Microsoft Excel cannot open or save any more documents because there is not enough available memory or disk space.

Anonymous
2013-01-14T20:16:02+00:00

Hello,

I am running Office Pro Plus 2013.

I try to open a 35KB xlsx and I get this message:

"Microsoft Excel cannot open or save any more documents because there is not enough available memory or disk space.

. To make more memory available, close workbooks or programs you no longer need.

. To free disk space, delete files you no longer need from the disk you are saving to."

I have 200GB free on drive C and 16GB RAM with only 18% in use according to task manager. My Users folder is actually on D: (it's a hard shorctut) and this has 800GB free.

Excel is opening all other things fine and all other office apps work fine (as does everything else) it's just this one small xlsx that is causing me problems.

Googling comes up with lots of results and all seem to either boil down to user error (insufficient disk space) or an incorrect path. A egistry hack, which I've tried, sets the Cache folder to point to c:\Windows\Temp. This makes no difference (but everything else still works)

The spreadsheet in question has been downloaded from Google docs. I've tried a few times to download and always get the same. I've also tried the ods format and I get the same results in Excel. Downloading as PDF, or CSV is fine.

Any ideas?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2013-01-15T10:20:44+00:00

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community. As I understand, you are unable to open a particular Excel file which is downloaded from the Google docs.

Since the issue occurs with a particular file, it might be file specific issue.

Just a quick question:

What is the format of the File?

Save the file locally on the system and then try to open the file and check if it opens fine.

Right click on the saved file, click on Properties and uncheck the option Block and then try to open the file and check.

If you are still unable to open the file in Excel then open the file in CSV format, save the file as Excel file (.xlsx) and then try to open the file and check.

I hope the above suggestions helps to resolve your issue. If you need any further assistance reply and we will be glad to assist you.

Thank you.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-05-29T21:57:24+00:00

    I have a brand new computer(1 wk) with a terabyte and same issue. Not memory for sure!

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-09T09:40:49+00:00

    "Microsoft Excel cannot open or save any more documents because there is not enough available memory or disk space.

    . To make more memory available, close workbooks or programs you no longer need.

    . To free disk space, delete files you no longer need from the disk you are saving to."

    go on Excel options or on Word options, trust center, settings, and uncheck all the options about 'protected view' then click ok...

    this is simple step to work for me...THANKS TR

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-05-07T16:53:59+00:00

    I give up!  My Office2013 Excel package will not open files downloaded from trusted sources at all, therefore, I have decided that unless Microsoft sorts this problem out swift...I will purchase an alternative office package from another provider which will do what it says on the tin.  This is most frustrating not to mention expensive in time and on the pocket..

    Thanks for nothing Microsoft - it sucks

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-05-07T16:49:15+00:00

    Hi Gloster Fox,

    Re: ExcelOptions etc above

    I am sorry, I must be a bit dense but I cannot see Excel Options in my version which is Excel2013.  Where do I look to find the options you refer to please

    Try: Click File | Options 

    See: https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Add-remove-or-change-a-trusted-location-7ee1cdc2-483e-4cbb-bcb3-4e7c67147fb4

    ===

    Regards,

    Norman

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