Excel freezes till I save another worksheet

[sward-uk]

Strange one; I can be working on a spreadsheet (on a laptop using Excel and not the web version) and it will no longer let me click into a cell or enter data etc.  The only two ways to 'unfreeze' are to move to another open spreadsheet, save that one and then revert back to the one that was not accepting any actions, or close the spreadsheet and reopen.

• leaving it for a period of time does not help
• saving the inactive sheet does not help - it needs to be another open sheet
• It can happen to any open spreadsheet and I have not managed to find any particular sheet that is open when this happens
• It can happen once a day or several times in just a few minutes

Any thoughts oh wise ones?

[#2]

@sward-uk 

If I may recommend, describe exactly (step by step) when and how the problem arises.

Informing about your Excel version, operating system, storage medium and Excel file type, it would be a great advantage to get a more accurate solution.

Nevertheless, I found you this link with different solutions.

Please make sure to do an update in advance.

Excel not responding, hangs, freezes or stops working

This link discusses troubleshooting steps that can help resolve the most common issues when you receive an Excel not responding error, Excel hangs or freezes when you launch it, or open an Excel workbook. These types of problems may occur for one or more of the reasons listed below.

Follow the solutions provided in this link in order. If you have previously tried one of these methods, and it did not help, please go to the next solution in the list.

[#3]

I would advise doing an application repair. This is a good place to start troubleshooting after you make sure your computer has done the necessary updates and that you have restarted it. I would also advise doing a restart, not a shut-down, once or twice a week to keep things running correctly.
To do a Microsoft 365 repair go into your control panel and in the top right corner click the drop-down box to make sure you are viewing by "large icons". Next click on Programs and features. Then click Microsoft 365, and then click Change. Select Quick Repair, and then click Repair.

You can find more information on this process at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/repair-an-office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b4...

[#4]

Thanks @NikolinoDE - good point, well made!
Surface 4 laptop, windows 11, using laptop disk storage.
current version of Excel on the laptop -= Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2209 Build 16.0.15629.20256) 64-bit
Typically have 2-6 spreadsheets open and working, can be many more - never been an issue in all my years
when using Excel over the past couple of months, it would periodivcally hang. Literally I could be doing data entry, reformatting, copy & paste, any normal task and it would just stop allowing any action with the cells. I can save the sheet.
at this point I can either close and re-open or I can flip to one of the other open sheets and save it, anyone is fine. I go back to the sheet that was hung and can now continue.

one theory was that it could be to do with data links, none are there in any open sheets now. another theory was printing to file, that is disabled.

there are no macros on any of the sheets, they are all XLSX files.

software is all up todate, and computer restarted often

[#5]

@sward-uk 

If I may add, that might help without a guarantee.

Run a repair if that doesn't help Start Excel in Safe Mode and disable all AddIns.

Then close Excel and start it normally. If the error has been corrected, then switch on the AddIns again individually to see where the error is coming from.

If that doesn't help either, you could try disabling the virus software and then try.

Sometimes problems occur in excel caused by third party software.

If none of this helps, then the last step is to uninstall and reinstall Office.

Nevertheless, I hope that one of these suggested solutions will help you.