Microsoft Word is one of the most popular word processors and has been ever since its release. Microsoft has put in a lot of time and effort in its Office Suite to create some really well-polished software. However, just like everything else tech, these aren’t immune to a few bugs and glitches from to time. 

In this article, we’re going over how you can fix the ‘Word could not create the work file’ error.

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What causes Word could not create the work file error?

The error can be caused by installing incorrect versions of Office. For example, if you’ve installed 64-bit Office earlier, removed it and installed 32-bit Office on a 64-bit copy of Windows, there’s a good chance you’ll run into this error.

Another thing that can cause this issue is when the Temporary Internet Files folder for Internet Explorer is in a location where you don’t have permissions to create temporary files. 

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4 ways to fix Word could not create the work file

Here are a four fixes you can try out to resolve this error.

Turn off the Preview Pane

Step 1: Press Windows key + R to open the Run prompt. Type regedit and hit enter.

Step 2: Press Ctrl + F to bring up the Find dialogue box. Search for and delete the following registry entries. 

• Word Preview: HKCR\CLSID{84F66100-FF7C-4fb4-B0C0-02CD7FB668FE}
• PowerPoint Preview: HKCR\CLSID{65235197-874B-4A07-BDC5-E65EA825B718}
• Excel Preview: HKCR\CLSID{00020827-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}

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Create a new folder for Temporary Internet Files

Step 1: Open Windows Explorer and head over to the following directory.

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows

Step 2: Create a folder named INetCacheContent.Word.

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Manually create temporary folders for Office

Step 1: Press Windows Key + X and click on Command Prompt.

Step 2: Type the following commands one at a time, pressing enter after each command. 

cd /d %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache
md Content.Word
md Content.Outlook

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Check INetCache permissions

Step 1: Press Windows Key + X and click on Command Prompt.

Step 2: Type the following command to ensure that the INetCache folder has the appropriate permissions.

icals %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache

The permissions should match the default permissions for the folder. 

NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(OI)(CI)(F)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(OI)(CI)(F)
[Computer-name]\[username]:(I)(OI)(CI)(F)

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