Links to Spreadsheet on Android homepage gets greyed out

This is a known issue affecting Excel Mobile on Android, especially for users who rely on home screen shortcuts to OneDrive Excel files. These shortcuts may become greyed out, non-responsive, or disconnected after an app update, cache issue, or OneDrive/Excel sync conflict.

Here are a few fixes to try that might help (I haven't tried them yet).

Clear Cache for Excel & OneDrive Apps

Go to Settings > Apps > Excel

Tap Storage > Clear Cache (not data!)

Do the same for OneDrive

Reboot phone

Recreate Shortcuts Manually

Instead of using Excel’s built-in pinning:

Open OneDrive App

Navigate to the Excel file

Tap the three dots (⋮) next to the file

Select “Add to Home Screen”

This creates a direct file shortcut that usually doesn't get greyed out

This method bypasses Excel's shortcut system and directly uses OneDrive, which tends to be more stable.

Additional trys

Ensure the File is Fully Synced and Not Offline-Only

Check Excel Mobile Permissions

Do NOT rely on Excel's Recent Files to Pin

If this continues:

Use a third-party file manager like Solid Explorer with OneDrive plugin

Create shortcuts to Excel files from there — this avoids the Excel/OneDrive app bugs entirely

Microsoft is aware of issues with pinned file handling in Excel Mobile (reported in late 2024–2025), but hasn't patched all of them yet. Until then, OneDrive → Add to Home Screen remains the most reliable method.

My answers are voluntary and without guarantee!

Hope this will help you.

Was the answer useful? Mark as best response and like it!

This will help all forum participants.