Forum Discussion
Excel workbooks keep breaking
Hi All,
Sorry if this is not the right place to ask, I'm new here.
Since a couple of days, my Excel workbooks keep breaking. When opening specific files, Excel states the file needs to be repaired. Everytime certain formulas are being deleted and the values are just pasted as is. I haven't had any issues with these files in the past.
Previously I used a license which I bought online via a third party. It seems the issues started after an update. I switched to a license which I bought directly from Microsoft. I did a clean installation, removed all the previous versions files but the issue still exists. For a couple of days I can open the files without problems. And then yesterday excel showed an update was available and excel had to be reopened. After doing so, the issues came up again.
I have a Office Home 2024 License, Excel version 16.106.1, on macOS Tahoe 26.2.
T.I.A
1 Reply
This sometimes starts happening with workbooks with a long editing history. I would start with checking the range names (Formula tab, Name Manager). Anything there that you don't need you should get rid of. Also, on the Home tab, click the Cell Styles drop-down. Does it show many styles in the "Custom" category?
To resolve this it is advised to try to create a fresh workbook. Open a new blank file and insert as many worksheets as your old one has. Name them exactly the same. Now copy the used area from each tab in the original and do a Paste Special, Formulas into the associated tab of the new file.
Of course any special items need to be rebuilt, such as tables, charts, pivot tables etcetera.
