Problem Opening Files in Excel
Sometimes, temporary files and folders stored in the C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
folder can cause issues when trying to open a workbook file in Excel. You can back up the contents of this folder and then clear the folder to improve performance when opening a workbook.
To improve Excel performance when opening a workbook:
-
Close all applications and restart your computer once.
This is to ensure that there are no hidden instances of Excel running in the background.
-
After the reboot, create a folder on your computer (for example, in the
Desktop
or theDocuments
folder) and give is a descriptive name (for example,Excel AppData Backup
). -
Open Windows File Explorer, then select the View menu, and then select the check box to show Hidden items.
-
Navigate to:
C:\Users\User_Name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
Replace
User_Name
with your Windows login user name. -
Use Windows Cut and Paste to move all the files and folders from the directory you created in the previous step to the backup folder that you created in step 2.
The
C:\Users\User_Name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel
folder should be empty. -
In File Explorer, go to the View menu and clear the Hidden items check box.
-
Close File Explorer, and then start Excel.
-
Try opening the files that you were having problems opening earlier.