Are you unable to delete a sheet from a workbook in Microsoft Excel? Some users report that they just can’t delete worksheets in a workbook. Either the Delete Sheet option is greyed out or it won’t work correctly. They also reported being unable to delete the sheet from its right-click context menu.
How do I enable a Delete Sheet in Excel?
To be able to delete a worksheet in Excel, you can right-click on the worksheet from the bottom of the interface and then choose the Delete option from the context menu to remove it. There is another method to delete a sheet. Go to the Home tab on your ribbon and then click on the Delete drop-down option categorized under the Cells group. After that, choose the Delete Sheet option and it will remove the current sheet from your workbook.
Fix Delete Sheet not working in Excel
If the Delete Sheet option is not working in Microsoft Excel and you are unable to remove a worksheet, use the following methods to fix the problem:
- Remove protection from your workbook.
- Turn off the sharing of the workbook.
- Disable Excel add-ins.
- Run Excel as an administrator.
- Save as a new workbook and then try deleting a sheet.
- Update/repair Excel.
1] Remove protection from your workbook
If your workbook is password protected, you won’t be able to delete a worksheet from the workbook. So, check if the workbook is protected, and if it is, unprotect it to be able to delete a sheet.
Here are the steps to remove protection from a workbook in Excel:
- First, open the problematic workbook in Excel and go to the Review tab from the ribbon.
- Now, click on the Unprotect Sheet button.
- Next, enter the correct password to remove protection from the workbook.
- Finally, press the OK button to unprotect it.
When done, you can try deleting a worksheet in your workbook, which should work fine.
Read: Errors were detected while saving Excel file.
2] Turn off the sharing of the workbook
If the above solution didn’t work, it might be because your workbook is shared. If the workbook you are using is shared with others, you won’t be able to delete a worksheet. Hence, if the scenario is applicable, unshare the workbook and then check if you can remove a worksheet using the Delete option.
Here’s how to do that:
First, open the problematic Excel workbook and then move to the Review tab present on your ribbon.
Now, click on the Unshare Workbook option and unshare the workbook.
You can now right-click on a worksheet and press the Delete button to remove it.
See: How to fix the #VALUE error in Excel?
3] Disable Excel add-ins
Some problematic add-ins might be interfering with Excel’s regular operation and causing this issue. To check if the problem is triggered by an external add-in, you can open Excel in safe mode and then check whether the delete sheet function is working fine or not.
Firstly, evoke the Run command box using Win + R and then enter excel /safe in its Open box. It will launch Excel in safe mode without any customizations and add-ins.
If the problem is resolved in safe mode, you can open Excel normally and try disabling suspicious or recently installed add-ins using the below steps:
- First, navigate to the File menu and tap on Options.
- After that, move to the Add-ins tab and press the Go button present next to the Manage Excel Add-ins option.
- In the opened Add-ins window, deselect the add-ins you want to disable.
- Finally, press the OK button and check if the issue is resolved.
4] Run Excel as an administrator
One of the affected users reported that running Excel with administrator rights fixed the issue. To do so, right-click on the Excel desktop shortcut and choose Run as administrator. When launched, open your workbook and see if you can delete a worksheet.
5] Save as a new workbook and then try deleting a sheet
You can also try saving the problematic workbook as a completely new workbook at a different location on your PC. After that, open the newly saved workbook and see if you can delete worksheets or not. This a workaround that helped some users to fix the problem. So, you can also try doing the same and see if it works.
First, go to the File menu and click on the Save as option. Then, enter the new name for the workbook and select another location on your PC. Finally, click on the Save button. Next, close Excel and restart it, and then open the new workbook to check whether or not the issue is resolved.
See: How to fix #SPILL! error in Excel?
6] Update/Repair Excel
If none of the above solutions worked for you, update the Excel app to its latest version. For that, go to the File > Accounts option and select the Update Options drop-down option. Then, press the Update Now button and let the app download and install updates. When done, restart Excel and see if the issue is resolved.
In case Excel is already up-to-date, it might be corrupted which is causing the issue. So, repair the Microsoft Office package and check if the problem is gone.
I hope this helps!
TIP: How to fix grayed-out menu options in Excel?
Why is Delete Sheet greyed out?
If the Delete Sheet option is grayed out in your Excel app, the primary reason could be that your workbook is protected. Besides that, while editing cells in a worksheet, certain functions are greyed out. This can also be why the Delete or Delete Sheet function is greyed out and unclickable. Another reason for the same issue might be that the workbook is shared.
