Office 2008 Slow Startup: SOLVED!

jbrill · 11:52 AM

Hey,
I just posted this fix in another thread, but thought it deserved it's own.
Many of you have been having problems with very slow startup times with Office 2008.

My word/excel/powerpoint used to take about 1+ minutes to load.

It seems as though the office programs hang on startup due to 2 reasons.
The first being the auto start up of the project gallery and the second is the way it renders the preview of fonts(I use "Font Book" to preview my fonts anyhow.).

Here is how to fix it:

1. Launch word
2. Go to Word>Preferences
3. Click on "General"
4. uncheck "WYSIWYG font and style menus"
5. uncheck "Show Project Gallery At Startup"
6. Quit word
7. Reopen Word

My office programs now boot in 4 seconds or less and run smoothly.

Your Welcome

You can also view my blog for a more information http://bbold.com/blog/?p=7

akadmon · Jan 31, 2008, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrill

Hey,
I just posted this fix in another thread, but thought it deserved it's own.
Many of you have been having problems with very slow startup times with Office 2008.

My word/excel/powerpoint used to take about 1+ minutes to load.

Other then Word, which takes 10-15 sec first time around, the rest of the apps start up snappily out of the box (i.e., with default preference settings) on my Mac Pro.

jbrill · Jan 31, 2008, 11:47 AM

You are one of the lucky ones! It seems like the problems only happen to some (but most) of the computers.

It definitely has something to do with the fonts, do u have any extra fonts installed?

akadmon · Jan 31, 2008, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrill

You are one of the lucky ones! It seems like the problems only happen to some (but most) of the computers.

It definitely has something to do with the fonts, do u have any extra fonts installed?

Only those that came with Leopard.

dborja · Jan 31, 2008, 12:27 PM

Good tip! Thanks! I did notice the slow startup on the Macbook Air during the Macworld Expo. I'll make the changes when I finally get my upgrade.

cubbie5150 · Jan 31, 2008, 02:38 PM

Gonna try this when I get home...the ridiculously slow start-up times have left me longing for Office '04 running under Rosetta!! Just to be clear, I'll ask a dumb question: unchecking these two items only needs to be done via Word prefs, and it will also speed up Excel, etc.?

jbrill · Feb 1, 2008, 12:48 AM

as far as fonts go yes, u only need to uncheck it in word however i believe the "project gallery" must be unchecked in all of the programs.

It is the font's that slow it down the most though

6mt15 · Feb 1, 2008, 12:57 AM

Great tip!!! My Office apps start up in less than one bounce of the app icon!!!

Consultant · Feb 1, 2008, 09:00 AM

For those who have it working. Which OS version?

cubbie5150 · Feb 1, 2008, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrill

as far as fonts go yes, u only need to uncheck it in word however i believe the "project gallery" must be unchecked in all of the programs.

It is the font's that slow it down the most though

Huh... "project gallery" was NOT even checked by default for me, though fonts was... Gonna re-boot my MBP this weekend (for the first time in a couple weeks) & see if this fix survives a re-boot...(does that even make sense?)

steamtoy · Jun 17, 2008, 08:24 AM

Thanks

Very helpful

aristobrat · Jun 17, 2008, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrill

Here is how to fix it:

1. Launch word
2. Go to Word>Preferences
3. Click on "General"
4. uncheck "WYSIWYG font and style menus"
5. uncheck "Show Project Gallery At Startup"
6. Quit word
7. Reopen Word

My office programs now boot in 4 seconds or less and run smoothly.

Do they still load in 4 seconds the first time you launch them after a reboot (when they're not cached in memory)?

Using your workflow above, when you quit Word and then reopen it, Mac OS X still has it cached in memory, so it'll reopen extremely quick (as it doesn't have to pull data from the hard drive).

jspahn · Oct 20, 2008, 06:11 PM

dantheman325013 · Jan 3, 2009, 11:47 PM

Thanks man/gal that totally help shorten the time on booting up office 2004 suite... even though I stick to iWork 08' most of the time

.

SnowLeopard2008 · Jan 4, 2009, 01:06 AM

This is an old thread. Office 2008 isn't the fastest of all apps, but it's okay to me. I don't bust out Word for a simple essay or research paper. I use TextEdit for the quick note or Pages when I'm doing something to catch my teacher's eye.

01jamcon · Jan 4, 2009, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard2008

This is an old thread. Office 2008 isn't the fastest of all apps, but it's okay to me. I don't bust out Word for a simple essay or research paper. I use TextEdit for the quick note or Pages when I'm doing something to catch my teacher's eye.

So when the hell would you use Word then? Super-long essays? For me, essays ARE the cause for needing Word, cause Pages doesn't cut it for real writing, as opposed to fancy Pages-style documents.

Rewes · Feb 11, 2009, 07:54 AM

This was a cool tip, thanks!

benthewraith · Feb 11, 2009, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 01jamcon

So when the hell would you use Word then? Super-long essays? For me, essays ARE the cause for needing Word, cause Pages doesn't cut it for real writing, as opposed to fancy Pages-style documents.

I only use Word when I absolutely have to (and mostly, its to put things into .docx, because one of my teachers is incredibly anal about file format). Pages can do APA/MLA just fine for me.

GGJstudios · Feb 11, 2009, 08:13 AM

I don't have "Show Project Gallery At Startup" checked, but I do have "WYSIWYG font and style menus" checked, since I use that feature all the time. I can launch Word, Excel and Powerpoint simultaneously and all 3 open in 2-4 seconds.

sushi · Feb 11, 2009, 08:16 AM

Nice tip.

Works for Word 2004 on Tiger.

drlunanerd · Feb 11, 2009, 08:42 AM

Old tip based on an old build of 2008.
Folks saying it loads in sub 4 seconds aren't doing so from a cold boot unfortunately.

GGJstudios · Feb 11, 2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drlunanerd

Old tip based on an old build of 2008.
Folks saying it loads in sub 4 seconds aren't doing so from a cold boot unfortunately.

Yes, I am.

danvan21 · Feb 11, 2009, 09:39 AM

you are my hero

djpj · Oct 24, 2009, 02:52 AM

thanks word now opens in a flash how to fix excel&entourage

djpj · Oct 24, 2009, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrill

Hey,
I just posted this fix in another thread, but thought it deserved it's own.
Many of you have been having problems with very slow startup times with Office 2008.

My word/excel/powerpoint used to take about 1+ minutes to load.

It seems as though the office programs hang on startup due to 2 reasons.
The first being the auto start up of the project gallery and the second is the way it renders the preview of fonts(I use "Font Book" to preview my fonts anyhow.).

Here is how to fix it:

1. Launch word
2. Go to Word>Preferences
3. Click on "General"
4. uncheck "WYSIWYG font and style menus"
5. uncheck "Show Project Gallery At Startup"
6. Quit word
7. Reopen Word

My office programs now boot in 4 seconds or less and run smoothly.

Your Welcome

You can also view my blog for a more information http://bbold.com/blog/?p=7

thanks word now opens in a flash can you fix excel& entourage so they open has quick as word
cheers

Jan 31, 2008, 11:27 AM	#1
jbrill macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Vancouver	Office 2008 Slow Startup: SOLVED! Hey, I just posted this fix in another thread, but thought it deserved it's own. Many of you have been having problems with very slow startup times with Office 2008. My word/excel/powerpoint used to take about 1+ minutes to load. It seems as though the office programs hang on startup due to 2 reasons. The first being the auto start up of the project gallery and the second is the way it renders the preview of fonts(I use "Font Book" to preview my fonts anyhow.). Here is how to fix it: 1. Launch word 2. Go to Word>Preferences 3. Click on "General" 4. uncheck "WYSIWYG font and style menus" 5. uncheck "Show Project Gallery At Startup" 6. Quit word 7. Reopen Word My office programs now boot in 4 seconds or less and run smoothly. Your Welcome You can also view my blog for a more information http://bbold.com/blog/?p=7 Last edited by jbrill; Feb 1, 2008 at 11:52 AM.
	0

Jan 31, 2008, 02:38 PM	#6
cubbie5150 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Mar 2007	Gonna try this when I get home...the ridiculously slow start-up times have left me longing for Office '04 running under Rosetta!! Just to be clear, I'll ask a dumb question: unchecking these two items only needs to be done via Word prefs, and it will also speed up Excel, etc.? __________________ 15" rMBP \| 16GB DDR3-1600MHz RAM \| Quad Core i7-3720QM 2.6GHz \| 256GB SSD
	0

Feb 1, 2008, 12:57 AM	#8
6mt15 macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Kingston	Incredible!! Great tip!!! My Office apps start up in less than one bounce of the app icon!!! __________________ 2.2GHz SR MacBook 4GB RAM 120GB HD 5.5G iPod (Black)
	0

Oct 20, 2008, 06:11 PM	#13
jspahn macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2007	You're
	0

Jan 3, 2009, 11:47 PM	#14
dantheman325013 macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2009	Thanks JBril!! Thanks man/gal that totally help shorten the time on booting up office 2004 suite... even though I stick to iWork 08' most of the time .
	0

Jan 31, 2008, 11:47 AM	#3
jbrill Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Vancouver	You are one of the lucky ones! It seems like the problems only happen to some (but most) of the computers. It definitely has something to do with the fonts, do u have any extra fonts installed?
	0

Jan 31, 2008, 12:27 PM	#5
dborja macrumors 6502a Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Northern California	Good tip! Thanks! I did notice the slow startup on the Macbook Air during the Macworld Expo. I'll make the changes when I finally get my upgrade.
	0

Feb 1, 2008, 12:48 AM	#7
jbrill Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Vancouver	as far as fonts go yes, u only need to uncheck it in word however i believe the "project gallery" must be unchecked in all of the programs. It is the font's that slow it down the most though
	0

Feb 1, 2008, 09:00 AM	#9
Consultant macrumors G5 Join Date: Jun 2007	For those who have it working. Which OS version?
	0

Jun 17, 2008, 08:24 AM	#11
steamtoy macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2006	Thanks Very helpful
	0

Jan 4, 2009, 01:06 AM	#15
SnowLeopard2008 macrumors 603 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: California	This is an old thread. Office 2008 isn't the fastest of all apps, but it's okay to me. I don't bust out Word for a simple essay or research paper. I use TextEdit for the quick note or Pages when I'm doing something to catch my teacher's eye. __________________ YouTube \| Twitter MacBook Air \| iPhone 5 \| iPad mini \| iPad signed by Steve Wozniak
	0

Feb 11, 2009, 07:54 AM	#17
Rewes macrumors member Join Date: Apr 2005	This was a cool tip, thanks!
	0

Feb 11, 2009, 08:13 AM	#19
GGJstudios macrumors Westmere Join Date: May 2008	I don't have "Show Project Gallery At Startup" checked, but I do have "WYSIWYG font and style menus" checked, since I use that feature all the time. I can launch Word, Excel and Powerpoint simultaneously and all 3 open in 2-4 seconds.
	0

Feb 11, 2009, 08:16 AM	#20
sushi Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: キャンプスワンピー [Japan]	Nice tip. Works for Word 2004 on Tiger. __________________ You only live twice, once when you are born, and when you look death in the face. *Basho style poem from 007 YOLT.
	0

Feb 11, 2009, 08:42 AM	#21
drlunanerd macrumors 65816 Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: UK	Old tip based on an old build of 2008. Folks saying it loads in sub 4 seconds aren't doing so from a cold boot unfortunately.
	0

Feb 11, 2009, 09:39 AM	#23
danvan21 macrumors regular Join Date: Mar 2008	you are my hero __________________ refurb 2.4ghz Blackbook* - 2g ipod nano - 80g ipod Classic - 8g ipod touch * replaced by applecare with 2.4ghz Aluminum macbook.
	0

Oct 24, 2009, 02:52 AM	#24
djpj macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2009	excel still slow 08 thanks word now opens in a flash how to fix excel&entourage
	0

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