"Microsoft Word Web Content" High CPU Usage

[Saint_Blaise]

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing high CPU usage when using Microsoft Word. The entry appears as fa000000125.resources.office.net in Activity Monitor. It ends when I restart Word but eventually reappears.

 

[bogdanw]

If enabled, try to disable "optional connected experience" in Word Preferences - Privacy

 

[Saint_Blaise]

Thanks I'll give it a try.

 

[Smile73]

Had the same issue, tried as suggested and now the CPU hungry process is tamed (or at least I can't see it anymore under the top 3 in activity monitor).

Thanks bogdanw

 

[Saint_Blaise]

Unfortunately, disabling that didn't prevent it from returning.

 

[Smile73]

Unfortunately I have to confirm this (looked good the first time). Not only did the fans spin up but the process consumed 40GB of memory (memory stress went red for the obvious reason).

 

[bogdanw]

There are some other values that can be disabled from Terminal:

defaults write com.microsoft.office DiagnosticDataTypePreference ZeroDiagnosticData 
defaults write com.microsoft.office ConnectedOfficeExperiencesPreference -boolean false 
defaults write com.microsoft.office OfficeExperiencesAnalyzingContentPreference -boolean false
defaults write com.microsoft.office OfficeExperiencesDownloadingContentPreference -boolean false
defaults write com.microsoft.office SendAllTelemetryEnabled -boolean false

"Use preferences to manage privacy controls for Office for Mac"
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-apps/privacy/mac-privacy-preferences

 

[brandonio]

I was experiencing the same issue on my work computer (M4 Air 15"). I disabled the optional connected experience, and Memory usage dropped significantly.

Thank you!

 

[Saint_Blaise]

Word was updated today. Hopefully the issue has been fixed.

 

[bogdanw]

Word version 16.106 (Build 26020821) was released on 10 February 2026 with "Quality and performance improvements."
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/release-notes-office-for-mac
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac

Update package https://officecdn.microsoft.com/pr/...te/Microsoft_Word_16.106.26020821_Updater.pkg

 

[zmahshie]

Yes, same problem. Latest version is 16.106.1 (26021521) (as of Feb 18) and that didn't fix it. Killing the process in Activity Monitor doesn't work - it just respawns. Restarting Word fixes it for a while. M4 Air 24GB.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

It didn't occur for me on Friday even though I used Word as normal. I wonder just what triggers it.