Not enough memory to run Microsoft Excel. Please close other applications and try again.

Question

When I try to open some excel files I get an error.

I press ok and this message pops up 2 more times.

The files in question open fine when using Excel Online. They also open fine on my other computer. I have over 8GB of free memory when getting this error.

I have tried using quick fix, the longer fix, and reinstalling office. None of which did anything.

Answer 1

Try following (one by one and check the result after that step) -

1. Update your office as well as Windows 10 to latest patches from Microsoft site. Microsoft keeping releasing Office and Windows 10 patches to correct known errors.
2. Perform Quick Repair of the office installation - https://support.office.com/en-NZ/Article/Repair-an-Office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b
3. Please look into C:\Users\User_Name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel (replace user name with your user name, you can directly reach here by copy and pasting following without quotes in Explorer address bar - "%appdata%\Microsoft\Excel") and see if is contains few files / folders. Move those files to some other location (i.e create a backup of those files / folders and delete all files / folders from here). Hence, make Excel folder blank.

Now open the file and see if the problem disappears or not. 

Note - to find Excel path, you need to find XLSTART path. Excel folder contains XLSTART folder in itself (In case, your XLSTART path is not in Appdata)

1. Open Excel
2. ALT+F11
3. If Immediate Window is not visible, type CTRL+G. Same can be also be accessed through View > Immediate Window
4. Type "? application.StartupPath" without quotes and press enter
5. You will have your path below.
6. You may login to Windows with a new user profile and see if it helps.
7. Review following link - https://community.office365.com/en-us/w/manage/office-365-and-windows-10-problems-and-solutions
8. Turn off Hey Cortana and reboot your computer (useful particularly if Excel performance is slow).
9. Sometimes, this is caused due to excel not being able to access the default printer. Close all office applications and change your default printer through Start > Devices and Printers to another printer. It may be some physical one or One Note or XPS or PDF or anything else. If this is the problem, then you will need to update your printer driver for default printer. 

Also upgrade all your Printer Drivers to latest from the internet.

8. Many third party applications also cause the problem like Tuneup Utilities, Abby Finereader, Kaspersky Anti Virus  etc. See if you have any of them installed. Close them one by one and see whether it helps.
9. Sometimes, add-ins can cause problems. To determine, if add-in is a problem start Excel in safe mode and see if problem has gone away. If yes, then start Excel normally and disable add-ins one by one and start Excel again every time you disable an add-in to determine the culprit add-in.

To start Excel in Safe Mode -

Hold CTRL key and click on Excel icon

OR

In the Search Box above Windows icon, type "Excel /s" without quotes and enter.

10. Issues in Protected View

File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Protected View > Uncheck all options

File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > File Block Settings > Uncheck all options

(For reference, You may review the following thread - http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office\_2013\_release-excel/cannot-open-some-office-files-after-upgrading-from/c103ee49-2e87-4421-ad96-f433ec77ec54)

11. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15, look for EXCEL.EXE

Right Click on this, Properties, In Compatibility tab, check ""Run this Program as an Administrator""

Start the Excel. You might again get the error. Close Excel and uncheck "Run this Program as an Administrator" and start Excel again. You should not get the error anymore.

(If folder path is not correct, you will have to find EXCEL.EXE manually, like Program Files (x86) may be Program Files. Or you can even search for EXCEL.EXE in your C: drive

12. File > Options > Advanced - In General section (go very much down in Advanced), check "Ignore Other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)". Close and re-start the Excel. Uncheck "Ignore Other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)". Close and re-start Excel again. You should not get the error anymore. (Basically, DDE should remain unchecked)
13. You may try to disable the Hardware Graphic Acceleration and verify the result:

    Open Excel.

    Click on file, Options.

    Go to the Advanced tab.

    Under the Display section, check the box for 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration'.

    Click ok and restart Excel.

14. If above don't solve your problem, re-installation of office may (and may not also) solve your problem. Remove MS Office completely by downloading Fixit tool and from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501 and running it. Make sure that you have license keys ready before you attempt re-installation. If you don't have license keys, please do not attemp re-installation. You can also install MS Office by logging into www.office.com/myaccount if you have registered your copy.