Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows
A family of Microsoft spreadsheet software with tools for analyzing, charting, and communicating data.
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Hello,
Do you have the same issue when using Excel on Web?
Excel not responding
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ANN YOUNGS
0
Reputation points
Excel not responding. I can open an excel file but when I try to use any of the options from the dropdown menus, eg page layout, view, etc, whatever I choose to do freezes and I then receive a message "Excel not responding" and I have to close the program.
I have tried to uninstall and reinstall office 365 but this has not helped. I have have checked add on but can't see that there are any.
I would really appreciate your help.
Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows
3 answers
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Harold Milan 17,505 Reputation points Independent Advisor2026-01-15T16:19:39.1766667+00:00 Hi,
Try opening Task Manager and check if the browser or heavy application taking so much RAM. these might cause the freezing. Then if no heavy application running we can go deeper and I’ll be happy to share some steps that might help resolve the issue.
Feel free to reply anytime I'm here to help!
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AI answer
2026-01-15T15:33:35.17+00:00 If Excel is not responding when you try to use options from the dropdown menus, there are several troubleshooting steps you can take:
- Disable Hardware Acceleration: Sometimes, hardware acceleration can cause issues with Excel. To disable it:
- Open any Office program (like Word or Excel).
- Go to File > Options > Advanced.
- Check the box for Disable hardware graphics acceleration and click OK.
- Repair Office: Since you've already tried reinstalling Office, you might want to try an online repair:
- Close all Office apps.
- Open Settings on Windows.
- Go to Apps > Installed apps.
- Find Microsoft 365 (or Office) in the list, click the three dots next to it, and select Modify.
- Choose Online Repair and confirm. This process can take 15-30 minutes.
- Check for Add-ins: Even though you mentioned not seeing any add-ons, it might be worth checking again. Disable any add-ins to see if that resolves the issue:
- Go to File > Options > Add-Ins.
- In the Manage dropdown, select COM Add-Ins and click Go.
- Uncheck any add-ins and restart Excel.
- Clean Boot: Performing a clean boot can help identify if background programs are interfering with Excel. You can find instructions on how to do this on the Microsoft support site.
- Update Excel: Ensure that your version of Excel is up to date. Sometimes, updates can resolve bugs and improve performance.
If these steps do not resolve the issue, consider contacting Microsoft Support for further assistance.
References:
AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information. - Disable Hardware Acceleration: Sometimes, hardware acceleration can cause issues with Excel. To disable it: