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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  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-05T01:26:45+00:00

    Yes, I have had that checkered band (or larger) as well, and not just in Excel (Word and Outlook, though much less frequent).

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-08-05T01:14:35+00:00

    I have had this exact same problem today 5.8.20. Working on a new SurfacePro - plenty of capacity. Only one workbook open. Never had this happen before. It was just weird. I was working normally and all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, I could no longer type into any cell. Found this forum and saw that this has been a known issue for years which Microsoft has never fixed. The only thing I did prior to the glitch was install the "Wrap text" command on the quick access ribbon. Hardly something that will affect typing into a cell. I took it off the ribbon but it made no difference. 

    Another weird issue this week is Excel showing thin black checkered bands on my display!! ****? Sometimes sections of the file are covered by what can only be described as 'blank boxes' that obscure whatever you would normally see as you are looking at your file on the screen. Clicking anywhere on the screen causes the display to go back to normal. This is so consistent and pervasive that it happens all day long. Is anyone else seeing the same thing?

    It feels like the Microsoft software has been taken over by some kind of weird AI bot that wants to send us all mad.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-08-05T00:14:48+00:00

    I've been working for the last few days on a spreadsheet which has given me problems in the past. Clicking on another sheet and back used to free up a cell but this was an impossible way to work for any length of time.

    However for the last few days I have not had the problem occur. Is it conceivable that Microsoft have fixed it? I am probably speaking too soon but it is certainly a much happier experience to work without this interruption. Fingers crossed.

    Hi, is your Excel updated to the latest version?

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-04T12:24:36+00:00

    I've been working for the last few days on a spreadsheet which has given me problems in the past. Clicking on another sheet and back used to free up a cell but this was an impossible way to work for any length of time.

    However for the last few days I have not had the problem occur. Is it conceivable that Microsoft have fixed it? I am probably speaking too soon but it is certainly a much happier experience to work without this interruption. Fingers crossed.

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-07-09T19:29:45+00:00

    I do not have autosave turned on and still have this problem.

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