However, if Excel does not reply after a while and remains stuck, you must force close it via "Task Manager." This might be disastrous if it occurs when you are working on an important Excel document that you have spent hours preparing. Forcing Excel to close because of an error can damage the document and cause it to fail to open the next time.

Why is Excel not responding?

Excel may suddenly stop responding, freeze, or crash for a variety of causes. This can happen when you save a spreadsheet or open an Excel document. It can also happen while altering or inserting photos, graphs, and so on. However, it frequently happens when the system crashes or shuts down unexpectedly while you are working on a document. Here's an example:

Assume you worked overnight on a vital document that must be presented at a meeting the following day. This Excel file includes important graphs and charts, as well as much more. There is a power outage just as you are ready to save it, and your system shuts off without notice. You restarted the system once the power was restored to check your Excel. To your chagrin, a notification appears that says "Excel Crashed" or "Microsoft Excel is not responding."

This could be aggravating. However, there is no need to despair because there are solutions to not just this error but also other related difficulties such as Excel freezing, hanging, crashing, and so on. The infographic below summarises all of the various remedies to the Excel not responding problem.

Fixes for the 'Microsoft Excel is not responding' Error

To resolve Excel freezing and hanging difficulties, use the remedies listed below in the order listed.

Start Excel in Safe Mode.

If Excel isn't working properly and regularly stops responding, try starting it in Safe Mode. It is a frequent do-it-yourself solution for the 'Excel is not responding' issue.

Excel begins in Safe Mode with only required services, bypasses certain capabilities, and does not load add-ins, which may be the cause of the issue in MS Excel. To open and troubleshoot Excel in Safe Mode, follow these steps:

This issue may also arise if Windows and MS Office are not kept up to date. Install the most recent updates for both Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office.

In Windows, you can enable 'Automatic mode' for installation and updates. This will download and install important Microsoft Office updates, which may resolve the Excel performance issue. The following are the steps to activate automatic updates: