I can't get Excel started

Question

I am unable to open Microsoft 365 Excel. The screen pops up and shows at the bottom of the window "Starting Microsoft Excel", but will never open the program.

I've tried the repair function (both options), I've tried to uninstall and reinstall Microsoft 365 several times and it's still not working.

I've disabled all add in's (while in safe mode, since I can't open the program).

I don't have any issues opening any other Microsoft 365 applications.

File location is:

• C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE

I also have the following files in the below file location:

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\ClientX64
• IntegratedOffice.exe
• OfficeClickToRun.exe

I also have the following files in the below file location:

All these folders were updated on the same day.

Can someone please help me?

Answer 1

Hello Theresa,

Thank you for reaching out about the issue with Excel not starting. I completely understand how frustrating it can be when an essential tool like Excel won’t open especially after you’ve already tried several fixes.

You’ve taken important steps such as repairing, reinstalling and disabling add-ins which shows you’ve been very thorough. It’s understandable that this situation is inconvenient especially since other Office applications are working fine.

This problem often happens because of corrupted installation files, conflicts with add-ins or issues with hardware acceleration. Since you’ve already tried repairs and removed add-ins the next steps would be to make sure your Office apps and Windows are fully updated. You can also try disabling hardware graphics acceleration by opening any other Office app, going to File, then Options, then Advanced and selecting Disable hardware graphics acceleration. If updates and settings don’t resolve the issue performing an Online Repair instead of Quick Repair can help because it’s more thorough and replaces damaged files.

If the problem still persists you can use Microsoft’s official uninstall tool to completely remove Office before reinstalling. You can find it here at Microsoft SaRA Office Uninstall Tool: https://aka.ms/SaRA-OfficeUninstallFromPC

Could you confirm if Excel opens in Safe Mode using excel.exe /safe?

I hope this answer is helpful if you have further questions feel free to reply back

Regards,

Marcelo