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When opening excel, it is stuck on "Opening Microsoft Excel..."

Austin 20 Reputation points
2025-12-08T16:21:12.9966667+00:00

I can only open it up in safe mode. I think there is maybe an issue with the "recovered" emails but I'm not sure

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For education | Windows
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  1. Hendrix-C 8,905 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-12-08T17:38:33.63+00:00

    Hi @Austin,

    Thank you for posing your question in the Microsoft Q&A forum.

    Based on your sharing, since you can only open Excel in safe mode and the issue persist even after reinstalling Office, the issue is highly due to an issue with Excel add-ins because in Safe mode add-ins are disabled.

    The previous response by Q&A Assist does provide some troubleshooting steps and I suggest you can try them to see if it helps. The guideline I provide below will have some steps as same as the previous reply so you can skip them if it does not resolve your issue:

    1- Disable add-in

    • Go to File > Options > Add-ins > select Excel Add-ins > Go > uncheck all listed add-ins and click OK 

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    • Repeat the above step but change Excel Add-ins to COM Add-ins 
    • Restart Excel and check if the error is gone. Then re-enable the add-ins one by one and restarting Excel each time to find which one causing the error.

    2- Delete Book.xltx in XLSTART folder

    • Open File Explorer and navigate to this path C:\Users<YourUserName>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
    • If you see Book.xltx or Sheet.xltx folder in there, delete it.
    • Restart your computer and open Excel again to see if the issue persists

    3- Reset Excel default settings

    • Press Windows + R and type regedit then OK 
    • In the bar, paste this address to navigate to the correct path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Excel 
    • Right-click the Excel key and press Delete. After that restart Excel to see if the issue persists. 

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    I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this.    

    Thank you for your patience and your understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. 

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have any extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".  

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2025-12-08T16:21:25.21+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    If Excel is stuck on "Opening Microsoft Excel..." and you can only open it in safe mode, there may be issues with add-ins, startup files, or other configurations. Here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the problem:

    1. Start Excel in Safe Mode: Since you can open Excel in safe mode, this indicates that the issue might be related to add-ins or startup files. To start Excel in safe mode, you can hold down the CTRL key while starting Excel or use the command line with the /safe switch.
    2. Disable Add-Ins: In safe mode, go to File > Options > Add-Ins. Disable any add-ins that are enabled and restart Excel normally to see if the issue persists.
    3. Check Startup Folders: Files in the XLStart folder or any alternative startup folders can cause Excel to hang on startup. You can remove any files from these folders. To do this:
      • Open the Run dialog (Windows Key + R) and type %appdata%\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART to access the XLStart folder.
      • Remove any files in this folder and restart Excel.
    4. Repair Office: If the issue continues, you may want to repair your Office installation. You can do this from the Control Panel under 'Programs and Features'. Select Microsoft Office and choose the repair option.
    5. Check for Updates: Ensure that your Office installation is up to date, as updates can fix bugs and improve performance.

    If none of these steps resolve the issue, you may need to look deeper into your Excel settings or consider reinstalling Office.

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