Are you facing Excel is not responding error? In the post, I’ll offer some fixes to this issue that includes all the possible manual as well as automated methods. These methods are applicable to all the versions of Microsoft Excel including Excel 2016, 2010 and 2007.
Excel is the basic and the most needed tool offered by Tech giant Microsoft. It is used at various business organizations. All the complex and simple mathematical tasks from averages to finding profit/loss are performed on MS Excel. It is used for several operations such as Data graphics, forecasting, charts etc. using which critical business decisions are taken. But, sometimes, due to an error, all these activities get hindered. This error message is displayed as –
So, let’s discuss this Excel is not responding error and the various manual approaches to troubleshooting it.
Approaches to fix “Microsoft Excel is not responding” error
A user can go through these solutions which have been explained below to get rid of Microsoft Excel is not responding in Excel 2016 and other versions.
Run the Excel in Safe Mode
Using these two ways, you can run the Excel in safe mode.
- Press the Windows + R button. A command prompt will be opened. Type the excel.exe/safe in the prompt and hit Enter.
- Under the Start menu, choose the Run option.
Running the Excel in safe mode is helpful when the Excel file is corrupted due to another program or an ad-in. But, it can be used temporarily. It is not a permanent solution as we can’t run the Excel in safe mode always.
Change the Default Printer
Whenever you open the Excel file in spreadsheet mode, it tries to communicate with the default printer. By doing this, the margins that the printer supports are discovered. Excel crashes if the communication is not complete or the connection has not been established. At this time, the easiest solution is to change the default printer. It can be done by:
- Open the Control Panel ⇒ Devices ⇒ Printers.
- Now, right click on it and set the Microsoft XPS Document Writer as the default printer.
- After doing this, just open the Excel and another required file again to check whether the problem has been resolved or not.
Install the Latest Updates
All the Office and Windows latest updates should be installed immediately. It can be done simply by allowing automatically the Windows to install any updates. Follow the below path for doing this:
- Open the Control Panel ⇒ System and Security.
- Select the Automatically Install any Updates for Windows option.
Issues that occur due to the installation can be fixed using this method.
Disable the Add-ins to avoid Excel File Not Responding Issue
Add-ins can be the reason behind the Microsoft Excel is not responding error in Excel 2016. Start removing the add-ins one by one to know which add-in was faulty. You can follow the below steps to remove the add-ins.
- First, open the Excel in Safe Mode.
- Now, navigate through the path File ⇒ Options ⇒ Add-ins.
- All the Add-ins will be displayed. Disable them one by one and check in between this process that the file can be opened or not.
- Start with the recently added Add-in to disable and proceed to check if the file is opening or not.
Using this method, you’ll be able to disable unwanted Add-ins installed on your system as well as fix the Microsoft Excel is not responding error while opening the Excel file.
Repair MS Office
Repairing the MS Office is also one of the resolutions to fix the issue. Go through these steps:
- Navigate to the Control Panel ⇒ Programs and Features ⇒ Microsoft Office ⇒ Change.
- A window will pop up providing the option to repair Office automatically. Just click on it to start and once it completes, check if the Excel error has been fixed or not.
Uninstall and Reinstall the Office
Search for an easy Fix tool program on the official site of Microsoft. It will help you to uninstall and reinstall the MS Office.
Disable Anti-virus Software
Sometimes, Anti-Virus programs create hindrance in the functioning of Excel. So, in that scenario, it is advised to disable the Anti-Virus and check if this error has been resolved.
Using an automated method
When the above manual methods are not able to fix the Microsoft Excel is not responding error, it is recommended to employ a third-party professional software. By using an Excel Recovery software, you can easily repair the corrupted Excel files and successfully restore the entire data contained in the Excel file. Once the corruption in the Excel file gets fixed, you’ll not report Microsoft Excel is not responding error further.
Final Words
In the article, I have discussed the issues caused by the above Excel error in Excel 2016, 2010 and 2007. Also, the various solutions to fix this error has been explained. Just go through them.
