Excel stopping input.

Question

Hi,

I am having a problem with Excel for Mac where it randomly stops allowing me to input data.

Say I am entering data in a row, and I am pressing a number then right to move to the next cell, suddenly it will stop accepting input but will still recognise my right key. I then have to click in the cell where it stopped accepting data, and then restart inputting and it works again.

It seems to happen the most when I reach the end of what's visible on the screen, and Excel has to scroll the page along to keep up - it will keep scrolling along with my right key but stops accepting my text input.

It is really frustrating as most of my work at the moment is data input, and I keep looking at my screen only to find out I haven't been typing for the past 5 minutes.

I am not using a trackpad and I'm not changing window focus or accidentally clicking somewhere else, and I am using the latest version of Excel for Mac (15.36, 170702) on Sierra 10.12.5. This has only been happening since the latest update to Excel. 

Is there anything I can do to stop this happening? 

Thanks,

Tom

Answer 1

Hi Tom,

Thanks for your update.

I would like to suggest you follow steps in this article to uninstall Office 2016 for Mac and reinstall it to check if the issue occurs.

If it persists, please record a video about how you encounter the issue, and we will further investigate it. To protect your privacy, I have sent you a private message for the information, you can access it via this link: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/privatemessages/list

Regards,

Yoga

Answer 2

Hi Tom,

Have you checked the above?

Regards,

Yoga

Answer 3

Hi Yoga,

Thank you for your suggestions. 

Both Office and my OS are up to date. I have tried uchecking the suggested box but to no avail - I also don't use tab and I'm sure I'm not accidentally hitting it. 

I have only found this issue occurring with Excel - I use Word regularly and haven't noticed an issue. I don't use PowerPoint frequently but I haven't noticed any problems. It has happened on both new and existing workbooks. 

Tom

Answer 4

Hi Tom,

Based on your description, you cannot input data randomly in Excel 2016 for Mac. I would like to suggest you check the following:

    1. Close all workbooks, quit the Excel application and restart your mac.

    2. Go to System preference> Keyboard> Shortcuts and uncheck the box Change the way Tab moves focus.

     

Besides, could you please provide the information below?

    1. Does the issue occur to all workbooks, including new created workbooks and existing workbooks?

    2. Does the issue occur to other Office applications, such as Word or PowerPoint?

Regards,

Yoga