Can't save a Word doc to pdf without stalling out Office

File | Save As in Word should definitely work. Is the document very large?

As an alternative, you can try installing one of those freeware PDF converters that install as printer drivers with Windows (CutePDF is just one example) and see if printing to PDF works better. 

Why would I need to install freeware and why are you on the Microsoft community help forum directing to use other products? Either the Office works as a pdf save or it doesn't and if it no longer supports that file type then it ought to say so.

Anyone know why this happens? Word went directly into version of and seriously affected a deadline and productivity schedule. Never had this happen before.

Stefan, who is not a Microsoft employee did NOT direct you to use another product.  He merely suggested a possible way of avoiding the problem, which is most likely caused by some corruption of the particular document that you are trying to save as a pdf file, though it could also be caused by one of the other factors that can cause problems with the proper operation of Word 2013.

I would suggest that an immediate work around to your problem could be to do as Stefan suggests and try using CutePDF or PrimoPDF to "print" the document to a pdf file.

A lot of problems with Office 2013 are caused by third party (non-Microsoft) applications.  This is my (expanding) list of things to try when Office 2013\365 won’t start or crashes: See the Article “Why can’t I start my Office 2013 application at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/why-cant-i-start-my-office-2013-application-HA104011864.aspx For the error message Error: "Microsoft Office cannot verify the license for this product." See:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2797062/en-us
Refer to the following website for information on repairing Office 2013\365:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/repair-or-remove-office-2010-HA010357402.aspx
See Office 2013 install woes - http://office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=1834
See the KnowledgeBase article “Office 2013 applications crash on launch at the splash screen” at:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2813143
Or see the KnowledgeBase article Error: “Something went wrong and we can't sign you in right now” when trying to install Office 2013 at:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2811180/en-us/
Try to run word in safe mode by typing winword/safe. If thatdoes not helpthen, in the search box type winword --> Word 2013 will be displayed --> right click on it --> Select Properties --> Go to the compatibility tab --> Check to see if there is a check mark next to compatibilty mode. If it is checked then uncheck it and then uncheck the option of Run as Administrator if its checked. Now run the word Also see my response in
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-word/microsoft-word-2013-has-stopped-working/67b81016-849f-481a-bce5-bf04797ac03b
Do you have Abbyy Finereader installed on the PC? A number of people have reported that removing it overcomes problems with 2013.  See:

Office programs may crash with the FineReader add-in installed at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2755838

Do you have “Fun Tools” add-in? A number of people have reported that removing it overcomes problems with 2013

Do you have Toshiba Book Reader installed on the PC?  It has been reported that uninstalling that brings Office back to working status.

Do you have the Acrobat PDFMaker add-in.  It has been reported that uninstalling that overcomes an issue with a message appearing that states "The document contains macros. Macro support for this application is disabled. Features requiring VBA are not available. Would you like to open this document as a read only?"

Also see: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-word/microsoft-word-has-stopped-working-when-i-close/8375b5b6-4f7e-46ed-a02b-90152ecad287#LastReplyand

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_home-word/word-and-excel-2013-crashing-on-windows-7/5389390c-e989-4c8e-8fe0-62673f1410ce?page=4#LastReply

It appears that there may be some hardware incompatibilities as well.  If you have the NVIDIA driver NVWGF2UM.DLL, try renaming it as: NVWGF2UM.oldas was mentioned in:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-word/microsoft-word-has-stopped-working-when-i-close/8375b5b6-4f7e-46ed-a02b-90152ecad287#LastReply
From the File tab, select Options and then click on Advanced and then in the Display section of the dialog, check the box for Disable hardware graphics acceleration

For the error message "There was a problem sending the command to the program", use Windows Explorer to access the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15 folder and right click on WINWORD.EXE then on Properties, go to the Compatibility tab and uncheck all the boxes.  It has also been reported that the problem can be overcome by editing the registry at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.Document.12\shell\Open and deleting the ddeexec key.

The ddeexec can also be deleted from

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Word.DocumentMacroEnabled.12\shell\Open.

That fix is described at ...

http://www.dilloway.co.uk/there-was-a-problem-sending-the-command.html It has been reported that uninstalling FastPictureView and FastPictureViewer Pro… overcomes the issue of the Minimize, Maximize, Close and Help buttons not being visible in Office 2013.

If you have a Canon 8350 printer, try using the Canon MF8000 UFRI LT XPS driver as detail in the post by Riad Amstha on April 14 in the thread at:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_365hp-word/office-2013-crashes-with-canon-8350-printer/e2bf6530-92e0-47ef-b6ec-e803a91793d0?page=3#LastReply

For the problem of nothing appearing when you start typing in a blank document in Word in Office 365 Home Premium, and you hear a bell sound with each keypress, but no characters appear, disable the SMARTInk add-in for an interactive whiteboard.

If none of that helps, then you might remove all traces of the Office installation by downloading the fixit from the following article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501 saving it to your computer and then running it.

Then reinstall Office by logging into www.office.com/myaccountwith your registered email address and click Install Office.

Dissatisfied with both answers above. 

"which is most likely caused by some corruption of the particular document that you are trying to save as a pdf  file, though it could also be caused by one of the other factors that can cause problems with the proper operation of Word 2013' 

Firstly, Microsoft is unable to fix its own problems as it says it will do by inserting itself into the 'so called' corruption.  What I was doing was saving a one page invoice as I have done for years on my external drive when I discovered an editing mistake.  Office assumes I cannot tamper with my own document and write protects it, takes ownership of it, encrypts it with backdoor authentications unbeknownst to me a simple ungeeky user who doesn't have a mission to start a work around with a manual of answers.

I just want to save a word document.

Fix it.

Change it.

Spit it out in the format it says I can save it in.

Simple.

Show me the help files within your product to unlock the encryption overlay under settings where I don't get the problem again.

Your chat people told me I needed virus protection

I don't.

And a warranty for support.

I don't.

Sorry, I won't be doing any of the above.

If you think addressing a simple singular document save should and could be fixed by a non technician like your average run of the mill Office user who does 3 invoices a month then your seriously overthinking the importance of Microsoft's role in my life.

I'd expect a real fix by a technician dedicated to this job who can take over my machine virtually and repair the problem in 5 minutes. Audible.com does it. It's called customer service. 

Secondly, and more importantly, I want to delete all the encryption of 'versions' that Office does for no benefit to me causing time suck and unnecessary complication to my work flow.  If you know your product well enough then direct me to the page in the manual showing same. Not to third party 'possibly conflicting' macros. 

Please remember, "Office Not Responding" is the only error I got when it went dormant over and over.

This is a user to user group and not Microsoft support.

So, they directed me to community for answers.

Go to this menu bar.   and choose options.  You should be directed to all the check off points that enable and disable items. I am finding the defaults impede my ease of use of the product. Tell me which ones to tick off for the simplest, least intrusive constant saving etc. of docs. you'd recommend given my level of ability and time.

This is the location for customization. Right? Next here is the advanced tab. 

To finish with my query from the above 2 screenshots.

I simply want to edit a document without having Office freeze with a non responsive when accessing again.  Historically it was possible. Now, the product is overladen with complexity I don't need or want. 

Answers?