If you are experiencing the “Word found unreadable content in document” error message when opening a document in Microsoft Word, this post will help you. As reported by some users, they keep getting this error message while opening certain document files in Word. Here is the full error message that you get:
Word found unreadable content in <document-name>. Do you want to recover the contents of this document? If you trust the source of this document, click Yes.
This error message basically indicates that there is some corrupted content in the input document. Now, if you are facing this error, follow the below-mentioned fixes to resolve it.
Word found unreadable content in document
If you see the Word found unreadable content in document error message when opening a document in Microsoft Word, you can use the below solutions to fix the issue:
- Try the Open and Repair tool.
- Use the Recover Text from Any File feature.
- Repair the Word document using a third-party application.
1] Try the Open and Repair tool
The error is likely to be caused if your document contains certain corrupted content. So, the first thing you should do is use the Open and Repair tool to fix the corrupted content in your Word document. It is a built-in tool in Microsoft Word that allows you to repair your documents. You can use it while opening the document. Here’s how:
- Firstly, go to the File menu and click on the Open option.
- Next, press the Browse button and select the document with which you are facing this error.
- Now, tap on the small down arrow icon present inside the Open button.
- After that, choose the Open and Repair option from the appeared options.
The document will be repaired and opened in Microsoft Word now. But, if the error still pops up, you can use the next potential fix.
Read: Word cannot complete the save due to a file permission error.
2] Use the Recover Text from Any File feature
Microsoft Word comes with a function called Recover Text from Any File. This feature basically lets you recover text from a Word document that might be corrupted. So, you can use this feature to recover text content from the problematic Word file. But, do note that this feature won’t recover document formatting, media elements, drawings, and other content that are present in the document. But, plain text with field text, headers, footers, footnotes, and endnotes are preserved.
Here are the instructions to use the Recover Text from Any File feature in Microsoft Word:
- Firstly, open Microsoft Word and click on the File > Open option.
- Now, press the Browse button and locate & choose the problematic document.
- After that, click on the arrow button associated with the All Word Documents drop-down menu.
- Next, from the appeared drop-down options, select the Recover Text from Any File option.
- Finally, press the Open button and wait until the document is opened.
The text from the corrupted document will be recovered and opened in Word. You can now edit it accordingly and save it as a new document file.
See: Word experienced an error trying to open the file.
3] Repair the Word document using a third-party application
If the above solutions don’t help, you can use third-party software to repair the corrupted Word document. There are software like S2 Recovery Tools and Repair My Word that allow you to fix a damaged Word file without any hassle.
Besides that, you can also use this free online tool called Recovery Toolbox. It lets you repair damaged Word documents in a web browser. You don’t have to install an application on your system to use it. Just open its website, browse and select the problematic Word file, enter your email address, and press the Next Step button. The file will be repaired and sent to your email address.
How do I fix Word problems with content error?
If you are experiencing the “There are problems with the contents” error or a similar error message while trying to open a document in Word, the file might be corrupted. So, you can try repairing your document using Word’s Open and Repair tool. Or, you can try opening the same document in Google Docs or Word Online.
Why is my Microsoft Word document displaying a strange unreadable text?
If you are seeing gibberish or strange text in your Word document, it might be the case that the used font is not installed on your system or is incompatible. Apart from that, the said Word document might be corrupted which is why it is displaying weird unreadable text.
Now read: Word cannot save or create this file – Normal.dotm Error.
