Excel 365 opens, does not respond, then closes down

Question

Excel takes around 30-45 seconds to load. Once loaded it is unresponsive then shuts itself down.

Answer 1

Try to test with a NEW Windows User Profile

Create a new local Windows account

Sign in

Open Excel

Results:

• Works instantly → Your original Windows profile is corrupt
• Still broken → system-level corruption

Answer 2

Ran Repair Office, both options.

Did have offline mapped drives, so they are now deleted.

Excess Formatting - not an issue, really simple files refuse to load

Check for Updates - have uninstalled & reinstalled Office365 . . . several times.

If I open in safe mode, Options > Advanced is greyed out & not available, opened in normal mode but hardware graphics acceleration is not listed.

Deleted OfficeFileCache & Wef folders, no Licensing folder found.

Current situation:

Still takes 30 - 40 seconds to load, even then much of the ribbon options are greyed out.

If I try to load the simplest of files I get "Not enough memory to complete this action" error.

It will work in Safe mode, still 30 seconds or so to load, but files WILL load so I can limp along.

Answer 3

Thanks for sharing the details! Try to disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration

Excel can crash silently due to GPU/driver conflicts.

How to do it (without opening Excel normally):

Press Win + R

Paste this and press Enter:

excel /safe

If Excel opens:

• Go to File → Options → Advanced
• Scroll to Display
• Check Disable hardware graphics acceleration
• Click OK and restart Excel normally

If Excel won’t open even in Safe Mode, delete Corrupt Office Cache

Office cache corruption often causes delayed startup then crash.

Steps:

Close all Office apps

Press Win + R

Paste:

%localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0

Delete these folders if present:

• OfficeFileCache
• Wef
• Licensing

Restart your PC

Open Excel

See if these help. If you need further assistance just let me know.

Best regards,

Kimberly

Answer 4

If Excel 365 is taking a long time to load, becoming unresponsive, and then shutting down, there are several potential causes and solutions you can consider:

1. Repair Office: A common solution for issues with Office applications is to repair the installation. You can do this by going to the Control Panel, selecting your Office program, and choosing the repair option. This can help fix any corrupted files that might be causing the problem.
2. Check for Mapped Drives: If your computer is connected to mapped network drives that are offline or nonexistent, this can cause Excel to hang. Ensure that all mapped drives are accessible or disconnect any that are not needed.
3. Startup Files: Excel may open files automatically from the XLStart folder or an alternative startup folder. If these files are problematic, they can cause Excel to become unresponsive. You can remove files from these folders or start Excel in safe mode to prevent them from loading.
4. Excess Formatting: If you are opening a specific workbook that has excessive formatting or styles, it may take longer to load and could cause Excel to hang. Consider cleaning up the workbook to reduce the load time.
5. Check for Updates: Ensure that your Office installation is up to date, as updates can fix bugs and improve performance.

If the problem persists after trying these solutions, you may want to check for further troubleshooting steps or consider reaching out to Microsoft support for assistance.