I feel it may point to a Bootcamp/keyboard/language problem.
If you were using 1809 with a particular keyboard/language setup and PP Presentations were created using that/those keyboard/language settings, then 1903 was installed as a major upgrade, it may well of stripped out those keyboard/language settings that were used previously and opening those previously created PP Presentations now, to edit them, on a different setup causes the problem?
I’m only guessing and I hope you get to the bottom of this.

Don’t be too harsh on 1903. Many folks blame everything on it when they can’t come to any other conclusion. Hopefully it’s just a setting or language to install/enable/set.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-powerpoint/why-does-my-microsoft-powerpoint-2010-crash-when-i/a82c1171-6470-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5?page=1

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Moonshine,

Many thanks for this message. I appreciate your efforts as a non-Mac user!

I did not intend to be “harsh” on 1903, only reported that things worked before the upgrade but not after …

I have already gone several times through the keyboard/language settings procedures discussed in the various articles, but none has resolved my problem, unfortunately.

In the meantime, I have reverted to using an Asus Ultrabook with version 1809 and am at least able to work. However, a 13″ screen is not so easy on my weary eyes as my 27″ iMac screen …

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Paul T,

many thanks for your message and suggestion. I have searched through the log you mention and found the attached record, which I am afraid I am not competent to interpret …

Regards

Donihue

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A search for “powerpoint error 1002” brings up a few suggestions, the best seems to be this MS page.
https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/powerpoint-isn-t-responding-hangs-or-freezes-652ede6e-e3d2-449a-a07f-8c800dfb948d

cheers, Paul

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My idea would have been to try Windows 10 (1903) Control Panel –> Programs and Features –> Microsoft Office –> Change –> Repair from the article. But it sounds like you already tried.

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Try saving your Powerpoint Presentations as “ppt” rather than as “pptx”. Doing that cleared up a problem for me.

Another possibility: uninstall and reinstall Powerpoint.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Paul T,

Many thanks for the link you posted. I have alrrady tried almost everything mentioned there, to no avail, but will persist …

Regards

Donihue

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MrJimPhelps,

Thanks for your suggestion. Unfortunately, the problem persists whichever format is used for saving. Re-installing has not helped either.

Regards

Donihue

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Many thanks to all the users who so kindly attempted to help me with this egregious problem.

I am happy to report that something in the latest Patch Tuesday updates to Win10v1903 *seems* to have eliminated the bug and I *appear* now able to work normally with Powerpoint.

Regards

Donihue

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Random contribution:

I had a similar issue and couldn’t figure it out except it seemed clearly relating to input.

After trying numerous changes, I found out it was relating to a (recent) change where I add more languages to my keyboard/language input, to be able to more easily type in French / Dutch / English.

After removing the EU language pack (perhaps unnecessary) and using default american English, PPT no longer crashed.

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Just try to save the PPT in 1997-2003 and check the issue

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