Microsoft Excel is by far the most broadly used form tool by enterprises or individuals for calculation, charting, graphing data, etc. Though Excel needs to operate smoothly for keeping the data safe, the application doesn’t always function smoothly. In this article, you will learn 8 handy solutions to Excel not responding when opening a file or Excel hanging or freezing when you open it. The solutions can be applied for Excel of Office 365, Excel 2019/2016/2013/2010/2007.
What Cause Excel Not Responding?
Excel not responding when opening a file mainly occurs due to the following reasons:
- When your Excel program is not the latest updated.
- When your Excel Program is currently being used by another process.
- The add-ins are hindering your Excel application to function smoothly.
- Confliction of antivirus software with your current Excel application.
- Confliction of other apps with your Excel app.
How to Fix Excel Not Responding Issue When Opening File: 8 Handy Solutions
1. Open Excel in Safe Mode
To fix Microsoft Excel not responding, you can try to open your program in safe mode. Just follow the steps below.
📌 Steps:
- Press the Windows + R button at the same time. It will open the run dialog box.
- Type excel.exe /safe in the Run window, and click on OK.
- Now, try to open the Excel program again, if the application runs normally, then save the data to another excel file.
Note:
Keep a space before the slash sign (/). For example, excel.exe /safe.
Read More: Fix Excel Not Responding and Save Your Work
2. Install Latest Updates
Sometimes the Not Responding issue occurs when you skip installing the latest Windows and Microsoft Office Updates. Just follow the steps below to install the latest updates.
📌 Steps:
- Type the control panel at the Search bar to open the Control Panel.
- Click on the System and Security.
- Click on Start maintenance under the Automatic Maintenance section.
3. Investigate Possible Issues with Add-Ins
Add-ins can increase your experience, but they can hinder or conflict with MS Excel. You can run Excel without any add-ins to check whether the issues are resolved.
Follow the steps below to do this.
📌 Steps:
- Firstly, open the Excel file in Safe Mode.
- If the Not Responding problem still doesn’t go away, go to the File tab.
- Then click on Options > Add-ins.
- Select COM Add-ins and click on Go.
- Now, unmark all the checkboxes, and finally click on OK.
- At this point, close and restart the Excel application.
4. Check Antivirus Software on PC
Excel not responding to an issue can be the clash between Excel and your installed anti-virus software.
Here are 2 things you can do:
First, check whether your antivirus software is up-to-date or not. If not, just download and install the last versions or updates on your computer.
Second, if you see there is a conflict between your Excel application and your antivirus software, then disable the antivirus software add-ins that are previously installed in MS Excel.
Disabling the antivirus may risk your computer as it is now without protection. You need to take the risk by yourself.
Read More: How to Fix Excel Not Responding Without Closing
5. Try to Change Default Printer
This technique seems irrelevant, however, it is not. When we open an Excel file, it tries to communicate with connected printers for checking compatible margins. For this reason, it is advised to change the default printer to fix not responding.
Follow the steps below to change the default printer.
📌 Steps:
- Go to the control panel and click on Printer and Devices.
- To set the Printer to default, right-click on the Microsoft XPS Document Writer. Now try again to run the Excel application to check the issue.
6. Uninstall and Reinstall Excel
Sometimes by uninstalling and installing again MS Excel, you can fix the not responding issue. To do this, just follow the steps below.
📌 Steps:
- Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
- Find the MS office and right-click on it, then click on Uninstall.
- Now, download a new fresh copy and install the program again.
7. Repair Microsoft Office
This method is a very common solution to several problems related to various applications. To apply this, follow the steps below.
📌 Steps:
- Type Control Panel at the Search bar to open the Control Panel.
- In the Control Panel window, click on the Program and Features.
- At the Program and Features window, search for the Microsoft Office and right-click on it, then click on Repair.
8. Perform a Clean Boot
When you start windows, several programs and applications run automatically in the background. These programs and applications can conflict with your MS Excel file and can occur Not Responding issue. You can perform a clean boot that may identify issues with conflicting programs.
Follow the steps below to perform a clean boot on your computer.
📌 Steps:
- First, type MSConfig in the search bar > click on Run as Administrator to open the System Configuration Utility. A System Configuration window will pop up.
- Under the General tab, click on Selective startup > Make sure to tick mark at Load System Services and Use Original boot configuration box. Finally, click on OK.
- Now under the Services tab, check the tick mark at Hide All Microsoft Services box. And click on Disable all. Finally, click Apply/OK and restart the computer. Now your computer is into a clean boot state. This may fix the Not Responding issue.
Read More: [Fixed!] Excel Keeps Crashing When Opening File
Conclusion
In this tutorial, I have discussed 8 handy solutions to Excel not responding when opening files. I hope you found this article helpful. Please, drop comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.
