Excel 2016 (Protected Mode) Crashing When Opening Files From Email

Anonymous
2015-09-29T23:14:57+00:00

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

  • Receive an Excel file in email (both GMail and (desktop) Outlook 2016 (using a live.com account, not a GMail one) have been tested);
  • Double click on it to open it. (Excel 2016 is already open);
  • The file opens in Excel with that irritating little "Oooooh, very dangerous! Could be scary monsters inside!" message which, I'll admit, is potentially useful for files from outside the organisation which is the only reason that I leave it on. Of course, there's no point if it doesn't actually work.

Then one of two things happens. Either

  • You go to click the Enable Editing button and Excel completely hangs on you; or
  • You get the "Excel (Protected Mode) {breathless pause...} Has! Stopped! Working! Pretending to check for a solution that has never once been found in my lifetime, please waste your time waiting" dialog.

There is nothing wrong with the file itself. I have tried with two different files, both have a problem. In both cases if instead of opening them from the Email application I save them to a trusted location I can open them without problem. But opening them directly from either browser or Outlook completely crashes Excel 2016 in a way that it didn't with Excel 2010.

Anyone else?

PS: If anyone from Microsoft responds to this post, looking into this specific question, I'll be more than happy to listen. If instead they copy and paste a script about restarting Windows in Safe Mode I may just need to throw a shoe at something.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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
2015-11-10T23:39:54+00:00

I just heard back from a displaylink tech support person.  Apparently they are aware of the issue.  He had me do a work around that has fixed the issue for me.

  1. Open a blank excel document.
  2. Go to file

3.  Go to options

  1. Go to advanced
  2. Under Display
  3. Check the box...Disable graphics hardware acceleration.

7.  Click apply.

This has fixed my issue until there is a driver update.

Thanks...Matt

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Anonymous
2016-02-24T04:16:51+00:00

Updated to displaylink driver 7.9m5 dated 2/23/2016 and problem was resolved for me.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-02-04T12:54:18+00:00

    Me too , Disabling graphics hardware acceleration in office worked great

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-02-03T05:00:44+00:00

    To anyone else experiencing this issue there is a quick workaround without having to update any drivers (This is locked down in some organisations and waiting for an update can take forever...) 

    Workaround:

    Open one of your office applications (Using Word for this example)

    Click on 'File' followed by 'Options'

    Select the 'Advanced' tab

    In the 'Display' section select the check box for option 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration'

    Hope this helps someone out there.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-02-02T21:49:34+00:00

    Hi Bruce,

       I believe many of the individuals on this thread are in fact encountering the DisplayLink issue and may benefit from the updated driver. With regards to the issue you mention - I am able to open a file from the web ( one that opens in Protected View ) while already having Excel open with unsaved changes. Is there additional information you could provide to help me in attempting to reproduce the issue you mention?

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