Safe mode troubleshooting

When you run Excel in safe mode, it bypasses functionality and settings such as alternative startup location, changed toolbars, startup folders used by Excel, Excel add-ins, and most COM add-ins. While add-ins can enhance your experience, they can occasionally interfere, or conflict with Excel.

You can safe mode troubleshoot in one of two ways:

• Use the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant to automate safe mode troubleshooting
• Manually perform safe mode troubleshooting yourself

Manually perform safe mode troubleshooting

If you didn’t use the Assistant, manually open Excel in safe mode. Do one of the following:

• If you are on Windows 11 or Windows 10, choose Start > All apps > Windows System > Run. Type Excel /safe in the Run box, and then click OK.
• If you are on Windows 8 or Windows 8.1, click Run in the Apps menu, type Excel /safe in the Runbox, and then click OK.

If Excel starts in safe mode, continue with the steps in the COM Add-ins section of this article.

COM add-ins

Use the following steps to determine if a COM add-in is causing the problem:

1. Click File > Options > Add-ins.
2. Select COM Add-ins, and click Go.
3. Clear all the check boxes in the list, and click OK.
4. Close and restart Excel in normal mode (not in safe mode).

If the issue does not occur when you restart Excel in normal mode, start enabling your add-ins one at a time until it does. This will allow you to figure out which add-in is causing the problem. Be sure to restart Excel each time you enable an add-in. If disabling COM add-ins did not resolve your issue, see if the issue is due to an Excel add-in.

Excel add-ins

1. Start Registry editor. To do this, press the Windows key + R to open a Run dialog box. Type regedit.exe and then press OK.
2. Locate and then select the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\<1x.0>\Excel\Options
   1. n the Name column, look for any REG_SZ value equal to OPEN.
      If you don’t find a REG_SZ value whose name is OPEN, continue with the Investigate possible issues with files in Startup folders section.
   2. Right-click OPEN, and then select Rename.
   3. Rename OPEN to RenamedOPEN, and press Enter.
   4. Repeat steps 4 and 5 by adding “Renamed” to the beginning of any REG_SZ value that starts with OPEN. For example, rename OPEN1 to RenamedOPEN1.
   5. Start Excel in normal mode.
   6. If the issue does not occur when you restart Excel in normal mode, start re-enabling your Excel add-ins one-by-one by removing “Renamed” from the name. You’ll be able to identify the add-in that’s causing the problem. Remember to restart Excel each time you re-enable an add-in in the registry.

Workbooks in the XLStart folder

Any workbook, template, or workspace file that you place in the XLStart folder is automatically opened when you start Excel. You can move files out of this folder and open Excel to test and identify if a specific workbook is causing the problem. To find the path of the XLStart folder and move workbooks out of it, do the following:

1. Click File > Options.
2. Click Trust Center, and then under Microsoft Office Excel Trust Center, click Trust Center Settings.
3. Click Trusted Locations, and then note the path to the XLStart folder in the list of trusted locations.
4. Move any files found in this folder to another folder location, and then start Excel in normal mode.

If the issue doesn’t occur when you restart Excel in normal mode, start moving workbooks you moved in step 4 one by one back into the XLStart folder, restarting Excel in normal mode each time. If there’s a problem with one of the workbooks in the XLStart folder, this should identify the workbook. If moving workbooks out of the XLStart folder did not resolve your issue, check workbooks in an alternate startup folder.