I support a family 365 account, and I'm trying to assist with a crucial 2 MB Excel file that won't open on the owner's Windows 11 work computer, despite all other files working fine. The user can access this file, which we'll call important.xlsx, through Excel online, so the data is intact. When attempting to open it in the local Excel app, it gets stuck at 0%, and sometimes it locks up with an error stating the user is currently editing the file. I've tried unlinking OneDrive, making local copies, and even sharing the file, but nothing seems to work. Unblocking the file only allows it to open in protected view without allowing edits. I'm puzzled about what else to try and have advised the user to use Excel online for now. Has anyone else faced this issue?
1 Answer
I had a similar issue with a customer once. Try clearing the Office file cache on the user’s computer. Make sure all Office applications are closed, then go to %LOCALAPPDATA%MicrosoftOffice16.0OfficeFileCache and delete all files in there. You might need to use SHIFT+DELETE to remove them permanently instead of sending them to the recycle bin. After that, open Excel, go to File > Options > Save, and select 'Delete Files Cached' to clear any lingering issues. Then restart Excel, and hopefully, it should work!
That sounds like a solid plan! I'd also recommend running an Office Repair to fix any other issues with Excel.