Unable to insert rows or copy and insert rows into all worksheets on my workbook.

Question

I have read through multiple threads and had no success with any recommended fixes. Problem- all of a sudden, I am unable to insert rows and or copy and insert a row on all worksheets within the workbook I use on a daily basis. I verified on another workbook that this problem existed in that file as well. No error message appears and no prompt of any kind is sent. The action circle cycles like normal, but the area of the screen that would be affected seems to blink but nothing happens. No new row appears. Also, in the undo list, that action does not appear indicating that the program did not in fact preform the action. Very confused and frustrated as this is an essential function to worksheets when adding into any data. Running latest version I assume through my 365 subscription. I use Excel every day and have for years and years, never experienced this before.
No Table involved, No Protection engaged, No formulas (on this worksheet) but some on various throughout the workbooks.
Hoping to get some constructive advice.

Thanks. SSJ

Answer 1

It sounds like you're experiencing a frustrating issue with inserting rows in Excel. Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try:

1. Disable Hardware Acceleration: Sometimes, hardware acceleration can cause issues with Excel. You can disable it by following these steps:
   • Start any Office program.
   • Go to the File tab and select Options.
   • In the Options dialog, select Advanced.
   • Check the box for Disable hardware graphics acceleration and click OK.
2. Repair Office: If disabling hardware acceleration doesn't work, you might want to repair your Office installation. Here’s how:
   • Open Control Panel.
   • Under Programs, click Uninstall a program.
   • Select Microsoft 365 and click Change.
   • Choose Online Repair and follow the prompts.
3. Check for Updates: Ensure that your Office applications are up to date. Sometimes, installing the latest updates can resolve unexpected issues.
4. Check for Add-ins: If you have any add-ins installed, they might be interfering with Excel's functionality. Try disabling them to see if that resolves the issue.
5. Test in Safe Mode: You can start Excel in Safe Mode to see if the issue persists. To do this, hold down the Ctrl key while starting Excel, and then try to insert rows again.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, you may want to consider reaching out to Microsoft Support for further assistance.

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References:

• "An error occurred when sending commands to the program" in Excel
• Troubleshoot Excel add-ins

Answer 2

Hi @SSJ Phx,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on your sharing, you suddenly cannot perform basic activities (insert rows, copy, etc.) and this issue affects all the files.

I suggest following this guideline to narrow down your issue step by step. You can skip any steps that you've tried before but not resolved the issue:

1- Delete Book.xltx in XLSTART folder

• Open File Explorer and navigate to this path C:\Users<YourUserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
• If you see Book.xltx or Sheet.xltx folder in there, delete it.
• Restart your computer and open Excel again to see if the issue persists

2- Run Excel in safe mode  

• Press Windows + R to open Run dialog box and type excel /safe > press OK to run.  

• If Excel opens normally, the problem is due to an add-in.   
• Then and go to File > Options > Add-ins > select Excel Add-ins > Go > uncheck all listed add-ins and click OK

• Restart Excel and check if the error is gone. Then re-enable the add-ins one by one and restarting Excel each time to find which one causing the error.  

3- Repair Office  

• Go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features. 

• Find Microsoft Office, right-click, and choose Change.  
• Select Quick Repair. If that doesn’t work, try Online Repair.  

4- Reset Excel default settings

• Press Windows + R and type regedit then OK 
• In the bar, paste this address to navigate to the correct path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Excel 
• Right-click the Excel key and press Delete. After that restart Excel to see if the issue persists. 

Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.    

Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. 

I look forward to your response.

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