Microsoft Word - zoom is stuck on 48%

On Microsoft Word 2016, my zoom is stuck on 48% percent and will not move from there. I see the zoom tabs in the bottom right hand corner, yet no response comes from clicking the plus or minus. It is too small to write comfortably. How can I fix this?

[Original title: Zoom]

Hi Annie,

This issue may have been caused by add-ins incompatibility. They can occasionally interfere or conflict with Word. This can also occur if Word is in use by another process. We'd like to know if you've made any changes prior to this issue. In the meantime, we suggest performing these steps to troubleshoot your Word issue:

  1. Boot Word in safe mode. Here's how: Press the Windows key + R key, type winword /safe, then click OK. If the issue does not occur in safe mode, disable the application add-ins and COM add-ins one at a time to check which add-in causes the issue.
  2. Download the Office Configuration Analyzer Tool (OffCAT). This tool generates a detailed report of your installed Office application.
  3. Repair your Office application. Repairing your Office application can resolve issues with Word not responding, hanging or freezing by automatically repairing errors in Office files.
  4. Check if your antivirus software is updated.
  5. Install Office updates. Installing optimal updates can help resolve issues by replacing outdated files.
  6. Uninstall and reinstall Office. To uninstall Office, click this link. To reinstall Office, please refer to the steps provided on this link.

Please post back with the result for further assistance.

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Click the View tab. If you see Side To Side selected in the Page Movement group, click Vertical (to turn off Side To Side). Then the zoom controls should be available again.
Stefan Blom
MS 365 Word MVP since 2005
Volunteer Moderator
MS 365, Win 11 Pro
~~~
Note that I do not work for Microsoft
https://mvp.microsoft.com/
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Please specify Word version & OS in your question

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Last updated April 20, 2025 Views 48,940 Applies to: