miscrosoft excel is asking to repair and excel is not opening

Question

miscrosoft excel is asking to repair and excel is not opening

Bharathi S 0

Ron Barker 2,375 Reputation points

2026-11-12T10:02:07.4833333+00:00

Hi, as per AI do an Office Repair, try a quick repair first, if does not work use the Online Repair. This will reinstall Office as part of the repair process and you will need to be signed in with your Microsoft Account: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/lifecycle/repair-an-office-application

2 answers

Your answer

Ron Barker 2,375 Reputation points

2026-11-12T10:02:07.4833333+00:00

Hi, as per AI do an Office Repair, try a quick repair first, if does not work use the Online Repair. This will reinstall Office as part of the repair process and you will need to be signed in with your Microsoft Account: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/lifecycle/repair-an-office-application

Answer 1

Hi Bharathi S, 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.

Answer 2

Run a full Online Repair of Microsoft 365 or Office rather than relying only on the repair button shown when Excel fails.

1. Run Online Repair

Windows 11

Right-click Start and select Installed apps.
Find Microsoft 365, Microsoft Office, or the standalone Excel installation.
Select the three dots (…) beside it, then select Modify.
For a Click-to-Run installation, select Online Repair → Repair.
- If only Repair and Continue appear, select those options instead.
Complete the prompts, restart Windows if requested, and open Excel again.

Windows 10

Right-click Start and select Apps and Features.
Select Microsoft 365, Microsoft Office, or Excel.
Select Modify.
Choose Online Repair → Repair, then complete the prompts.

Online Repair repairs the entire Office suite, even when only Excel is affected. Quick Repair is faster but performs a more limited replacement of damaged files.^1^

Online Repair requires an Internet connection and may require Office activation afterward. Keep the Microsoft account associated with the Office licence available.

2. If Excel still does not open

Test whether an add-in is blocking startup:

Press Windows key + R.
Enter:
```
   excel /safe
```
Select OK.

If Excel opens and its title bar shows Safe Mode:

Select File → Options → Add-ins.
At the bottom, select COM Add-ins from Manage, then select Go.
Clear all checkboxes and select OK.
Close Excel and open it normally.
If it works, re-enable the add-ins individually, restarting Excel each time, to identify the problematic add-in.^2^

If Excel does not open in Safe Mode even after Online Repair, uninstall and reinstall Office:

Confirm the Office licence appears under the Microsoft account’s Services & subscriptions page.
Open Control Panel → Programs → Programs and Features.
Uninstall existing Microsoft Office installations.
Restart Windows.
Return to Services & subscriptions, select Install, and run the downloaded installer.^3^

Uninstalling Office does not normally delete Excel workbooks, but back up important files before proceeding.

References