Excel 2021 closing unexpectedly when I attempt to open a .csv file...

Question

I purchased Office Professional Plus 2021 earlier this year to replace Office 2010. Now I'm having trouble opening and saving .csv files, causing Excel 2021 to suddenly close after asking me if I want to "Repair" the files, which seems totally ineffective. What do I need to do resolve this issue? Thank you.

Answer 1

To resolve the issue of Excel 2021 closing unexpectedly when opening .csv files, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Repair Office: You can attempt to repair your Office installation. Follow these steps based on your operating system:
   • Windows 10: Go to Settings > Apps > find your Office program, select it, and click Modify. Choose Online Repair and follow the prompts.
   • Windows 8: Open Control Panel > Uninstall a program > select Microsoft 365 > Change > Online Repair.
   • Windows 7: Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features > select Microsoft 365 > Change > Online Repair.
2. Check File Associations: Ensure that the file associations for .csv files are set correctly. You can do this by right-clicking a .csv file, selecting Properties, and checking the Opens with section. Change it to Excel if necessary.
3. Disable Add-ins: Sometimes, add-ins can cause Excel to crash. Disable them by going to File > Options > Add-Ins, then manage COM Add-ins and Excel Add-ins by disabling them one at a time to identify if one is causing the issue.
4. Open and Repair: You can also try to open the .csv file using the Open and Repair feature. Start Excel, go to File > Open, select the .csv file, and choose Open and Repair from the drop-down menu.
5. Reset Preferences: If the problem persists, consider resetting Excel preferences or checking for any updates for your Office installation.

If none of these steps resolve the issue, you may want to contact Microsoft Support for further assistance.

---

References:

• Troubleshoot opening a blank screen when you double-click a file icon or file name in Excel
• You receive an error message when you try to open an Office document

Answer 2

Dear @Steve Harrington,

Thank you for posting your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand that since upgrading to Office Professional Plus 2021 earlier this year, Excel closes unexpectedly every time you try to open a .csv file. Excel first asks if you want to repair the file, but the repair does not help, and the program still crashes.

Have you had a chance to check the suggestion provided by our Q&A Assistant above? If the issue persists, please let us know which suggestions you tried and what happened. Besides, could you please confirm following information:

• Does this happen with every .csv file you try to open, or only with specific ones?
• If you create a very simple new CSV file (for example, open Notepad, type "Name,Age" on the first line and "John,30" on the second line, then save it as test.csv), does Excel open that file without crashing?
• What is your Windows version and build? (You can check by pressing Windows key + R, typing winver, and pressing Enter.)
• Are you located in a region where the decimal separator is a comma (,) and the list separator is a semicolon (;)?

In the meantime, here are a few simple steps you can try right away that resolve this issue for most customers:

1. Immediate workaround to open your CSV files without crashing
   • Open new Excel file first.
   • Go to the Data tab > Get Data > From File > From Text/CSV.
     
   • Select your CSV file, choose "Comma" as the delimiter (and UTF-8 encoding if needed), then click Load. This method usually works even when direct opening fails.
     
2. Check your Windows regional list separatorc
   • Open Control Panel > search for "Region" > open "Region" > click Additional settings.
   • Look at the List separator field. If it is not a comma, change it to a comma (,).
   • Click Apply > OK, then restart your computer and test opening a CSV file again.

Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.

I truly appreciate your patience and understanding. If you have any further questions or need further clarification, please feel free to reach out. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. 

Thank you for your cooperation.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment". 

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.