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Bentley_B's avatar
Bentley_B
Copper Contributor
Apr 24, 2023

Excel help does not work

When I try help in excel I get this 

I am signed in and this has been a problem for many months. In word and outlook help works fine so what is the fix? I run Win 11 on a PC.

 

  • NikolinoDE's avatar
    NikolinoDE
    Gold Contributor

    Bentley_B 

    One suggestion is to try signing out of your user account and signing in as an administrator.

    Then, check if the issue persists in the administrator account.

    If the Help feature works in the administrator account, you can try going back to your user account and see if the issue has been resolved.

    Another suggestion is to try starting Excel in safe mode by pressing and holding the "Ctrl" key while starting Excel.

    In safe mode, go to File --> Options --> Add-ins --> Manage COM Add-ins --> Go, and then untick the boxes for all add-ins displayed on the window.

    Then select OK, quit Excel, and reopen it in normal mode (not safe mode).

     

    A Windows and Office update is always advisable in advance!

     

    I hope this helps!

    • DKoticha's avatar
      DKoticha
      Copper Contributor
      Disabling com addins, help works fine.
      • Bentley_B's avatar
        Bentley_B
        Copper Contributor

        I had not used help for a while in Excel until two days ago and it did not work again. I went through the steps to disable com addins again, of which I had left them unticked so why they were ticked again must be in an Excel update that did it. What was good of you replying to this was perfect timing because I could not remember where this fix was. I will have to save the fix because it seems like the issue will reappear. 

        DKoticha 

    • calabiyau19's avatar
      calabiyau19
      Copper Contributor

      NikolinoDE 

       

      Thank You!  Unchecking the COM add ins, restarting, re-checking the same pivot COM add-ins and restarting worked for me.  It has been very frustrating for a long time why Help was snot working in Excel but working fine in Access and Word 365

       

      Thanks Again

      • NikolinoDE's avatar
        NikolinoDE
        Gold Contributor
        I'm glad you fixed your problem.
        Thanks for the feedback.
        I wish you much success with Excel!
    • Bentley_B's avatar
      Bentley_B
      Copper Contributor
      Thanks for the help.
      I only have a administration account no other. I tried the unticking the add-ins(two Logioptions) and that worked. So I tried reticking the two I unticked then tried help and it still works, so weird.
      • NikolinoDE's avatar
        NikolinoDE
        Gold Contributor
        So sometimes the AddIns are not always happy when there is an update in Excel
        ...that happens sometimes when the AddIns are not maintained by the creator.
        Well, now you know where the problem comes from, one step further :).

        I wish you continued success with Excel!

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