Unable to open embedded word files in excel - 'cannot start the source application for this file' error message

Updated to windows 11 start of the year (unable to roll back) - all excel documents that have 1 or more word documents in them cannot be opened- 'cannot start the source application for this file'.

=EMBED("Document","" is in the formula box.

these word documents are not saved anywhere else, so i need to be able to access them.

Office version is home and business 2016

i can see similar questions online, but nothing i have tried so far has made a difference - any ideas?

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Emi Zhang-MSFT 24,521 Reputation points • Microsoft Vendor 2023-01-30T09:52:35.66+00:00

Hi @Patrick Poore , I have not heard back from you in a few days and wanted to check on the status of the problem. If you have any questions with the previous information I've provided, please don't hesitate to let me know. I am glad to be of assistance. If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it. Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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Emi Zhang-MSFT 24,521 Reputation points • Microsoft Vendor 2023-01-19T08:09:47.63+00:00
  1. Please go to Control Panel.
  2. Click Default Programs, and then click Set your default programs.
  3. Under Settings- Default apps, select Set default by app.
  4. Click Word, and then reset file associations one by one.

If your issue still exists after resetting file associations, please try to repair Office:

Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.