Unable to export to Excel from SharePoint Online

  • Article
  • Applies to:
    Excel

Symptoms

When you use the Export to Excel button in Microsoft SharePoint Online, Excel starts and shows the following error message:

An unexpected error has occurred. Changes to your data cannot be saved.

Cause

Excel has a 55-second timeout when fetching data from SharePoint.Therefore, you may receive the error message when the timeout of this client is exceeded.

Resolution

You can increase the default Excel timeout value by using a registry key. To increase the Excel timeout value, follow these steps:

  1. Open Registry Editor. Locate and select the following registry subkey:

    • For an MSI installation of Excel

      For 32-bit Excel on 32-bit Windows or 64-bit Excel on 64-bit Windows

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines

      For 32-bit Excel on 64-bit Windows

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines

    • For Click-to-Run installation of Excel

      For 32-bit Excel on 32-bit Windows or 64-bit Excel on 64-bit Windows

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines

      For 32-bit Excel on 64-bit Windows

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\ClickToRun\REGISTRY\MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Access Connectivity Engine\Engines

  2. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then select DWORD Value.

  3. Type DataFetchTimeout, and then press Enter.

  4. Right-click DataFetchTimeout, and then select Modify.

  5. Select Decimal for Base, type 90000 in the Value data box, and then select OK.

    Note

    If the new value doesn't resolve the issue, try a larger value. DataFetchTimeout is in milliseconds.

  6. Exit Registry Editor.