Constant error makes Excel unusable

Question

I have been building a workbook to track our small business's data. It uses tables, charts, macros, and a myriad of functions. I've intentionally tried to keep it as simple as possible (it has only 7 sheets, and I'd like to add about 3 or 4 more). The file's size is 356KB. I do not have any external references or links. Some of the functions do reference other sheets within the workbook.

I'm about ready to wrap up my work on this project, but now whenever I go to enter a formula Excel quits and gives me the "Microsoft Excel has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience" error.

Here's what I get when I select "More Information"

Microsoft Error Reporting log version: 2.0

Error Signature:

Exception: EXC_BAD_ACCESS

Date/Time: 2014-02-17 19:31:14 +0000

Application Name: Microsoft Excel

Application Bundle ID: com.microsoft.Excel

Application Signature: XCEL

Application Version: 14.3.9.131030

Crashed Module Name: libobjc.A.dylib

Crashed Module Version: unknown

Crashed Module Offset: 0x000044a7

Blame Module Name: Microsoft Excel

Blame Module Version: 14.3.9.131030

Blame Module Offset: 0x000e47f5

Application LCID: 1033

Extra app info: Reg=en Loc=0x0409

Crashed thread: 0

I am running Mac OX 10.9.1. I have installed all of the Office updates. I even uninstalled MS Office per Microsoft's suggestion (pulling every single file from my computer), and reinstalled Office. That didn't help in the least. I store the file on Dropbox, but it will still give me this error if I pull the file off and store it on my desktop.

Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Checking the file in a new user account lets us know whether or not a bad preference file is to blame. Because the problem persists in a new user account, we can look at other possible causes.

Since you repaired disk permissions, you took care of ruling out another common source of trouble.

I see you have the 14.3.9 updat of Excel installed. When did the problem first occur? Right after updating to 14.3.9? Prior to updating to 14.3.9? I’m trying to figure out if the 14.3.9 update installation may have gone awry.

Answer 2

Thank you for the reply. I have done both of these steps on two different computers, and this file (and the file I worked on before it–a similar dashboard) still crashes. It seems to happen when a workbook has too many tables or internal references.

Answer 3

Check Excel in a new user profile:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2439218

You may also check Disk permission and check if its causing the problem:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979949