cannot insert object in excel

Question

Hello,

So i am using office 365, and working with serveral excel files. I had to embed some other excel files into the main one. However when I tried to do that, I clicked insert object then create from file. After selecting the file, instead of the icon of the excel object that supposed to be appearing on the screen, a screenshot of it came out.

When I tried to delete the screenshot and tried to insert the object again, a dialog box came out that says "cannot insert object"

Also I tried to use the insert object then package but no avails.

Anyone knows how to fix this?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for querying in this forum.

From your description, it seems that you cannot insert Excel file as object into the main file.

May I know if my understanding is right? If so, for the situation you encountered, we do understand the inconvenience caused and apologize for it. And we have also tested it on our side and we inserted object in Excel and it works fine, we cannot reproduce the same situation as yours, as shown below:

Given this situation, to better understand your situation and narrow down this issue, could you provide the information below?

1. Could you provide the product information and version of your Excel? You can go to Excel > File > Account and provide the screenshot of it.
2. May I know if all files have the same problem? You can create two new files to check if the same problem will occur.
3. Could you provide the screenshots of screenshot and error message you encountered?

Your understanding and patience will be highly appreciated. I hope that you are keeping safe and well!

Best Regards,

Sukie

Answer 2

Hi Sukie

Thank you for your fast response, regarding to your queries raised,

1. I am using is Microsoft 365 apps for enterprise ver 2102 (Build 13801.21092), semi annual enterprise channel.
2. When I tried to create 2 excel files and embed one in the other, he same issue came out, however I realised I could click into the screenshot and it enters into the embedded document.
3. Here are 2 screenshots, the first one being when I try to insert the object for the first time, and second is the error message that came out when I try to embed for the second time (boxes are inserted due to confidentiality):

Best Regards

Jan

Answer 3

Hello

We have tried to reproduce the test with Excel version 2102 (Build 13801.21092) but unfortunately, we couldn’t recreate the issue.

Here are few suggestions that might be a source in case you receive “Cannot insert object.” error.

Microsoft Excel protection features will lock the worksheet cells or workbook documents for preserving up its content. Open the Review tab and make sure that Protect Sheet and Protect Workbook are unchecked.

Further, to troubleshoot if the issue is related to the add-ins or extensions you may need to run Excel in safe mode and check if the error message remains. Please refer to this article to find more details about running Office in safe mode Open Office apps in safe mode on a Windows PC (microsoft.com)

You may also need to repair and Office application. Click this link to find more information Repair an Office application (microsoft.com)

Please try these methods and let us know if any changes applied.

Best Regards,

Igor

Answer 4

Hi Igor

Understood and thank you for your inputs. After doing trial and error, I had found out that the problem mainly relates to Excel not being able to display as an icon as shown on the bottom right corner of Sukie's post (neither the name of the file can be shown). Just wanted to know are there any other methods to resolve this besides safe mode and repairing?

Best Regards

Jan

Answer 5

Hello

Thank you for posting back to us.

Answering your question, as for now we aren’t able to say what is causing the issue so to find the source of the problem we may ask you to perform the certain actions. So in this case running Excel in safe mode will help us to find out if it is add-ins interference in the process. As well as repairing the Office application might fix a plenty of problems without the need to reinstall the Office. And generally, repair Office will reset all settings in the Office. That’s why we suggest you try opening Excel in safe mode and repairing.

If you have tried the suggestions above and same problem still persists, suggest clean boot and new user profile. For your reference How to perform a clean boot in Windows (microsoft.com)  Create a local user or administrator account in Windows (microsoft.com)

We highly appreciate your understanding.

Regards,

Igor