Excel suddenly won't open

Question

I've had this subscription for years on my Mac and can still use all the other MS Office software. A couple of weeks ago, I suddenly couldn't open Excel. I can't open the Excel files, but I also can't open the application itself at all. The only message I receive is "The application "Microsoft Excel" can't be opened."

I can open my existing files in Numbers and other spreadsheet apps. However, I do notice that unlike my other apps, the last update to Excel didn't download.

Can anyone tell me why this might be? Why wouldn't the software automatically update along with the rest of the MS Office apps?

thanks!

Answer 1

There are a couple of widely reported problems with the Office apps on an Apple Mac at the moment caused by the July update

1

What version of Microsoft Office do you have, is that a subscription to Microsoft 365 or a standalone version of Office like Office 2019, 2021 or 2024.

2

At the top left of your Desktop, click the Apple icon and select 'About this Mac', what version of MacOS is installed on your computer?

Answer 2

A likely cause is local Excel-specific corruption rather than the Microsoft 365 subscription, since the other Office apps still work. The documented causes for Excel on Mac failing to start include corrupted Excel preferences, background programs interfering with Excel, corrupted application files, or a corrupted macOS user profile.

Try these steps in order:

1. Quit all apps.
   • Quit all Microsoft Office for Mac apps.
   • If an app will not quit, press Command + Option + Esc, select the app, and choose Force Quit.
2. Reset Excel preferences.
   • In Finder, select Go > Home.
   • Open Library. If it is hidden, hold Option while opening the Go menu.
   • Open Preferences.
   • Move com.microsoft.Excel.plist to the desktop.
   • Start Excel and test.
   • If Excel still does not open, restore that file to its original location.
3. Reset the second Excel preferences file.
   • Quit all Office for Mac apps again.
   • Go to Home > Library > Preferences > Microsoft.
   • Move com.microsoft.Excel.prefs.plist to the desktop.
   • Start Excel and test.
   • If this fixes the issue, move that file to the Trash.
4. Repair disk permissions.
   • Open Go > Utilities.
   • Start Disk Utility.
   • Select the primary hard disk.
   • Open the First Aid tab.
   • Select Repair Disk Permissions.
   • Then open Excel and test.
5. Test with a new macOS user account.
   • Open Apple icon > System Preferences > Accounts.
   • Select + to create a new account.
   • Sign out and sign in with that new account.
   • Open Excel and test.
   • If Excel works there, the existing macOS profile is likely the problem.
6. Reinstall Office if needed.
   • If Excel still will not open after the steps above, remove and reinstall Office.

About why Excel may not have updated with the other Office apps: the available context does not give a specific automatic-update failure reason. It does show that when Office apps on macOS have launch or license issues, checking updates through Microsoft AutoUpdate can help:

• Open Finder > Applications > Microsoft AutoUpdate.
• Install available updates, then test Excel again.

If Office was installed from the App Store instead of microsoft.com, updates are handled through the App Store > Updates.

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References:

• "Microsoft Excel has encountered a problem and needs to close" when starting Excel for Mac
• Unknown Error 0x0 or License not found error in Microsoft 365 or Office running on macOS