Receiving a excel has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly

Question

everytime i open a systems report through excel i receive a error that is preventing it from working correctly. excel will need to be closed as a result. would you like us to repair now?

hitting repair now causes excel to close. in past hitting repair now has resulted in excel to continue operating

Answer 1

If you are receiving an error stating that "Excel has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly" when trying to open a systems report, it may indicate that there is a problem with the Excel application or the specific file you are trying to open. Here are some steps you can take to resolve this issue:

1. Repair Office: Since hitting "repair now" causes Excel to close, you might want to try repairing Office through the Control Panel instead. Here’s how:
   • Open the Control Panel.
   • Click on Uninstall a program under Programs.
   • Select Microsoft 365 and then click Change.
   • Choose Online Repair and follow the prompts.
   • Restart your computer after the repair process is completed.
2. Check for Multiple Instances: Ensure that there are no multiple instances of Excel running. You can check this by opening Task Manager and looking for any additional Excel processes. Close them and try opening the report again.
3. Open in Safe Mode: Start Excel in Safe Mode to see if the issue persists. You can do this by holding down the Ctrl key while launching Excel, or by typing excel /s in the Run dialog (press Windows + R to open it).
4. Remove Excel Preferences: Sometimes corrupted preferences can cause issues. You can remove Excel preferences by deleting the com.microsoft.Excel.plist file from the Preferences folder in your user Library (on Mac) or resetting settings in Windows.
5. Test with a Different File: Try opening a different Excel file to see if the issue is specific to the systems report file.

If the problem continues after trying these methods, you may need to consider reinstalling Excel or checking for updates to ensure you have the latest version installed.

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References:

• "Microsoft Excel has encountered a problem and needs to close" when starting Excel for Mac
• "Excel cannot complete this task with available resources" error occurs in Excel 2010

Answer 2

Hi @Randy Bentley,  

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.      

Thank you for contacting us. I understand that this issue is disrupting your work, and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused.  

The behavior you’re experiencing is typically caused by corrupted or conflicting Excel add-ins, damaged or incompatible macros or data connections in the report, outdated or faulty Office installation, Protected View security restrictions, or problems with source system drivers or connections. 

  

Here are my recommendations, which I hope will be helpful to you:          

1/ Check safe mode and add-ins 

Add-ins or extensions often cause Excel to crash when opening complex reports. 

• Press Windows + R, type excel /safe, and press Enter to open Excel in Safe Mode. 
• If the file opens successfully, go to File → Options → Add-ins → COM Add-ins → Go… and disable all add-ins. 
• 
• Restart Excel and enable add-ins one by one to identify the problematic one. 

2/ Review security settings and repair Office 

Protected View or corrupted Office components can block or crash Excel. 

• Go to File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings → Protected View, and temporarily uncheck all options to test. 
• 
• Run Quick Repair or Online Repair:  
  • Windows Settings → Apps → Microsoft Office → Modify → Quick Repair. 
  • If Quick Repair doesn’t help, choose Online Repair (requires internet and may take longer). 
  • 

3/ Update and verify data connections 

Outdated Excel or broken data connections (Power Query, ODBC) can cause errors. 

• Update Excel: File → Account → Update Options → Update Now. 
• Check queries and connections: Data → Queries & Connections. 
• 
• If the report uses external data sources, verify drivers and access permissions. 

4/ Fix file and environment issues 

The report file or user environment may be corrupted. 

• Use Open and Repair: File → Open → select the report → click the arrow next to Open → choose Open and Repair. 
• Clear Excel cache: delete %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Excel (backup first). 
• Test with a new Windows user profile. 
• If the file remains corrupted, re-export the report from the source system in .xlsx format. 

For more details, you can refer to these Microsoft articles: 

• Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working - Microsoft Support 
• Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support 
• Repair a corrupted workbook - Microsoft Support 

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to assist you. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. 

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