unable to open files on excel or use and ms office tool

Question

unable to open files on excel or use and ms office tool

vartika sharma 0

when i am trying to open any file there is error -in the User's image

uploaded image. on clicking repair now-nothing is helping.

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2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Run Online Repair from Windows Settings rather than using the ineffective Repair Now button in the Excel error dialog; this repairs the entire Office suite, including Excel, Word, and other Office applications.

Run a full Online Repair

Close every Office application, including Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
Open the appropriate Windows page:
- Windows 11: Right-click Start → Installed apps.
- Windows 10: Right-click Start → Apps and Features.
Locate Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office.
Select the three dots if shown, and then select Modify.
For a Click-to-Run installation, select Online Repair → Repair.
If the installer instead displays an MSI-based repair window, select Repair → Continue.
Follow the prompts until the repair finishes, then restart Windows.
Open Excel without selecting a workbook first, and then test one of your files.

Online Repair is the full repair option; Quick Repair only detects and replaces corrupted files. Repairing Office this way applies to the entire suite, even when initiated through Excel or another individual application.[^1^](https://support.microsoft.com/office/-something-went-wrong-error-when-you-try-to-start-a-microsoft-365-app-4b4471dd-cf86-4a37-910d-35a01a6c7d17#windows-10 ""Something went wrong" error when you try to start a Microsoft 365 app")

If only Excel still fails

Test Excel in Safe Mode, which bypasses Excel add-ins, most COM add-ins, startup folders, and certain custom settings:

Press Windows key + R.
Enter:

excel /safe

Select OK.
If Excel opens successfully, go to File → Options → Add-ins.
At the bottom, select COM Add-ins from Manage, and then select Go.
Clear all checkboxes and restart Excel normally.
Re-enable the add-ins one at a time, restarting Excel after each one, to identify the conflicting add-in.^2^

If Excel does not open in Safe Mode, this does not indicate an add-in-specific problem; proceed to the next fallback instead.

If all Office applications still fail

Uninstall and reinstall Office:

Confirm that your Microsoft 365 subscription or Office licence appears under Services & subscriptions in the Microsoft account used to purchase or activate Office.
Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps.
Find Microsoft 365 or Microsoft Office, select its menu, and uninstall it.
Restart Windows.
Sign in to the same Microsoft account and reinstall Office.
Open an Office application and sign in when prompted.^3^

Back up any locally stored templates, macros, or other custom Office files before uninstalling.

References

Answer 2

Hi Vartika, this seems to be an ongoing bug with the Office apps for a couple of days which may be caused by an update, there are many people reporting this problem.

1

The 'Repair Now' button on that error popup dialog only performs a quick repair of the Office apps and that rarely resolves the problem with the Office apps, the best option is to perform a full online repair of your Office installation.

Before performing this process to ensure you do not loose the Office installation during the repair, please log into your Microsoft account on this link (https://account.microsoft.com/services/) and check to ensure your Office licence or Microsoft 365 subscription is listed correctly on your account.

Open the Settings App (gear icon on your Start Menu)

Go to Apps - Installed Apps or Apps and Features

Then, scroll down to find Microsoft Office or Microsoft 365.

Select that and choose Modify - Online Repair

That should fix any issues with your Office Installation.

2

If that does not resolve the problem, are you seeing any notification at the bottom right of your screen indicating Smart App Control security is blocking Office.