Excel cannot complete the task with available resources. Choose less data or close applications.

Anonymous

Excel cannot complete the task with available resources. Choose less data or close applications. the size of the file is 640MB with over 250k records. I have 3.25GB of memory. It takes 5 mintues for the file to open.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

I have been experiencing this problem for months (i.e., Excel cannot complete the task with available resources. Choose less data or close applications). I am running Windows 7 and Office 2010. The problem can occur with very small spreadsheets so it has nothing to do with the complexity of the spreadsheets. After reading the other posts, especially the one from Chuthor, I began to suspect incompatibilities between Excel and other MS software that I've downloaded.

Anyway, I just uninstalled Windows Live Essentials and Microsoft Outlook Social Connector for Live Messenger, which came with an update from Microsoft on 4/7/2011. This appears to have solved the problem.

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Anonymous

We eventually opened a ticket with Microsoft. Apparently this is on their radar, with no real fix just this work around. The users were experiencing this error daily, and by disabling preview pane in the 3 necessar locations completly fixed the issue. Here is the workaround MS sent me.

Windows 7 is new with Preview/Details panes. These Preview/Details panes contribute to the "Available resources" issues, as well as our "Locked for Editing by another user" issues. We consider turning them off in these 3 locations as a valid test:

Windows:

1. Right click on Start Ribbon.

2. Click Open Windows Explorer.

3. Click Organize | Layout |

4. Uncheck Details Pane and Preview Pane.

Excel:

1. Click File | Open.

2. Click Organize | Layout |

3. Uncheck Details Pane and Preview Pane.

Outlook:

1. Open a new e-mail.

2. In the "Include" group, click Attach File.

3. Click Organize | Layout |

4. Uncheck Details Pane and Preview Pane.

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139 additional answers

Anonymous

2012-08-10T15:25:42+00:00

I've had similar issue with Excel 2010 where relatively small spreadsheets would not sort when I selected all cells. I would get an error stating that "Excel cannot complete the task with the available resources." This occurs on my laptop despite the fact that it is a high end, powerful machine compared to my work desktop computer which CAN sort cells in the exact same worksheet.

Microsoft issued a hotfix in June that worked for me. I would suggest reading the material related to it and then installing the hotfix on your machine if appropriate.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/the\_microsoft\_excel\_support\_team\_blog/archive/2012/05/22/quot-excel-cannot-complete-this-task-with-available-resources-quot-after-installing-ms12-030.aspx

Bob Mack
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Anonymous

2012-08-04T16:07:36+00:00

Great tip. I tried it and saved it as .xls and then as .xlsx. The .xls file sorted straight away but the .xlsx version played the same old trick. I am quite happy to work with the .xls file though. At least I can sort my spread sheet again. Thank you so much!
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Anonymous

2012-08-01T12:04:49+00:00

Outstanding!

This has been the only suggestion that has actually worked for me!

I have a new Thinkpad, 64 bit running Windows 7, Office 2010, and with 8GB RAM. I have been creating the same monthly report for two years without issues, but then I started getting these "cannot complete task..." messages.

After saving to .xls and then re-saving back to .xlsx, I am now able to sort my spreadsheet. BTW, it is usually about 30,000 rows and 15 columns.

Well doneSharBaitNZ !!!
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