Delete & Backspace keys are not working in Excel

Question

I was having this problem. Really annoying the delete and backspace button stopped working. I thought it was a virus. I searched up Delete & Backspace keys are not working in Excel (Desktop Version) and the advise was to start up in safe mode... but before i did that i found the issue. I checked on another speadsheet and delete was working fine. Back in the 'malfunctioning' speadsheet i adjusted with the column width of the non-performing column and realised the cell i was editing was empty, but the column on the left overflowed on to the that column. That column was perfectly sized to make it look like the last word was within it.

So i was tring to delete an empty cell. So just expand the width of the column to the left. That might be the issue.

See below, Cleaning is the third word in column D but appears the first and only word in column E !!

Answer 1

Hi Graham,

Please ensure your Microsoft 365 apps are fully updated, sometimes updating Office fixes issues. To check version information, open any Office app, such as Excel or Word, click File>Account, check for the info mentioned under Product Information. 

If the version is not updated, please install updates and check if the issue remains. To know how to install updates, follow the below link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/install-office-updates-2ab296f3-7f03-43a2-8e50-46de917611c5

Try opening Excel in safe mode, insert some content in multiple cells and then select the cells and press the Delete key to confirm if the content is cleared or not. 

To know how to run the Excel app in safe mode, Please follow the below link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/open-office-apps-in-safe-mode-on-a-windows-pc-dedf944a-5f4b-4afb-a453-528af4f7ac72

Thanks, 

Suyash Thomson

Answer 2

You obviously did not read my full message. :-(