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MS Office 2011 very slow in Lion

arkmannj

arkmannj

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 1, 2003
1,767
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Has anyone else noticed MS Office 2011 MAc running extremely slow in Lion?
It's bad enough that I can actually run Office 2010 in Windows 7 through VM Ware Fusion better than I can Office 2011 Mac! Ran fine in Snow Leopard though.


Mac Book Pro 3,1 (2.4Ghz 4GB RAM, 500GB 5400 RPM)
 
I haven't tried office yet, but everything else felt slightly sluggish after the install. I'm hoping it's in my head, and perhaps a shut down will help..

Running 2010 i3 iMac btw
 
arkmannj said:
Has anyone else noticed MS Office 2011 MAc running extremely slow in Lion?
It's bad enough that I can actually run Office 2010 in Windows 7 through VM Ware Fusion better than I can Office 2011 Mac! Ran fine in Snow Leopard though.


Mac Book Pro 3,1 (2.4Ghz 4GB RAM, 500GB 5400 RPM)
Click to expand...

yes i just tested it then and it is running much slower. i have same computer as you i think
 
arkmannj said:
Has anyone else noticed MS Office 2011 MAc running extremely slow in Lion?
It's bad enough that I can actually run Office 2010 in Windows 7 through VM Ware Fusion better than I can Office 2011 Mac! Ran fine in Snow Leopard though.


Mac Book Pro 3,1 (2.4Ghz 4GB RAM, 500GB 5400 RPM)
Click to expand...

I agree. Office runs much slower than it is under Snow Leopard. Opening other application is a little sluggish too, compared to the speed under snow leopard. I can definitely feel a difference for most applications, even applications from apple. Start up time is also longer under Lion. I run Lion on a Macbook Pro with i7 2.0GHz, 8GB RAM and SSD.
 
While in the applications and actually typing it doesn't seem to be running any slower for me, but there is definite lag when quitting, saving and even opening and letting it fully load.. I've been wanting to switch to iWork since I got my iPad so everything is the same.. This might be where I do the switch..
 
I thought it was just me.

Office 2011 is struggling to perform in Lion. I'm having issues with word files containing images. The window freezes and lags, especially when trying to move it. The load time for Office programs has increased also.

I don't know that this is due to versions. As far as I know, Office isn't yet compatible with this feature. I did try out the reopen all windows after restart feature (or something like that). Office wasn't having it.

Hopefully MS releases a patch of some sort to smooth out issues with its software, and to create compatibility with Lion's new features. It's too early to consider Office 2011 a completed product.
 
Mlrollin91 said:
While in the applications and actually typing it doesn't seem to be running any slower for me, but there is definite lag when quitting, saving and even opening and letting it fully load.. I've been wanting to switch to iWork since I got my iPad so everything is the same.. This might be where I do the switch..
Click to expand...


Although I have Office 2011, I used Lion and the upgraded full screen, versions and coming iCloud as an excuse to buy Pages and Numbers for my MBP and ipad. I gave up on Outlook a while ago and only use Word/Excel/PPT when I need to be sure the outside world can read/edit my document.

I will say, opening all applications under Lion seems slower. Before, opening most any application resulted in half to the most one bounce on the dock, now any application bounces two or more times. Not sure why.
 
iWork not good enough.

Mlrollin91 said:
While in the applications and actually typing it doesn't seem to be running any slower for me, but there is definite lag when quitting, saving and even opening and letting it fully load.. I've been wanting to switch to iWork since I got my iPad so everything is the same.. This might be where I do the switch..
Click to expand...

I like iWork don't get me wrong, but it is nowhere near as good as office (with the exeption of keynote, which I'd head and shoulders above PowerPoint). Word is a much better app that pages. The doctionaries are better by far, the notebook style is absent from pages, and I haven't found a way to create one, or use someone else's. The is no visual basic for workflow in pages, no way of end noting for bibliiolgraphy creation, a must for undergraduate study. I don't use spreadsheets these days, but I am reliably informed that numbers is even less in comparrison to excel that pages is to word....

It's a pity that Apple don't spend time creating powerful, un dumbed down productivity apps to rival the likes of Office, because I like many would drop Office like a stone if iWork was better...

As it is I use both suits, for different things.... I am alarmed to read that office is running slow on Lion...... I, for the first time in 3 iterations OS X am going to delay upgrading.

I went into my local Apple reseller to look at lion, to be honest it doesn't look that diffent.... I actually prefer the way spaces (which I use all the time) works under snow leopard... I usually have a pane of 4 desktops.. One for office, another for Internet and email, another for system stuff and a fourth for research texts.
 
:(

Well, in a way I feel bad that it is something affecting more people than just me; but at least I know I'm not just going crazy...


To clarify my performance issues a bit better (now with more experience)
it is a bit more sluggish and startup/shutdown but that's not really what got my attention. What really got my attention was how slow performance within Word and Excel can get. Especially Word. It seems that anything with Tables, images, math formulas or compatibility mode (.doc files) gets exponentially worse. (I use a lot of formulas, images, and tables) I can type a whole sentence or two before it will finish displaying the first word.

I can watch in activity Monitor as Word starts consuming more and More processor and increases in Real Memory. Within a minute my fan will kick on like a jet engine. after quitting Word or even closing all working documents in Word then everything goes back to more "normal" levels.

Anyhow, hopefully we'll be seeing OS 10.7.1 soon and a service pack for Office. I have no doubt that it is the fault of both companies and neither company (if that makes sense) but I'm hoping both with jump all over it. I'm really not kidding when I say I can run Office 2010 with Windows 7 VM in Fusion faster than I can run MS Word 2011 Mac... crazy.

As a side note, When microsoft does release a Lion compatibility update to bring full screen editing, versions, etc... I hope they keep the "save as" option.
 
Out of all the things that I've been reading about Lion, this is the thing that keeps me from upgrading. I love using Office, and I can't have it sluggish as my working life depends on this app.

I hope MS come out with a fix soon.

Is there a way to turn off Resume?
 
I've got a 2011 13" MBP 2.3 i5/1tb@5400/8GB and MS office '11 works great for me, opening up documents is still fast. I just tried with the largest document I have.. A 118 page thesis that has pictures embedded, and it opened up without a hitch.

Also, to turn off Resume go to System preferences > General and untick "restore windows when quitting and reopening apps"
 
Did you delete duplicate fonts installed by Office 2011?

See Font Management for help:
http://www.officeformachelp.com/office/font-management/

Remove these files:

1) Quit all Microsoft applications.

2) Track down all instances of pre-2011 Normal template on your computer, and drag them to your desktop.

  • Office X: The Normal file is located in the "Templates" folder in your "Microsoft Office" folder.
  • Office Word 2004 moves the Normal Template to live in the Microsoft User Data folder by default.
3) Find and drag the file Normal.dotm to your desktop. Unless you have moved it, it should be in

~ /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/

4) Drag the entire Microsoft folder to Desktop from User/Library/Preferences/

5) Now re-start Word 2011 and it should be OK.

Lastly, testing in a new User will quickly tell you if the problem is system wide or if it's your User's folder that contains the problem.

CREATE A NEW USER

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.

Open Word. The first time will be slow as it builds cache files. Then see if there is an improvement on launch time.
 
Last edited:
Very bad news indeed. I was looking to upgrade to 2011 and enjoy all the cool new features like full screen and versions.

As a side note, I am using MS 2008 and there are absolutely no issues whatsoever. Fast and snappy.
 
dianeoforegon said:
Did you delete duplicate fonts installed by Office 2011?

See Font Management for help:
http://www.officeformachelp.com/office/font-management/

Remove these files:

1) Quit all Microsoft applications.

2) Track down all instances of pre-2011 Normal template on your computer, and drag them to your desktop.

  • Office X: The Normal file is located in the "Templates" folder in your "Microsoft Office" folder.
  • Office Word 2004 moves the Normal Template to live in the Microsoft User Data folder by default.
3) Find and drag the file Normal.dotm to your desktop. Unless you have moved it, it should be in

~ /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/

4) Drag the entire Microsoft folder to Desktop from User/Library/Preferences/

5) Now re-start Word 2011 and it should be OK.

Lastly, testing in a new User will quickly tell you if the problem is system wide or if it's your User's folder that contains the problem.

CREATE A NEW USER

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.

Open Word. The first time will be slow as it builds cache files. Then see if there is an improvement on launch time.
Click to expand...

This fixed Office 2011 for me. Blazingly fast now!
 
Slow down

I'm with you. Office is getting unusable under Lion. I'm waiting around reading blogs like this while I wait for my mail to send or a Word document to open.
 
arkmannj said:
Has anyone else noticed MS Office 2011 MAc running extremely slow in Lion?
It's bad enough that I can actually run Office 2010 in Windows 7 through VM Ware Fusion better than I can Office 2011 Mac! Ran fine in Snow Leopard though.


Mac Book Pro 3,1 (2.4Ghz 4GB RAM, 500GB 5400 RPM)
Click to expand...

Not to digress but what does 3,1 mean? What will mine be classified as?
 
MacBookPro8,1 - it refers generally to the model of the computer.

I installed office 2011 right before Lion, and it hasn't struck me as being particularly slow. I wonder how widespread the issue is.
 
i have MBA and office 11 works beautifully
i opens instantly
it is the fastest responding office i have ever used
:D
 
Thanks, dianeoforegon for 7-31-11 post. Suggestions worked!

Greatly appreciate your specific instructions. Word 2011 now opens almost instantly and keyboard lags are gone. Thanks for your expertise!

dianeoforegon said:
Did you delete duplicate fonts installed by Office 2011?

See Font Management for help:
http://www.officeformachelp.com/office/font-management/

Remove these files:

1) Quit all Microsoft applications.

2) Track down all instances of pre-2011 Normal template on your computer, and drag them to your desktop.

  • Office X: The Normal file is located in the "Templates" folder in your "Microsoft Office" folder.
  • Office Word 2004 moves the Normal Template to live in the Microsoft User Data folder by default.
3) Find and drag the file Normal.dotm to your desktop. Unless you have moved it, it should be in

~ /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/

4) Drag the entire Microsoft folder to Desktop from User/Library/Preferences/

5) Now re-start Word 2011 and it should be OK.

Lastly, testing in a new User will quickly tell you if the problem is system wide or if it's your User's folder that contains the problem.

CREATE A NEW USER

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.

Open Word. The first time will be slow as it builds cache files. Then see if there is an improvement on launch time.
Click to expand...
 
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