Excel is not working and will not open

Question

Excel did not start correctly last time. Safe mode may help you troubleshoot the problem, but some features might not be available in this mode.

Do you want to start in Safe Mode?

Yes No

This appears and Excel won’t open. I press “Yes” but nothing happens. I tried all the solutions provided, including Online Repair and using Win + R and typing excel /safe.

Answer 1

If Excel is not opening and you are encountering the message about starting in Safe Mode, it may be due to issues with your Office installation or conflicts with other applications. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot this issue:

1. Try Selective Startup: Instead of starting in Safe Mode, try using Selective Startup in System Configuration. This can help eliminate conflicts with other services or startup items.
   • Press Windows Key + R, type msconfig, and click OK.
   • In the System Configuration window, select Selective startup and uncheck Load system services and Load startup items.
   • Go to the Services tab, check the Microsoft Office ClickToRun Service, and click OK. Restart your computer.
2. Repair Office: Since you've already tried Online Repair, ensure that you also try a Quick Repair if you haven't done so. This can sometimes resolve issues that Online Repair does not.
3. Check for Multiple Instances: Make sure there are no multiple instances of Excel running. You can check this by opening Task Manager and looking for multiple entries of Excel under the Applications tab. If you find them, close all instances and try reopening Excel.
4. Start Excel in Safe Mode: If you haven't already, try starting Excel in Safe Mode using the command line. Press Windows Key + R, type excel.exe /safe, and click OK. This can help you troubleshoot if add-ins are causing the problem.
5. Delete Excel Startup Files: Sometimes, files in the startup folder can cause Excel to hang. You can delete or move files from the alternate startup location or the XLStart folder.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may need to consider uninstalling and reinstalling Office as a last resort.

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References:

• Office applications don't start when Windows is running in safe mode