Microsoft Word Becomes Unresponsive on MacBook

If you are experiencing issues when using Microsoft Word in that it's performance becomes very poor after about 30 minutes of use, please read the guidance below. It's caused by a fault in an update to Word version 16.85 as part of Office 365.

  • Use an alternative word processor, such as Pages (this is a Word-like program provided by Apple for Mac users) and then convert their work to a PDF file during the 15-minute upload window at the end of the exam. The PDF version of their work should then be uploaded to Moodle. To convert a Pages document to PDF, students should go to ‘File’, ‘Export to’ and then select ‘PDF’, they will then need to choose a picture quality (we recommend ‘Best’) and then save and name the file. Students should practice this conversion before the exam so that they know exactly what to do during the upload window. Another similar option is to use GoogleDocs and again convert this to PDF before upload.
  • Attempt to uninstall the upgrade – students may wish to try this but unfortunately this is not something Exam Operations can provide technical assistance with.
  • Students have the option to handwrite their work and then upload images of their answers either using a scanning facility or photographs taken on their mobile phone. Guidance on scanning of handwritten scripts and practice upload areas can be found here: Course: Handwritten and other Assessments: practice course | Moodle (cam.ac.uk)
  • Students could try accessing Word through Microsoft 365 in a web browser using their raven credentials. It’s possible that this might circumvent the issue.
  • Where the above options are not suitable, students should seek an alternative device from the College IT Department or a shared/public device in a College or Faculty Library.



Please note, the Exam Operations Team has limited loan devices, and these are all set up for use by students taking Inspera examinations and cannot be loaned to students using Moodle.


If you have any questions, please do let us know. You are welcome to come to the Computer Office on the second floor of the Faculty, S7. We are hopeful that Apple/Microsoft might shortly release an update that fixes the reported issues but as mentioned above, unfortunately we are not privy to any information about this.