[Solved]: Excel Opening in Protected View Stuck (6 Quick Solutions)

While working with a large Microsoft Excel dataset, sometimes we can not open the protected files. This is a common scenario in MS Excel. Today, from our dataset, we will learn the reasons and six solutions for Excel opening in protected view stuck effectively with appropriate illustrations.

Reasons Behind Excel Gets Stuck on Opening in Protected View

This appears to be a problem with the DisplayLink drivers in many circumstances. If you’re using a DisplayLink adapter to operate an external monitor, you could run into this problem. Excel will generally hang on the Opening in Protected View screen if your DisplayLink adapter is plugged in. If the adapter is disconnected, Excel will frequently display the error Microsoft Excel (Protected View) has ceased operating. DisplayLink is aware of the problem, according to this support post, and is working on a driver upgrade.

Excel Opening in Protected View Stuck: 6 Quick Solutions

Let’s say, we have a dataset that contains information about several students of the Cantonment College. The names of the students, their Identification Number, and their securing CGPA are given in columns B, C, and D respectively. From our dataset, we notice that we can not open the protected file due to some cases. We will fix those reasons by using keyboard shortcuts, Advanced command, Add-in Command, and so on. Here’s an overview of the dataset for today’s task.

1. Keep MS Excel in Safe Mode

Running Excel in safe mode is the next option for resolving the Excel stuck on an opening in the protected view problem. Let’s follow the instructions below to keep MS Excel in a safe mood!

Steps:

• First of all, press Windows + R simultaneously.
• As a result, a window named Run will appear in front of you.
• Hence, type exe /safe in the typing box named Open.
• After that, simply press the OK option, and you will be able to fix for opening in the protected view stuck problem.

2. Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

We will fix the problem by unchecking the Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration option. This is an easy task and time-saving also. Let’s follow the instructions below to fix the problem!

Step 1:

• First, press on the File ribbon.

• After clicking on the File ribbon, a new window pops up. From that window, go to,

More → Options

Step 2:

• After pressing on the Options menu, a dialog box named Excel Options will appear in front of you. From that dialog box, firstly, select the Advanced Secondly, under the Display section check the Disable hardware graphics acceleration option. At last, press the OK option, and you will be able to solve the problem.

3. Use Add-ins Command

In this method, we will use the Add-ins command to solve the stuck problem to open in the protected view of the Excel file. Let’s follow the instructions below to solve the stuck problem to open in the protected view!

Step 1:

• First, press on the File ribbon.

• After clicking on the File ribbon, a new window pops up. From that window, go to, More → Options

Step 2:

• After pressing on the Options menu, a dialog box named Excel Options will appear in front of you. From that dialog box, firstly, select the Add-ins Secondly, under the Manage drop-down box select the COM Add-ins option. At last, press the Go option.

• Hence, an Add-ins dialog box will appear in front of you. From that dialog box, check the Solver Add-in option under the Add-ins available: At last, press the OK option, and you will be able to solve the problem.

Read More: [Solved]: Excel Protected View Office Has Detected a Problem with This File

4. Repair MS Excel Application

This is a working method that has assisted many users in resolving the issue. Many undiscovered Excel troubles are caused by the installation of the MS Excel program. Excel program failure is caused by registry settings corruption, buggy updates, and incorrect user “Preferences”. Let’s follow the steps to repair the MS Excel application to solve the problem!

Steps:

• First, start the Control Panel, then choose the Program and Features After that, firstly, select Microsoft 365 en-us. Secondly, select Change.

• Hence, choose the Quick Repair After that, press the Repair option and you will be able to fix the problem.

Read More: Cannot Edit Excel File in Protected View

5. Disable Protected View

Now, we will Disable Protected View to fix the error. Let’s follow the instructions below!

Steps:

• First, select the File Hence, go to, Options → Trust center

• After that, select Protected View. Hence, uncheck the following options:

1. Enable Protected View for files originating from the Internet.
2. Enable Protected View for files located in potentially unsafe locations.
3. The third option lets you Enable Protected View for Outlook attachments.

• At last, press the OK
• After completing the above process, you will be able to solve the problem.

Read More: How to Remove Protected View in Excel

6. Use Advanced Command

Last but not least, we will use the Advanced command to solve the problem. This is an easy task and time-saving also. Let’s follow the instructions below to fix the problem!

Step 1:

• First, press on the File ribbon.

• After clicking on the File ribbon, a new window pops up. From that window, go to, More → Options

Step 2:

• After pressing on the Options menu, a dialog box named Excel Options will appear in front of you. From that dialog box, firstly, select Advanced. Secondly, under the General section check the Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) option. At last, press the OK option, and you will be able to solve the problem.

Things to Remember

👉 We can apply the keyboard key Esc to fix for opening in the protected view stuck problem in Excel.

👉 Simply restarting MS Excel will fix the stuck-on opening in protected view errors. Closing and restarting Windows will also force Excel to reconnect again.

👉 If you use a lot of volatile formulas in your Excel spreadsheet, such as the RAND or RANDBETWEEN functions, Excel will become stuck in calculating mode.

Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article.

Conclusion

I hope all of the suitable solutions mentioned above to fix a stuck-on opening in protected view errors will now provoke you to apply them in your Excel spreadsheets with more productivity. You are most welcome to feel free to comment if you have any questions or queries.

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• [Fixed] Excel Cannot Open in Protected View

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