Excel crashes

Question

When using Excel, it stars uncontolled scrolling, then crashes and causes other open apps to start scrolling. This just stated recently. It used to work fine. I lose control of my computer and I have to turn off power to recover.

Answer 1

The automatic scrolling is usually caused by a game controller being connected to the PC, if you have a game controller connected to your PC, disconnect it and restart your PC.

If there is no game controller connected to your PC or that does not resolve the problem, then the best option is to perform a full repair of your Office installation.

Open the Settings App.

Go to Apps, then scroll down to find Microsoft Office

Select that and choose Modify - Online Repair

That should fix any issues with your Office Installation.

Answer 2

Follow these steps in order to troubleshoot Excel crashing and the uncontrolled scrolling behavior:

1. Start Excel in Safe Mode
   • Press Windows key + R.
   • Type Excel /safe and select OK.
   • If Excel starts and you can work without the uncontrolled scrolling or crashes, the issue is likely caused by add-ins.
2. Disable COM add-ins
   • While Excel is open in safe mode, select File > Options > Add-ins.
   • In the Manage box, select COM Add-ins and choose Go.
   • Clear all check boxes in the list, then select OK.
   • Close Excel and restart it normally (not in safe mode) and test again.
   • If the issue is gone, re-enable add-ins one by one, restarting Excel each time, until the problem returns. The last enabled add-in is the likely cause; leave it disabled or remove it.
3. Check Excel add-ins
   • If disabling COM add-ins does not help, repeat the process for Excel-specific add-ins from File > Options > Add-ins by choosing the Excel Add-ins option in the Manage list and disabling them.
4. Install the latest updates
   • Make sure Windows Update and Microsoft 365/Office updates are fully installed. Use the steps in the “Update Microsoft 365 and your computer” article referenced in the context. Out-of-date components can cause instability and crashes.
5. Repair Office
   • If the problem persists across all workbooks, repair Office:
   • Use the “Repair a Microsoft 365 application” steps referenced in the context to run a repair of Microsoft 365/Office.
   • Start with Quick Repair; if that does not help, run Online Repair.
6. Check environment and drivers
   • Test with a workbook saved locally (for example, on the Desktop) instead of on a network, SharePoint, or redirected folder to rule out storage issues.
   • Ensure the PC has sufficient memory for the size and complexity of the Excel files being used.
   • Test with a different default printer (for example, Microsoft XPS Document Writer) and ensure video drivers are up to date, as printer and video drivers can affect Excel’s stability.
7. Clean boot / selective startup
   • If Excel and other apps still show uncontrolled scrolling or instability, perform a selective startup (clean boot) using System Configuration as described in the context. This helps identify whether another background program, process, or service is conflicting with Excel and input handling.

If, after these steps, the uncontrolled scrolling affects the entire system and not just Excel, the root cause may be environmental (for example, a malfunctioning input device or driver) and further system-level troubleshooting outside Excel will be required.

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References:

• Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working
• Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working – Safe mode troubleshooting
• Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working – Manually perform safe mode troubleshooting
• Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working – Install the latest updates
• Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working – Perform a selective startup to determine whether a program, process, or service conflicts with Excel
• I get a "stopped working" error when I start Office applications on my PC – 2 - Disable add-ins manually