When you open a large 2010 word document in word 2013, it can yield an error of type:

We're sorry. We can't open XXXXX.docx because we found a problem with its contents.

Details:
Operation aborted: max-element-depth constraint violated.
Location: Part: /word/webSettings.xml, Line: YYY, Column: ZZZZ

To fix this error, you have to rename the .docx to a zip file, delete the file Websettings.xml and then rename back to a docx. 

• Changed type Tony Chen CHNMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Monday, September 23, 2013 6:08 PM solution sharing
• Edited by Tony Chen CHNMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Monday, September 23, 2013 6:09 PM solution sharing

Hi

Thank you for sharing your workaround about this problem, other partners who read the forums regularly can learn from your interaction with us.

Thanks

Tylor Wang
TechNet Community Support

Hi. I can't find the file Websettings.xml anywhere, and neither can I find the folder word. Any help please?

After you have added .zip to the end of the name of your word document, you can right click, open it with 7zip or any other archive software. You should see Websettings.xml in the list - select it and press delete. Close the window and delete the .zip from the name of your document. 

For me it worked also without adding .zip. Simply right click and 7zip will give you an option to open archive where you will see the Websettings.xml

To fix this error, you have to rename the .docx to a zip file, delete the file Websettings.xml and then rename back to a docx. 

I've been having the same error and this solution worked for me. It seems to be linked to documents built using Mendeley's reference plugin for Word. This issue is mentioned on their support site (here) and that may be why the issue comes up with dissertations &c. The fix is easy and it works, but I would suggest you do the fix using a copy of your document. That way if anything goes wrong you still have the original.

ok i had that problem and tried your method and aint' working in some cases,but you can try to open the same doc using office 2010 in a different computer and save the doc to older version of the  e.g save type as word 97-2003 Document then you can open it using office 2013 and it will work perfectly...