Excel is slow to respond or stops working

Microsoft Excel is one of the most used programs for any computer. A lot of businesses and records depend on it. However, many users report that Excel is slow to respond, hangs, freezes, doesn’t respond, etc. If you encounter the same issue, please read this article for the resolution.

Excel is slow to respond or stops working

The causes behind the problem include problems with the system and add-ins for Microsoft Excel. There could be more reasons like obsolete software, etc. The issue occurs when you try performing an action through Microsoft Excel. Try the following solutions sequentially if Microsoft Excel is slow to respond:

Open Microsoft Excel in Safe Mode
Update Microsoft Office
Make sure another process is not using Microsoft Excel
Reboot your system
Find the problematic add-in and disable it
Make sure that another software hasn’t generated the file

1] Open Microsoft Excel in Safe Mode

Since the main cause of the problems has been suggested as add-ins and extensions, you can isolate this case by opening Microsoft Excel in the Safe Mode. The procedure is as follows.

Press Win+R to open the Run window.
In the Run window, type the command excel.exe /safe and hit Enter.
This will open Microsoft Excel in the Safe mode. If it works well in the Safe Mode, then the issue is probably with the add-ins and extensions.

Read: Not enough memory to run Microsoft Excel

2] Update Microsoft Office

Updates are pushed for Microsoft office as a whole and not just Microsoft Excel. So, you will have to update the Microsoft Office software to make sure that the updates installed are right. The procedure is as follows.

Open Microsoft Excel.
Click on File.
Select Account.
Click on Update Options and select Update Now.
Restart Microsoft Excel when the update process has completed.

3] Make sure another process is not using Microsoft Excel

If any other process is using Microsoft Excel, it could impact your project with Microsoft Excel. To resolve this case, you can wait for the other process to finish its job and then use Microsoft Excel. If your work is urgent, you can consider killing the other process through the Task Manager.

Read: Excel cannot complete this task, Out of Memory, Not enough System Resources to Display Completely

4] Reboot your system

A lot of interference on your system can impact your work with Microsoft Excel. Thus, you can reset many processes by simply restarting your computer. However, if restarting doesn’t help then please consider rebooting your system in the Clean Boot state.

Read: Microsoft Excel displays High CPU usage

5] Find the problematic add-in and disable it

The most common reason for the issue in discussion is problematic add-ins. Thus, disabling problematic add-ins can resolve the problem. The procedure to do so is as follows:

Open Microsoft Excel.
Select File >> Options.
On the list on the left-hand side, select Add-ins.
In the right pane, select COM Add-ins from the drop-down menu and then click on Go.
You can consider removing the Add-ins one by one. All you need to do is check the checkbox associated with the Add-in you wish to remove and then select Remove.
Close Microsoft Excel and restart the application.

Read: Tools & Methods to repair corrupted Excel file

6] Make sure that another software hasn’t generated the file

Typical Microsoft Excel formats like CVS, XLS, etc. may or may not be generated by other Excel-like software products. If the problematic file was generated by another product and not MS Excel, then please check the exact file extension. If it is not a typical MS Excel file, please contact its creator for modification.

What are the uses of Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is one of the most versatile software products available for computers. It is used for countless jobs, but the primary ones are data management and task management. It is the primary data entry software for most businesses.

Read: Opening Office files crashes or freezes Explorer

How many data types exist for Microsoft Excel?

Four data types exist for Microsoft Excel. These are text, number, logical, and error data. These are the basics. With newer versions of Microsoft Excel, you can insert and edit images too. Rather, as of present, Excel is a very versatile software.