Microsoft Excel is Slow and Non Responsive

Question

I have been having issues with Microsoft, specifically with Excel.  Something must have happened recently that caused the slow down and nonresponsive when working on more than 1 excel files at the same time. 

Do you know of any system-wide issue, and is this something Microsoft can help with? What would be the steps, if possible, to test speed, time, and issues?

Answer 1

If you are experiencing slowness and non-responsiveness in Microsoft Excel, especially when working with multiple files, there are several potential causes and steps you can take to diagnose and improve performance:

1. Check for Temporary Files: Accumulated temporary files can slow down Excel. You can clean out temporary files by navigating to your Temp directory (type %temp% in the Run dialog) and deleting unnecessary files.
2. Review Workbook Design: Large workbooks with many controls (like check boxes and hyperlinks) can slow down performance. Consider redesigning your workbook to reduce the number of controls or links to other workbooks.
3. Virus Scanner Settings: Some virus scanner settings can interfere with Excel's performance. Temporarily disabling the virus scanner can help determine if it is causing the issue.
4. Calculation Settings: If Excel recalculates your workbook upon opening or saving, it can slow down performance. Set calculation to manual and turn off the calculate before save option in Excel's settings.
5. Network Issues: If you are opening files from a network location, slow network connections can cause delays. Consider testing the speed of your network or replicating files to a local server.
6. Excel Updates: Ensure that your Microsoft Office applications are up-to-date, as updates can fix performance issues.
7. System Resources: Check if your system resources (CPU, memory) are being heavily utilized by other applications, which can affect Excel's performance. You can use the Task Manager to monitor resource usage.
8. Registry Modifications: In multi-session environments, consider increasing the number of threads available for Microsoft 365 Apps if you are experiencing performance issues.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to contact Microsoft support for further assistance.

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References:

• Excel performance: Tips for optimizing performance obstructions
• Slow open of Office documents
• An Office program is slow or may stop responding (hang) when you open a file from a network location
• Heavy Excel workloads run slowly in multi-session environments

Answer 2

Dear @Patrick Monahan,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum. We understand the frustration caused by Excel's slow performance and unresponsiveness when working with multiple files. While there are no widespread, confirmed system-wide issues reported for Excel at this time, performance problems are often due to local configuration, add-ins, or file-specific factors. 

To help me narrow down the cause, could you please provide the following details?  

1. What version of Excel are you using? 
2. Do you primarily work with files stored locally or online? 
3. Have you noticed any file types performing slower than others? 
4. Are there any other applications running concurrently that might be impacting performance? 
5. Are the files you open simultaneously too large? Sometimes, large files can affect opening times. 

In the meantime, please try the following official troubleshooting options which usually resolve issues with basic issues: 

Option 1: Check for Office updates 

• Open any Office app (Excel, Word) and go to File > Account (or Office Account). 
• Click Update Options > Update Now. An outdated version can contain bugs that impact performance. 

For more details, please refer to Microsoft’s official documentation:  How to update Microsoft 365 or Office for Windows - Microsoft Support 

 

Option 2: Start Excel in Safe Mode (To Rule Out Add-ins): 

• Close all Excel files. 
• Press Windows Key + R, type excel /safe, and press Enter. 
• Open your files and work in this mode. If performance is normal in Safe Mode, an add-in is likely causing the problem. 
• To manage add-ins: File > Options > Add-Ins. At the bottom, select "COM Add-ins" and click Go.... Uncheck all, then re-enable one by one to identify the culprit. 

Option 3: System-Wide optimization & testing 

If Safe Mode does not resolve the issue, follow these steps to test your system's performance: 

For repair office more details, please refer to Microsoft’s official documentation: Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support 

Option 4: Utilize the "Check Performance" Tool 

• Microsoft recently introduced a built-in feature to identify "heavy" cells that slow down your workbook. 
• Go to the Review tab and select Check Performance. 
• This tool scans for redundant formatting and metadata that can be safely removed to increase responsiveness 

For more details, please refer to Microsoft’s official documentation: Check Performance in Excel for Windows 

Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link. 

 

Option 5:  Advanced testing for speed and time 

If you need to provide specific data to Microsoft Support, you can use the Diagnostic Data Viewer: 

• Download the Diagnostic Data Viewer from the Microsoft Store. 
• In Excel, go to File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options. 
• Enable Diagnostic Data Viewing. 

This allows you to see the exact "hang" events and latency logs that Microsoft uses to identify the root  

For a complete list of troubleshooting steps, please refer to the official guide: Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working - Microsoft Support 

 

Please note that as a forum moderator, I don’t have access to backend tools or internal systems to investigate further, and certain settings or configurations are managed exclusively by your organization’s administrators, so I’m unable to check or make changes on that side. That said, I truly hope these suggestions help you move forward.   

Please let me know if you have any further questions or if the problem persists after trying these solutions. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.  

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