Searching for reference file msword.olb

When the A2013 user opened your database, at least one library reference was updated to a later version of the library, and has not been successfully downgraded.  As a first attempt to fix the problem, open the database while holding down the Shift key (to suppress any startup code), press Alt+F11 to open the VB Editor environment, then click Tools -> References ... to open the References dialog.  All active references will be at the top of the list.  First look for any reference marked MISSING and, if possible, uncheck it; then look down the list for the appropriate version of that reference.  Note that Access may not allow you to un-check it some references, which can force a more complicated fixup process if they are broken. 

Also look for references that are set to a later version of Office or Access than are installed on your machine (they should be MISSING as well, I think) and try to uncheck them and add the correct reference from the list.

If this doesn't work, then I'll have to search my files and probably online for the more complicated fixup procedure, which involves changing the registry.

Hi Dirk,

Thanks very much for providing this solution, it worked for me in the case of an Access 2010 database being opened within Office 2013 and when switching back to a computer with Office 2010, I followed your recommendations to remove references to MSWord Objects 2015 and checked the ones for 2010 and it worked just fine.

Thanks again!