Excel 2016 - Cannot type anything into a cell all of a sudden

Anonymous
2017-04-14T07:08:05+00:00

Hi,

I am experiencing a problem with Excel 2016 that is really frustrating.

I am working normally in excel 2016, when all of a sudden I cannot type anything into a cell. If I press Ecs nothing happens. I do not have macros, nor protected sheet or cells. I am working with multiple (2 or more) open excel files at the same time. I tried to figure out, if I press some combination of keys that would cause this, but found nothing. I, however, can move the mouse over the sheet and click different cells. I think the arrow keys work as well.

The strange thing that always "solves" the problem is pressing Enter. Pressing the Enter opens another Excel file that is already opened, and after simply going back to the first one, I then can work on normally. This can occur once, twice but sometimes even 10-times in a single day! Just terrible.

This is time demanding, many times I write into a cell and then see that the cell is still blank, I press the enter to make it work again, going back... - I cannot work like this.

When I was working with the same files in Excel 2013 and 2010 I hadn't have experienced such problems. 

I already read some other forums with people experiencing the same problem, but haven't found any solution yet.

Do you have any?

Thank you!

P.

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Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-09-16T22:57:28+00:00

    Have you ever gotten the resolution to this glitch?  It happens to me whenever it wants to.  I create new files almost daily and it doesn't matter.  It's so frustrating!  I agree that I've never experienced this before with an older XL version.  I love MSXL, but this really is getting under my skin!

    I initially thought it was a 32 bit vs 64 bit thing but the problem surfaced in both versions.  What finally worked for me was to disable the hardware acceleration.

    1. Click on File, then Options
    2. Select Advanced on the list on the left hand side. 
    3. Scroll to Display
    4. Check the box to "Disable Excel Graphics Hardware Acceleration"; 
    5. Click OK to save the changes. 

    Note: Someone else mentioned this in this forum about a couple months back.  I tried this and have not had the issue since.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-09-16T22:28:02+00:00

    Have you ever gotten the resolution to this glitch?  It happens to me whenever it wants to.  I create new files almost daily and it doesn't matter.  It's so frustrating!  I agree that I've never experienced this before with an older XL version.  I love MSXL, but this really is getting under my skin!

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-04-05T14:39:29+00:00

    Given the seemingly complete lack of interest from Micro$oft, the real solution is probably:

    Download OpenOffice (https://www.openoffice.org)

    Open your Excel files with OpenOffice

    Uninstall Excel

    Toast marshmallows as you burn the license agreement... 

    :)

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  4. Anonymous
    2017-11-21T08:12:36+00:00

    Dear Cliff,

    I am experiencing the exact same issues as already stated. Please see below, I am once again pasting my post.

    "Hi Cliff,

    thank you for your reply.

    I cannot confirm your steps.

    The steps are as follows:

    a) I open the existing XY Excel file.

    b) I write and type normally in this XY Excel file.

    c) All of a sudden I cannot type/write anything into any of the cells. (As if the letters on the keyboard would not be working. But I have even bought a new keyboard, and the problem still occurs.)

    d) Pressing an Enter - it jumps to another YY Excel file, that is already opened.

    e) I go back to XY Excel file.

    f) I can work on normally.

    1. The issue occurs with all combination keys.

    2. Yes, it happens in all Excel files. I haven't tried creating a new Excel file yet, as I am always working with existing ones.

    3. I hope this will suffice.

    Thank you for your help and BR,

    P.

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  5. Anonymous
    2017-04-15T10:06:35+00:00

    Hi P,

    Thanks for your updates.

    Could you provide us with a full screenshot showing the version information of Office Home and Business 2016 via File>Account?

    Given the situation, I’d like you to run Excel 2016 in safe mode via the steps in the article to see the outcome. If the issue goes away in safe mode, it shows that some anti-virus and third-party software cause the issue. You may try to close some software on your computer to check if the issue can be resolved.

    Moreover, to clarify if the issue only happens in the specific file, I suggest you create a new file and do a test on it to check the result.

    Thanks,

    Cliff

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