Office Script stuck

Question

Office Script stuck

Sakura 61

Hello

I have been using Office Scripts for a long time and never without too many issues.

One returning issue though, is that a script run in Excel Online through the Code Editor (under Automation tab), will get stuck in 'The script is running' while it is in fact not doing anything. Without exception, this happens to me when using Google Chrome. It seems Microsoft has not optimized things for Chrome users. When I use Microsoft Edge, things always worked.

However, this week I need to use some scripts again and now they won't work anymore on Microsoft Edge either. Just stays stuck on 'The script is running'. Nothing has been changed in these scripts and they worked perfectly before.

What do I do to fix this? These are business critical scripts.

JOAO VITOR OLIVEIRA PEREIRA 16 Reputation points

2022-04-13T12:14:41.027+00:00

the same happened to me! And i tried simple code with just one comand just to test and it wont work either.
JOAO VITOR OLIVEIRA PEREIRA 16 Reputation points

2022-04-13T12:14:51.647+00:00

the same happened to me! And i tried simple code with just one comand just to test and it wont work either.
Bart 36 Reputation points

2022-05-18T12:07:31.793+00:00

Same here. No idea what's wrong. The script says it is running, but nothing is happening.
Wojcik, Maciej 6 Reputation points

2022-05-20T09:17:04.77+00:00

I have exactly same problem. Scripts were not starting on Chrome, I raise this issue with Microsoft last year and I was told to use Edge instead of Chrome. Problem didn't occur on Edge until they moved Edge to Chromium engine. Since several weeks I can't run macro on Edge, clearing cookies and cache do not help. What is curious scripts occasionally work on Edge on different computers with fresh installation. Also, at least right now I can run scripts using Chrome browser.
Excel scrips are amazing and much simpler than VBA but because unreliability I can't use them in my business. I lost some time learning technology and building automation only to discover that I need to redo it again in VBA to make sure that script will run.
Bart 36 Reputation points

2022-05-20T11:26:18.273+00:00

Please vote on this item so it might get some attention.
Walker,K,Kyran,BVRC26 R 15 Reputation points

2023-03-03T09:17:36.15+00:00

I'm now facing the same problem after using them for a few months with no issues. Has anybody been able to resolve this?
Cameron Critchlow 0 Reputation points

2023-08-02T18:42:36.7633333+00:00

I get "RUN STATUS: Initializing to run buttons." and it just stays there. forever.
The scripts work on desktop app, and used to work in browser... but yeah, nothing now.
It's a super simple script too, like 5 or 6 lines
Marc Diaz 0 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-08-03T22:21:13.41+00:00

Hey everyone, just to make sure we can better isolate the source of these issues, could you please give feedback through the app itself via the feedback button when these issues pop up? This allows us to get more information about your Excel Session.

To unblock others, could you give your build number and session Id? You can access this from Account -> About Excel I believe.

8 answers

Your answer

JOAO VITOR OLIVEIRA PEREIRA 16 Reputation points

2022-04-13T12:14:41.027+00:00

the same happened to me! And i tried simple code with just one comand just to test and it wont work either.
JOAO VITOR OLIVEIRA PEREIRA 16 Reputation points

2022-04-13T12:14:51.647+00:00

the same happened to me! And i tried simple code with just one comand just to test and it wont work either.
Bart 36 Reputation points

2022-05-18T12:07:31.793+00:00

Same here. No idea what's wrong. The script says it is running, but nothing is happening.
Wojcik, Maciej 6 Reputation points

2022-05-20T09:17:04.77+00:00

I have exactly same problem. Scripts were not starting on Chrome, I raise this issue with Microsoft last year and I was told to use Edge instead of Chrome. Problem didn't occur on Edge until they moved Edge to Chromium engine. Since several weeks I can't run macro on Edge, clearing cookies and cache do not help. What is curious scripts occasionally work on Edge on different computers with fresh installation. Also, at least right now I can run scripts using Chrome browser.
Excel scrips are amazing and much simpler than VBA but because unreliability I can't use them in my business. I lost some time learning technology and building automation only to discover that I need to redo it again in VBA to make sure that script will run.
Bart 36 Reputation points

2022-05-20T11:26:18.273+00:00

Please vote on this item so it might get some attention.
Walker,K,Kyran,BVRC26 R 15 Reputation points

2023-03-03T09:17:36.15+00:00

I'm now facing the same problem after using them for a few months with no issues. Has anybody been able to resolve this?
Cameron Critchlow 0 Reputation points

2023-08-02T18:42:36.7633333+00:00

I get "RUN STATUS: Initializing to run buttons." and it just stays there. forever.
The scripts work on desktop app, and used to work in browser... but yeah, nothing now.
It's a super simple script too, like 5 or 6 lines
Marc Diaz 0 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-08-03T22:21:13.41+00:00

Hey everyone, just to make sure we can better isolate the source of these issues, could you please give feedback through the app itself via the feedback button when these issues pop up? This allows us to get more information about your Excel Session.

To unblock others, could you give your build number and session Id? You can access this from Account -> About Excel I believe.

Answer 1

Bart 36

Please vote on this item so it might get some attention.

Answer 2

Michał Stelmasiak 10

Also having this issue today at my office. Doesn't work on any computer.

This feature depending on internet connection is unacceptable. VBA scripts runs locally so why not office scripts?

jeremy-msft 11 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-03-03T23:46:36.37+00:00

Thanks for your report. The issue has been identified and should now be resolved, but please let us know if you continue to experience a problem.

Answer 3

Juan Viteri 5

I ran into this issue after some days working normally since I started with Office Scripts this week. No matter if I run the script on the Desktop version, or on the web version (Edge or Chrome). The notification "The script is running..." will stay forever without actually doing any command.

User's image

David Pooley 5 Reputation points

2023-03-03T15:41:15.64+00:00

All working as expected earlier this week. Today I can't run any scripts - I just get "The script is running..." message but nothing happens. Even a one line script with a console.log() won't run.
Ilan Lifshitz 10 Reputation points

2023-03-03T15:42:36.94+00:00

It is looks like a bug that just released (again?) it was working yesterday
Xandy 0 Reputation points

2023-03-03T17:20:17.09+00:00

Same here - problem started just today
jeremy-msft 11 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2023-03-03T23:45:56.78+00:00

Hi all, thanks for your report. The issue has been identified and should now be resolved, but please let us know if you continue to experience a problem.
Bruno-9466 5 Reputation points

2023-03-04T11:32:44.8033333+00:00

Hi @jeremy-msft , thanks for fixing this. It seems quite clear that, even with the Desktop version of Excel 365, Excel scripts need internet connectivity to work at all, unlike VBA scripts (a lot of these scripts shouldn't really need a cloud connection at all).

What is not clear is why this is needed and what data is exported to Microsoft's servers to make that happen.

A reasonable reason to work with the desktop version on local files is to keep the data local, e.g. for regulatory reasons.

Yet, there seems to be no warning that anything is sent out when using Automate / Office Scripts.

Is there any documentation about that aspect?

The only documentation I could find is this page, but it doesn't really get into the details of what data is sent out: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/dev/scripts/resources/vba-differences
Julianne Cohen 0 Reputation points

2023-03-31T11:09:56.4233333+00:00

I am experiencing a similar problem now; I can run my script with no problems but when my colleague tries to run it it just loads and stops responding. Any help or hint appreciated!

Julianne

Answer 4

jeremy-msft 11 Microsoft Employee Moderator

Hi @Sakura , could you please try reproducing the issue then sending feedback (referencing this post) from within Excel following the instructions below? This will help us better diagnose the issue.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/how-do-i-give-feedback-on-microsoft-office-2b102d44-b43f-4dd2-9ff4-23cf144cfb11#platform=Office_for_the_web

Sakura 61 Reputation points

2022-02-21T02:34:38.117+00:00

Thank you. I've submitted now through the internal feedback button. Still experiencing the issue intermittently.

Answer 5

Sakura 61

Not sure if there was any feedback since I last time inquired, but the issue has been popping all day now for me, meaning I cannot move forward with a project. A simple Office Script like this stays stuck on 'The script is running'. Happening on both Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

function main(workbook: ExcelScript.Workbook)
{
  // Your code here
  console.log("success")
}

Aaron Liu 1 Reputation point

2022-04-18T18:40:09.35+00:00

Hi,

Would you please try to reproduce this issue, then provide the Excel Online session ID?

To find the session id:

Thank you!
Sreeja Phirose 1 Reputation point

2022-04-18T19:08:50.88+00:00

I'm also having the same issue even on basic scripts. It stays stuck on the The script is running, with no error or output
JOAO VITOR OLIVEIRA PEREIRA 16 Reputation points

2022-04-19T15:47:56.107+00:00

It wasn't working for me a few days ago but now its working normally. Back then what i did in the meanwhile was changing the browser(and it worked). I saw on internet that maybe you can correct this by cleaning your browser cache.
Sakura 61 Reputation points

2022-05-26T03:48:03.433+00:00

Can I just post the session ID here?

This issue has really become a problem for us. Never experience it with Google App Script. I'm almost certain it is a browser issue that has not been properly tested by Microsoft. I have a computer where it works without a problem. Another computer where Office Scripts never work. This is very problematic for distribution as users all have different browser setups. Need a business solution on which we can depend.
Sakura 61 Reputation points

2022-05-26T03:54:39.647+00:00

Could it be caused due to not having a desktop version of 365 installed on my machine? The other machine where it works, does have the 365 desktop version installed. I was hoping that merely having the right credentials I could test the scripts in Excel Online.

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Office Script stuck

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