Excel Grey Screen

Question

Hello,

I am having issues with Excel opening. I have followed some instructions online such as enabling DDE, running in safe mode etc to no avail. 

The only way I am actually able to open an excel document while the screen is grey is to complete the following. 

File > Open > Recent documents > Select file I want to open and then it works. 

Otherwise any document I save to my desktop does not open on initial prompt. Grey screen every time. 

Periodically the files will open if I restart the cpu and they will open on the first attempt. If I close however and try to open again I also receive the grey screen. With the amount of issues out there for this scenario I am surprised their isn't a patch or an update to resolve these widespread issues..

Answer 1

Hi Alisa,

Thank you for reaching out. I'm Adie, an Independent Advisor and a Microsoft user like you. I'll be happy to help you out.

I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. If possible, could you please share with us the screenshot of the issue?

In the meantime, you may try these steps and let's see if the issue will be fixed.

1. In Excel, go to File > Options (or just press ALT+F, T to open the Excel Options dialog box) > select 'Advanced'.
2. Under Display, check the box for ‘Disable hardware graphics acceleration’.
3. Click OK.

If the issue persists, try to perform an Online repair of your Office application. The Repair function scans your Office program and replaces any damaged or corrupted files it finds.

To do this, please follow the steps:

1. Right-click on Start, then select Apps and Feature.
2. Scroll down to find Microsoft Office.
3. Select that and choose Modify.
4. Select Online Repair.
5. Once the process is completed, you may need to restart your computer.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Best regards,

Adie

Answer 2

Hi Adie,

I have tried your Disable hardware graphics method and still same issue. Here is my screenshot. I will try your second suggestion next.

Answer 3

Hi Alisa,

Thanks for providing the screenshot. In case the Online repair did not work, I also suggest to check your View Tab > in Window group > select Unhide. You should see the list of hidden excel files. Select the file you want to unhide and click OK.

Kind regards,

Adie

Answer 4

Hi Adie, 

The window group is greyed out as well as the ribbon. Unable to access any of those menus. 

I tried the online repair and it removed all of my office programs. I will redownload and see if this works.

Answer 5

The online repair appears to have worked upon the reinstallation of the apps. Thank you for your help with the matter.