Equation Editor Causes Crashing Word 2013

Hi,

 

Before we proceed I would require some more information to assist you better.

 

1. Are you able to work with ‘Equation Editor’ in other Office 2013 applications?

 

2. Do you receive any error message?

 

Let us try the following steps and check if it helps in resolving the issue:

 

Step 1:

 

Download and install the compatibility pack for Office and then verify the results.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3

 

Step 2:

 

Repair the Office 2013 installation and check. For more information on the same, refer to the following link:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/project-help/repair-or-remove-office-HA010357402.aspx

 

Follow the steps and let us know if that helps. If the issue persists, reply and we will be happy to help you.

 

Thank you

Thank you for the speedy reply.

I have been able to use the equation editor in other applications, specifically I use it frequently with "Onenote" and have never had crashing problems there.  I occasionally use it in Powerpoint, but not frequently enough to notice problems.  I should mention that in these documents I use a lot of equations.  I am a physics student, so derive equations and use lengthy mathematical statements frequently.

Unfortunately, I get no error message.  When it goes bad, word simply freezes for a minute, then gets shaded white with the message that word has simply stopped responding, with the option to close or restart the program.  When I re-open it, it will mention that last time I opened this document that it caused a serious error, or sometimes it will offer to start in safe mode.  No specific error is ever cited, however.

I have had similar (not quite as frequent issues) with the equation editor in Word 2010.  I'd also like to emphasize that the equation editor is very useful for my work, just very frustrating when it causes crashes.

I tried to repair the program, but it doesn't appear to have solved the problem, as I am still having some crashes (perhaps the frequency is better now, but it would take some time to determine that).  I have word 2013 and am not importing any documents, so I am not sure why the compatibility package would help?  I also have similar problems on two computers with two separate installations, (although my desktop seems a bit more stable) which makes me think that it isn't an installation issue.

Thanks a lot for the help.
- Mark

I have the exact issue, perhaps some differences, but mostly the same issue. Did this ever get solved?  I posted my question here today:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-word/office-2013-home-and-student-equation-editor-bug/4852d93d-e09d-48a2-a57e-e0ef57ab7336?tm=1396442285168

I think it makes most sense to combine the questions into a single post on this question.

Unfortunately, I never found a solution, so I have in effect stopped using Word for this purpose (LaTeX) instead.  Although, if anyone were to find a solution, I would be happy to have it fixed.

A workaround for me right now is using word in safe mode.  (Ctrl+click on a word document to open word in safe mode. Then open the document you want to work on).

If you are using Windows 8.1, try installing the latest Windows Updates as of June 11, 2014 (very large about 500MB-650MB in download) and it includes several "fixes" to Word 2013. The Equation Editor is working much better now w/o crashes or locking up Word.

If you are using Windows 8.1, try installing the latest Windows Updates as of June 11, 2014 (very large about 500MB-650MB in download) and it includes several "fixes" to Word 2013. The Equation Editor is working much better now w/o crashes or locking up Word.

Try to uncheck the 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration' checkbox from File > Option >Advanced > Display. I had exactly the same problem and for me this solved it!!

I have the exact same issue. I also use Word with many equations due to my school .

I have Word 2013 on both my desktop and my laptop computer and I could reproduce the error on my desktop but not on my laptop.

The method for reproducing the error goes as such:

1. Open a blank word document

2. Write "Line" or any other small phrase

3. Start an equation mid-line (with no space between the equation field and the small phrase)

4. Write a space inside the equation field and then a number, like "4"

5. Press the right arrow key to go outside the equation field.

6. Now press backspace a few times until it deletes the equation field. It will crash when it attempts to delete it.

So what I wrote looked like this:

Line[ 4]

Where the brackets show the start and end points of the equation field.

What seems to be the problem is that when I press backspace to delete the space that I put inside the equation field, it doesn't delete the equation field despite there being no characters in it after I deleted the space. It simply has my text cursor inside the empty equation field. If I then press backspace again, it crashes. Funnily enough this doesn't happen if I put letters and not a number inside the equation field.

I tried looking into the difference in the settings of my two machines. It seems that having the "Keep track of formatting" option checked (Options>Advanced) fixes this particular kind of crash. When I have the "Keep track of formatting" option checked, instead of getting an empty equation field when I delete the space inside the equation field, it writes the familiar "Write the equation here."-message inside the equation field.

Examining it further it seems I can get it to crash even with the "Keep track on formatting" option checked if I add another space inside the equation field. It seems semi-random when Word puts the "Write the equation here."-message (good) or leaves the equation field empty (bad, results in crashing with another backspace).

If someone could tell Microsoft this information, maybe that would help them fix the issue.