How to fix excel error "Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLA action"?

Dear @Melissa Masindet, 

Good day! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum! 

Based on your description, I understand that you've noticed an unfamiliar charge from Microsoft on your credit card and are looking to speak with a customer service person to clarify it. 

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by this issue.

To understand the situation better and provide you with the most suitable support, could you confirm the following information: 

• Which version of Excel and Windows are you currently using?
• Have you recently installed any add-ins or third-party applications that interact with Excel?
• Does the error occur only when using Power Query, or also during other Excel tasks?

Your confirmation would be very helpful in ensuring you receive the most suitable support!

Regarding this situation, OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) is a Microsoft feature that lets Excel interact with other programs, like Word or databases. The error means Excel is waiting for another application to finish its task before continuing.

In the meantime, kindly try the following suggestions to check what might have caused the issue:

• “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)”
  • Go to File > Options > Advanced > Scroll down to General
  • Ensure the checkbox for “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)” is checked
  • 
  • Click OK and restart Excel
• Close unnecessary applications
  • If other programs (e.g., Outlook, Word) are running and interacting with Excel, close them temporarily and retry
• Disable Add-ins
  • Navigate to File > Options > Add-ins
  • At the bottom, select COM Add-ins and click Go
  • Uncheck all add-ins and restart Excel
  • If the issue resolves, re-enable add-ins one by one to identify the culprit
• Update Excel and Windows
  • Ensure you have the latest updates installed for both Excel and your operating system
• Repair Office Installation
  • Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features
  • Select Microsoft Office, click Change, and choose Repair

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

Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

Kindly let me know when there are updates or if you need further assistance. Any updates you’re able to share would be really helpful. I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing how things are going! 

Thank you for your time and patience.

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