Excel Office 365 2016 So Slow that I cannot use it

Hello John,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

To resolve this issue we need more information. Let us know the following:

1. Does this issue happen on all spreadsheets opened in Excel 365/2016 or a few?
2. Have you checked if you are able to open new blank spreadsheets and tried moving between cells and copying large amounts of data to a new spreadsheet within the same workbook, while working on the new blank spreadsheets?

You may also check if this issue occurs while working in the clean boot mode on your computers.

Refer the article below to start the computer in clean boot:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: The steps as mentioned for Windows 8 and 8.1 also apply for Windows 10.

After restarting your computer in Clean Boot mode open Excel 365/2016 and check if they work fine and you are able to move between cells and copy large amounts of data to a new spreadsheet with the same workbook.

If the issue resolves while working in the Clean Boot environment then follow the steps as mentioned under the heading ‘If you could not run a program before you performed the clean boot’ which is below the option What is next when I have a clean boot environment?

Important: Please refer to the section: How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot of the Kb article to boot the computer in normal startup after fixing the issue.

Hope the above information helps. Please reply if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

There were similar complaints about 2013 apps when they were first released.  It was a bad interaction with very specific hardware and driver combinations.

Since you have already tried "every recommendation" you leave us nothing else to suggest. Please tell us what you have tried so we can see if we have any different suggestions.

Hello John,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

To resolve this issue we need more information. Let us know the following:

1. Does this issue happen on all spreadsheets opened in Excel 365/2016 or a few?
2. Have you checked if you are able to open new blank spreadsheets and tried moving between cells and copying large amounts of data to a new spreadsheet within the same workbook, while working on the new blank spreadsheets?

You may also check if this issue occurs while working in the clean boot mode on your computers.

Refer the article below to start the computer in clean boot:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Note: The steps as mentioned for Windows 8 and 8.1 also apply for Windows 10.

After restarting your computer in Clean Boot mode open Excel 365/2016 and check if they work fine and you are able to move between cells and copy large amounts of data to a new spreadsheet with the same workbook.

If the issue resolves while working in the Clean Boot environment then follow the steps as mentioned under the heading ‘If you could not run a program before you performed the clean boot’ which is below the option What is next when I have a clean boot environment?

Important: Please refer to the section: How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot of the Kb article to boot the computer in normal startup after fixing the issue.

Hope the above information helps. Please reply if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

1. Does this issue happen on all spreadsheets opened in Excel 365/2016 or a few?  Doug225:  only happens when I open existing spreadsheets.  I was using Office 365 2013 previously.  New spreadsheets work as expected.  I have tried copying data converted to values to new Office 365 2016  but same slow running condition happened.
2. Have you checked if you are able to open new blank spreadsheets and tried moving between cells and copying large amounts of data to a new spreadsheet within the same workbook, while working on the new blank spreadsheets?  Doug225:  new blank spreadsheets work as expected.  When I copy data from old exisiting spreadsheet into new spreadsheet, spreadsheet turns sluggish and runs too slow to work.

You may also check if this issue occurs while working in the clean boot mode on your computers.  Doug225:  Have tried clean boot but it did not improve the slow running of existing spreadsheets.  Have tried this on several different laptops and all were unsuccessful.

Thank You for writing back... really need a solution for this as I am a 1099 contractor who makes a living using Excel spreadsheets.

Thank You,

Doug225:

Are these old Excel docs located externally or on OneDrive, or the local PC?

FWIW I use Excel on an almost daily basis, most of which have multiple sheets, and much vba, some docs were created under Office 2010 and I have had no such issues in any office version, 2013 and 2016

If you open Excel using the safe switch (Hold the Ctrl Key when starting excel) then within excel open the doc, what then?

Are these old Excel docs located externally or on OneDrive, or the local PC? John Coxwell:  The old excel files are in Google Drive, loaded in cloud and on each of my 5 PCs I am using Office 365 2016.  .

FWIW I use Excel on an almost daily basis, most of which have multiple sheets, and much vba, some docs were created under Office 2010 and I have had no such issues in any office version, 2013 and 2016.  John Coxwell:  I did not have any issues using old Office files until I uploaded Office 365 2016... I was using Office 365 2013 previously.  I also upgraded to Windows 10.  I had one laptop that still had Windows 7 Ultimate but it has same slow running issues as my other PCs runniung Windows 10.

If you open Excel using the safe switch (Hold the Ctrl Key when starting excel) then within excel open the doc, what then?  I have same slow running issues running Excel in safe mode.