Excel Desktop Will Not Open Excel Online File

Question

Hi,

For the second time now within two weeks, I have lost Excel desktop access to an online file that resided in a SharePoint site. I can open any other file with my desktop app without any issues. This seems to happen after, having the file that resides on the SharePoint site open in desktop app, Excel crashes and shuts down. I literally had it open minutes ago and can't access it anymore. 

Let's call this Excel online file that resides within a SharePoint site "FileX". "FileX" used to work correctly - I could access "FileX" from the online version of it (open in desktop app option), from the folder where it resides and by choosing to open in app, and from Excel desktop app itself. Currently, whenever I try to open "FileX" in desktop app using any method, Excel - without an error message or anything - crashes and closes.

What I've tried:

1. Trying to open the file using all of the methods possible to access an online file using the full functionality of Excel desktop version.
2. Opening Excel desktop in safe mode and trying to open the file.
3. Opening other files before I try to open "FileX"; All Excel windows crash when trying to open "FileX" in desktop version and Excel closes.
4. Repairing Office.
5. Completely removing Office and reinstalling.
6. Waiting a couple of days and trying again.

Findings:

1. I think it has something to do with a local version of that file trying to sync with the online one and saving the changes that I had before it originally crashed and never opened again.
2. Other individuals can open "FileX" in desktop.
3. The file does download and you can create a copy, which will effectively work as intended and you can successfully open using desktop app even if you save it back to a SharePoint site.
4. If I use another computer to open "FileX" in desktop version (using my login information), it will successfully open.

The real issue stemming from this situation is this file is shared with several people (10-20 people). These individuals use this file to log in metrics/financials on a weekly and monthly basis. This file is also being Power Queried by another file to collect data... And all/most of the background work going into maintaining these files is me. AND I LOST ACCESS TO IT. 

I assume you can feel my frustration from this post. PLEASE HELP! I don't know what to do or who else to ask.

Thanks,

Fabian

Answer 1

Hi Gloria,

I definitely didn't expect such a prompt response! Kudos to you and Microsoft!

Good news: I found the error and fixed it.

I think what's happening is sometimes, if Excel desktop app crashes with an online document being open, a conflict is created between a newer version of that online file (maybe because someone else modified it online) and the file that Excel cached and has in queue to upload. So I went into Microsoft Office Upload Center and canceled/deleted any files in queue for upload or save.

That seemed to have taken care of the issue, and I could open in Excel desktop the file that lives in the Sharepoint site. :)

Regardless, I almost had an aneurysm when this happened (two times). It would be good to either prevent that from happening through a patch or fix, or letting your community know how to handle this type of situations - especially because in this case Excel desktop app just crashes and shuts down without any error message whatsoever.

Thanks for the fast response!

Answer 2

Hi FabianGutierrezM，

Thanks for posting your issue in our community. Per your description, it seems that you cannot open an Excel file from SharePoint site to desktop app and Excel will crash and shut down, but you can open any files in the desktop app. I notice that you won’t get any error message now and you’ve also tried many steps like safe mode, online repair and so on. (If this does not meet your scenario, please let us know more details.)

Given your situation, I test it on my side, when I open an Excel shared file in SharePoint site, it can be opened in app. It seems that the issue happens with your own computer as you mention when you are using another computer it opens in app successfully. May I confirm you mean signing in your account and it opens in app with another computer? Besides, may I confirm are you using the uninstall support tool to completely uninstall Office?

For your reference:Uninstall Office from a PC (Option 2)

In addition, I will suggest you try using a new user profile to see if it works at your end.

See Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10

If the issue still persists, could you please provide the information as below?

1. Since you lost the access to the file, may I know you get any error or prompt? If so, please capture the screenshot of it.
2. Whether all files or this specific one has the problem? Please check a new file and see the result.

Any updates are welcomed to post back.

Best regards,

Gloria

Answer 3

Hi FabianGutierrezM,

Sorry to bother you again. Regarding to your Excel desktop will not open Excel Online File issue, we appreciate your effort to share the solution with us, so I would like to add a summary of this problem which may help other users have a try these suggestions and see the result.

Problem description:

Cannot open an Excel file from a SharePoint site to desktop app.

Problem environment:

Microsoft 365 Apps or Office 365 Business      

Suggestions:

For the users who encounters the similar issue can try what FabianGutierrezM has tried as below (please notice this file is shared with several people):

1.Run an Online Repair to see if it helps resolve the issue.

2.Open Excel inSafe Mode which to help in identifying an add-in or extension that may be causing a problem on startup.

3. Completely removing Office and reinstalling.
4. Waiting a couple of days and trying again. 
5. Finally this was resolved by accessingMicrosoft Office Upload Centerand canceled/deleted any files in queue for upload or save.            

And we also hope this can benefit others, thanks again for your kindness and share this method here. If you have other issues in the future, please feel free to post a new thread, we’ll try our best to help you.

Please stay safe and take care of yourself!   

Regards,

Gloria