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

Anonymous
2010-05-05T14:25:22+00:00

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.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-09-07T15:07:34+00:00

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
2012-04-09T18:19:33+00:00

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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  1. Anonymous
    2010-09-20T16:59:24+00:00

    Hi,

    I am getting the same error message described above, but I am not using Outlook.  I have an Excel workbook with defined names and the user is copy and pasting data, which includes these defined names as well as several formulas (primarily Workday).  I have looked in the folders noted in the previous answer, but there are no files in those folders.  Can you explain what causes this error and any other potential solutions?

    Thanks

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-05-05T16:28:32+00:00

    When do you get this error message in Excel program? Do you get this message when copying and pasting data, using a defined name in a formula in Excel or saving workbook?

    Clear the files from Excel startup folders mentioned below:

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Xlstart

    C:\Documents and Settings*User name*\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART

    Note: Take a backup of file before deleting.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-05-05T14:29:11+00:00

    Based on the amount of data you are talking about here I question whether XL is really the right application to use. Access or some other database app might be a better choice. Here is a link on XL memory and processing...

    http://www.decisionmodels.com/index.htm

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