in microsoft 365 Excel and Word are showing grey cells

Eamon Cotter 0 Reputation points
2026-09-16T15:14:06.5766667+00:00

microsoft 365 is no longer working for us. when i want to safe my workings in Excel and Word the "save" button is grey.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | Other | Windows
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  1. DaveM121 932.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-16T15:47:00.27+00:00

    1

    Open Word.

    At the top right of Word, log out of Office.

    Restart (not shut down) your PC, then log back into Office, is your licence/subscription then recognized correctly.

    2

    If not, log into your Microsoft account on this link, is your Office licence listed correctly there, or if that is a subscription, check the expiry date listed on your subscription, is that listed correctly.

    https://account.microsoft.com/services/

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  2. AI answer

    2026-09-16T15:14:24.35+00:00

    If Save is greyed out in both Excel and Word, the supported fixes from the available guidance are:

    1. Refresh the Office sign-in/license
      • Open any Office app.
      • Go to File > Account.
      • Sign out of the current account, then sign back in with the correct Microsoft account.
      • This can refresh the app and restore saving.
    2. Update Office
      • Open Word or Excel.
      • Go to File > Account > Update Options > Update Now.
      • If Enable Updates appears first, select that, then run Update Now.
    3. Test in Safe Mode and disable add-ins
      • Press Windows + R.
      • Type excel /safe for Excel or winword /safe for Word, then press Enter.
      • If the app works in Safe Mode, go to File > Options > Add-Ins.
      • In Manage, select the add-in type and choose Go.
      • Clear one add-in at a time, restart the app normally, and test again.
      • Some older add-ins specifically called out as problematic are Abbyy FineReader, PowerWord, and Dragon Naturally Speaking.
    4. If the file is from a shared location
      • The file may be locked by another user, which can leave commands unavailable.
      • In that case, use File > Save As to create a new copy and work in that copy, or wait until the other person closes the file.
    5. If Office apps are stopping or hanging when saving cloud files
      • There was a known issue in Microsoft 365 Version 2205 where Word, Excel, and PowerPoint could close unexpectedly when opening, closing, saving, uploading, or downloading cloud files.
      • For Current Channel, this was fixed in Version 2206 (Build 16.0.15330.20230) and later, so updating Office is important.
    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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