Microsoft Excel Processing…

Question

When it comes to opening/downloading Excel sheets to and from iCloud Drive. I get an icon showing it is running in the background or I get the “Rainbow” spinning circle. Any suggestions how to free this up. Thanks.

Answer 1

Are you referring to both downloading as well as opening or are you using the terms interchangeably?

It is recommended to not open Office documents stored on iCloud or other cloud services – they are fine for storage & archiving but they aren't designed to support the complexity of Office user files. Numerous reports indicate that it can lead to corruption & data loss. Always download the to the local HD then upload the file once you have finished & saved the file.

Answer 2

Hi!

The rainbow icon means the file is being processed. The symptom of your problem may be caused by a slow internet connection (as the file needs to be downloaded from iCloud to be opened), file size (which may take a long time to sync), a large spreadsheet (many formulas or charts), among other causes.

Before suggesting tests and solutions, please answer these questions:

1. Does the problem occur with only one spreadsheet, or all spreadsheets?
2. If it happens with other spreadsheets, is there any spreadsheet where the problem does not occur?
3. Does the problem occur with other files, such as PDFs or Word documents? Try, for example, printing or exporting a Word or Excel file.
4. Have you tested if this problem occurs on another Wi-Fi network?
5. What version of macOS are you using? Click the Apple icon > About This Mac.

Answer 3

Use targeted troubleshooting to see whether the issue is Excel itself, the file, or the environment (iCloud/network/macOS).

1. Update Office and macOS

• Make sure Excel and the rest of Microsoft 365 are fully updated. On macOS, Microsoft AutoUpdate keeps Office current.
• If AutoUpdate was disabled, re‑enable it so Excel gets performance and reliability fixes:
  1. Open System Settings.
  2. Go to General → Login Items & Extensions.
  3. Under Allow in the Background, turn Microsoft AutoUpdate on.
• If Microsoft AutoUpdate is missing, reinstall it using the AutoUpdate installer, then let it run and apply all updates.

2. Check whether the problem is file location (iCloud) or Excel

• Move one of the problematic workbooks from iCloud Drive to a local folder (for example, Desktop or Documents).
• Open that local copy in Excel:
  • If the local copy opens and responds normally, the issue is likely related to iCloud/network storage (latency, sync, or background access), not Excel itself.
  • If the local copy still hangs or shows the spinning “rainbow” circle, continue with Excel‑specific troubleshooting.

3. Test Excel with a clean environment

• Close Excel and all other Office apps.
• Try opening a small, simple workbook stored locally (not on iCloud) to see if Excel responds normally.
• If Excel continues to hang or quit unexpectedly on Mac, follow these steps:
  1. Quit all apps using Apple menu → Force Quit.
  2. Remove Excel/Office preferences:
     • In Finder, use Go → Library (hold Option if Library is hidden).
     • Open Group Containers.
     • Find the folder ending in .Office and delete Com.microsoft.officeprefs.plist.
     • Restart Excel and test again.
  3. If the issue persists, delete the entire Office Group Container folder as described in the guidance so Office resets to first‑run state, then test again.

4. Check for environmental causes

• Large or complex workbooks, or files stored on network/cloud locations, can cause Excel to appear frozen while it waits on storage or network operations.
• To isolate environment factors:
  • Work with files stored locally instead of directly from iCloud Drive to see if performance improves.
  • Ensure the Mac has sufficient free memory and storage; large Excel files with lots of formatting and shapes can be resource‑intensive.

5. If Excel still hangs or crashes

• If Excel continues to show the rainbow spinner or “not responding” behavior after the above steps, perform a clean reinstall of Office for Mac:
  • Quit all Office apps.
  • In Applications, select all Microsoft 365 apps and move them to Trash.
  • In ~/Library/Containers, delete the com.microsoft.* Office app folders.
  • In ~/Library/Group Containers, delete UBF8T346G9.ms and UBF8T346G9.Office if present.
  • Reinstall Office from the Microsoft account portal and test again.

If, after moving files locally and reinstalling Office, Excel works fine with local files but still hangs when opening directly from iCloud Drive, continue to use local copies for active work and let iCloud handle background sync, as this avoids Excel waiting on slow or blocked cloud operations.

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References:

• Allow Microsoft AutoUpdate to run in the background on macOS
• Excel for Mac error: "The application Microsoft Excel quit unexpectedly"
• Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working