I ran into an interesting issue recently where Word would not open. It would get to the splash screen and not proceed from there. I went through the usual troubleshooting option, such as an Office repair, starting Word in safe mode, diagnostic mode etc etc. Nothing worked.

It turns out the problem was related to a corrupted printer driver. A quick way to test if you are experiencing the same problem is to stop the print spooler service. With the print spooler service stopped Word opened straight away.

For me the resolution was to remove all printers and associated drivers and then add them back one by one. After this Word would open without fault.