popup windows are inactive

Copper Contributor

using office 365/excel 2016: starting several weeks ago, excel's popup windows are inactive until I click on them with the mouse. Key shortcuts for paste special, for example, don't work until I click the paste special window to activate it. This is true whether I bring it up with Alt+E , S or click the paste special icon on the ribbon, but Alt+H, V still works because the window is bypassed.

 

Ctrl+1 Format Cells & Ctrl+F Find/Replace still work normally, but other windows like Conditional Formatting Rules Manager & insert Chart are also inactive until I click in it with the mouse. Also warning boxes can't be dismissed with the keyboard until I activate them by clicking on them with the mouse.

 

Save Changes dialog is occasionally active for me (Alt+F, C on an unsaved file), but if I try sorting a single cell, for example (Alt A, S, S) and I can't dismiss resulting dialog without clicking in it first (this example is also intermittent). The normal sort box is also inactive when invoked with Alt A, S, S, but not when invoked by clicking the ribbon icon.

 

No personal.xls or other macros running.

Any suggestions for what is happening?

4 Replies

@bh126 - This began near the beginning of August for nearly everyone (~15 people) in my company about the same time.  Excel is inconsistent with regards to menus that you activate using keyboard shortcuts. For example, you "control copy" something and want to paste it as values via "Alt E, S, V". Sometimes it works because the small window that pops up IS active, but other times it does not because the small window menu IS NOT active. This issue is occurring with all small menu windows (e.g. “Alt E, F” to Find, “Alt D, S” to sort data, “Alt I, F” to insert a formula).

My I/T department set up a screen share with our Microsoft rep, but he could not help us. He said he would escalate it, but I have not heard anything for a week.

 

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/excel-prompt-windows-are-not-selected-when-th...

 

@AlanOdom - thank you for the reply! I thought it might just be me. I've tried to avoid the issue by learning some of the newer key shortcuts but when I'm stuck with the inactive popup window, alt+tab often re-activates it for me. Extra keystrokes for sure, but still beats grabbing the mouse.

@bh126 I have been facing the same issue but since more than a month from now. Read on another forum that google drive stream might be causing this error. I tried to end google drive stream task using task manager and has been working fine for me for the past 1 hour. Try it and see if it works. Thanks 

@Ritwik2285 

I also used Task Manager to End Task the Google File Stream... and it seems to be working for the past 15 minutes.  I'm back to normal.... moving super fast without the hesitancy after keyboard shortcuts.

Thank you so much!!!