Strange black areas on Excel online

Copper Contributor

I am getting really strange black and blue areas covering up part of my spreadsheet when I open it in Excel on the web, it works fine on the desktop app. Any ideas what could be causing this? I first thought it was my monitor, but that works fine for everything else (you can still see the row numbers on the left hand side).

 

Screenshot 2021-02-17 113930.png

16 Replies

We just started seeing the same thing today.

@ymcan 

Apply or remove cell borders on a worksheet Tips

  • The Borders button shows the most recently used border style. To apply that style, click the Borders button (not the arrow).

  • If you apply a border to a selected cell, the border is also applied to adjacent cells that share a bordered cell boundary. For example, if you apply a box border to enclose the range B1:C5, the cells D1:D5 will acquire a left border.

  • If you apply two different types of borders to a shared cell boundary, the most recently applied border is displayed.

  • A selected range of cells is formatted as a single block of cells. If you apply a right border to the range of cells B1:C5, the border is displayed only on the right edge of the cells C1:C5.

  • If you want to print the same border on cells that are separated by a page break, but the border appears on only one page, you can apply an inside border. This way, you can print a border at the bottom of the last row of one page and use the same border at the top of the first row on the next page. Do the following:

    1. Select the rows on both sides of the page break.

       

       

      I would be happy to know if I could help.

       

      Nikolino

      I know I don't know anything (Socrates)

@ymcan I wish I had an answer for you, but I'm just happy to see this isn't only happening to me! I've seen this on occasion for the past few weeks in Excel Online and can't figure out when/why it shows up or how to make it go away. Hoping for some answers here! I've checked settings and can't find anything that seems like it would trigger this issue.

@acsconner 

 

Anzeigeproblem - schwarze Felder in Excel

 

Hallo,

 

gehe bitte wie folgt vor:

 

Methode 1:

Deaktiviere bitte in Excel die COM-Add-Ins über Datei > Optionen > Add-Ins > COM-Add-Ins > Gehe zu und teste das Verhalten.

 

Hilft dies nicht, deaktiviere bitte auch die Excel-Add-Ins über Datei > Optionen > Add-Ins > Excel-Add-Ins > Gehe zu und teste das Verhalten.

 

Methode 2:

Setze in Excel über Datei > Optionen > Erweitert > Anzeige den Haken bei Hardwaregrafikbeschleunigung deaktivieren und teste das Verhalten.

 

Methode 3:

1. Schließe alle Office-Anwendungen.

2. Drücke auf deiner Tastatur die Tastenkombination Windows-Taste + R. Es öffnet sich das Dialogfenster Ausführen.

3. Gib den Befehl control printers ein und klicke auf OK.

4. Klicke mit der rechten Maustaste auf Microsoft XPS Document Writer und wähle Als Standarddrucker festlegen.

5. Teste bitte das Verhalten von Excel.

 

Methode 4:

1. Schließe bitte alle Office Anwendungen.

2. Drücke auf deiner Tastatur die Tastenkombination Windows-Taste + R. Es öffnet sich das Dialogfenster Ausführen.

3. Gib den Befehl regedit ein und klicke auf OK. Es öffnet sich der Registrierungseditor.

4. Navigiere bitte zu folgenden Pfaden und benenne dort jeweils den Ordner mit dem Namen Excel um zu Excel_1 (falls vorhanden und möglich):

 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel

 

5. Schließe bitte den Registrierungseditor und führe über die Systemsteuerung eine Office-Reparatur durch.

6. Teste bitte das Verhalten.

 

I would be happy to know if this info from link help.

 

Nikolino

I know I don't know anything (Socrates)

 

* Kindly Mark and Vote this reply if it helps please, as it will be beneficial to more Community members reading here.

 

@NikolinoDE 

 

My German is limited, however I had a look at option 1 & 2 (option 3 and 4 are not possible in my situation), however there is no 'Options' menu under 'Data' in Excel online. Are you sure the solution you sent refers to Excel online?

 

 

@ymcan 

Same in english:

 

Display problem - black fields in Excel

 

Hi,

 

please proceed as follows:

 

Method 1:

Please deactivate the COM add-ins in Excel via File> Options> Add-Ins> COM-Add-Ins> Go to and test the behavior.

 

If this doesn't help, please also deactivate the Excel add-ins via File> Options> Add-Ins> Excel Add-Ins> Go to and test the behavior.

 

Method 2:

 

Set the check mark for Deactivate hardware graphics acceleration in Excel via File> Options> Advanced> Display and test the behavior.

 

Method 3:

 

  1. Close all Office applications.
  2. Press the key combination Windows key + R on your keyboard. The Run dialog box opens.
  3. Enter the command control printers and click OK.
  4. Right-click Microsoft XPS Document Writer and choose Set as Default Printer.
  5. Please test the behavior of Excel.

 

 

Method 4:

 

  1. Please close all Office applications.
  2. Press the key combination Windows key + R on your keyboard. The Run dialog box opens.
  3. Enter the command regedit and click OK. The registry editor opens.
  4. Please navigate to the following paths and rename the folder with the name Excel to Excel_1 (if available and possible):

 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ Excel

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ 14.0 \ Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Office \ Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Office \ 14.0 \ Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Wow6432Node \ Microsoft \ Office \ Excel

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Wow6432Node \ Microsoft \ Office \ 14.0 \ Excel

 

  1. Please close the registry editor and carry out an Office repair via the control panel.
  2. Please test the behavior.

 

I would be happy to know if this info from link help.

 

Nikolino

I know I don't know anything (Socrates)

* Kindly Mark and Vote this reply if it helps please, as it will be beneficial to more Community members reading here.

 

@NikolinoDE 

 

Again there is no File > Options > Add-ins, or File > Options > Advanced in Excel online, are you sure this answer refers to Excel online?

@ymcan 

If you've considered all of the methods and tried them without success, take a look at this info. Maybe this will help you.

strange black lines on excel

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_excel-mso_win10-mso_2016/strange-black-l...

 

Thank you for your understanding and patience

 

Nikolino

I know I don't know anything (Socrates)

Could you please answer a few additional questions:

Since when does this problem exist?
Was the problem always like this, or did it arise after an update or a new program installation?
Does the problem only exist on your computer or on several computers?
Does the problem only exist with one document or also with a newly created document?
Where is the document? ... hard drive, OneDrive, network, Sharepoint, cloud, ect.
Do you have several versions of Office on your PC?

Additional actions you could do:
Install or update the next / latest version of Office applications.
Also, check for the latest upgrades of your operating system.
If the document is not on your PC, create a new one on your local PC and see if it behaves exactly the same.

Thank you again for your understanding and patience

Nikolino
I know I don't know anything (Socrates)

@ymcan 

Never seen such. Was your sheet coloured manually or by conditional formatting and is such effect in any browser you have?

@NikolinoDE @Sergei Baklan

The problem has now existed for a few weeks and happens on all our computers. There were no newly installed programs, and as this only affects Excel online it should not be affected by those anyway. It works on the desktop app, but most of our workers don't have access to that. There have been no updates I am aware off. The problem only exists with this particular spreadsheet as far as I know, and it is stored on Sharepoint Online. The spreadsheet is mixed manually and conditionally formatted coloured. We are always using Edge as our browser, but the problem shows up in Chrome as well.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Kees

 

One last try ... as strange as it sounds ... please change your standard printer to PDF and enter a print, then restart Excel and reset the old printer. If it has not been resolved, I recommend contacting microsoft support directly.

Thank you for your understanding and patience

Wish you a nice day.

Nikolino
I know I don't know anything (Socrates)

I'm experiencing the same problem on excel online. This is affecting more than just one person in my team. The PDF suggestion did not work. @NikolinoDE 

I'm sorry not to have helped you. but it is difficult to test without having the same file.
If possible, remove all sensitive data from the file and submit this to see where the error may be.
Because if the problem is only with this file, then the problem comes from this file too.

If this is not possible, look for a software engineer you trust in your area and instruct him to restore this file.

hank you for your understanding and patience

Wish you a nice day.

Nikolino
I know I don't know anything (Socrates)
I expect some bug in Excel Online working with some specific rule(s) in conditional formatting. But it's hard to be more concrete without the file or small sample with conditional formatting where such effect could be reproduced.

just a stab in the dark but the way the shapes are 'pointing' at cells makes me think of Trace Precedents and Trace Dependents (which are black and blue lines/arrows).  They are options available in the desktop version (Formulas -> Formula Auditing).  Maybe try opening in desktop, select all, and Remove Arrows and saving and then try again in online?