How to Fix “Not Enough Memory to Run Microsoft Excel” Error

Excel is one of the utility programs that almost everyone uses, be it a student or a working professional. Though it seldom runs into errors, many have faced the 'Not enough memory to run Microsoft Excel' issue on their system.

Although the error is faced in Excel, it is mainly a system issue. The issue tends to creep up when you do not have enough free RAM.

People also experience this problem when they try to open an Excel file that is larger than 2GB. We have compiled a list of reasons why you might be facing this problem:

Current foreground and background apps have occupied all RAM, and there is insufficient free memory.
Excel add-ons are hogging too many system resources.
Third-party software or service is interfering and blocking Excel.

Now that you understand the reason behind the issue, let's get it resolved.

1. Update Windows

If you have not updated your PC for quite a while, there's a high possibility that a simple update might be able to fix your problem.

First, head to the Start Menu and click on the 'Settings' tile.

After that, click on the 'Windows Update' tile from the left sidebar to proceed.

Then, from the right section of the window, click on the 'Check for updates' button. Otherwise, click the 'Download & Install' button to download the update.

2. Update Office

Similar to Windows, Microsoft Office needs to be updated from time to time.

First, head to the Start Menu and type Excel. Then from the search results, click on the 'Excel' tile.

On the Excel window, click the 'Account' tab on the left sidebar.

Then, on the right section of the window, click on the 'Office Updates' tile. Next, click on the 'Update now' tile to proceed.

The Office will then look for an update. If one is available, you will be notified of it.

3. Perform Office Quick Repair

Microsoft Office also has a repair suite built-in. It is very helpful to straighten out minor bugs and issues with the software.

First, head to the Start Menu and click the 'Settings' icon.

After that, click on the 'Apps' tile from the left sidebar.

Then, click on the 'Installed Apps' tile from the right section.

On the next screen, use the 'Search' bar or scroll down manually to locate 'Microsoft Office'. Once located, click the 'Ellipsis' icon and select the 'Modify' option.

This will bring a UAC (User Account Control) window to your screen. If you are logged in with an admin account, click on 'Yes'. Otherwise, enter credentials for an admin account.

From the separately opened Microsoft window, click on 'Online Repair' and then click the 'Repair' button to initiate the process.

4. Empty Excel AppData Folder

First, head to the Start Menu and type the below-mentioned command and hit Enter.

%appdata%\Microsoft\Excel\

After that, press Ctrl+ A to select all files and then press Ctrl+ C to copy all the files. For safekeeping, paste the files to another location.

Then, delete all the files from the folder by right-clicking and selecting the 'Delete' icon.

Once deleted, launch Excel on your computer and check if the issue has been resolved.

5. Disable Cortana

Cortana is Windows digital assistant that was introduced with Windows 10. Even when not using Cortana, it can hog resources like memory, storage, and other system resources.

First, head to the Start Menu and click on the 'Settings' tile. You can also press the Windows+ E keyboard shortcut to open it.

After that, click on the 'Apps' tab from the left sidebar to continue.

Next, on the right section, click on the 'Installed apps' tile to proceed.

Then, either use the search bar or scroll down manually to locate Cortana.

Once located, click on the ellipsis on the Cortana tile. Then, select 'Advanced options' from the menu.

On the next screen, scroll down and turn off the toggle for 'Runs at log-in'.

After that, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on 'Terminate'.

Now, restart your PC and check if the issue is resolved.

6. Change the Default Printer and Update Printer Drivers

This is a two-step process. First, you will need to change your default system printer and then update all the drivers to ensure it isn't the cause of the problem.

To change the default printer, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the 'Settings' icon to proceed.

After that, click on the 'Bluetooth & devices' tab from the left sidebar to proceed.

Then, from the right section, click on the 'Printers & scanners' tile to continue.

Now, locate the current default printer. It will be visible on the tile. Then, click on any other available printer tile from the list.

Finally, click on the 'Set as default' option.

To update the printer driver, head to the Start Menu and type Device to perform a search. Then, click on the 'Device Manager' tile.

After that, right-click on the 'Printers' option to continue. Then, click on the 'Scan for hardware changes' option.

Now, right-click on the device you wish to install the driver for and click the 'Update driver' option. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Now, click the 'Search for drivers automatically' option to let Windows search for drivers. Otherwise, if you already have a driver package available, click on 'Browse my computer for drivers' and locate the file using the File Explorer window that opens.

7. Launch Excel in Safe Mode

When you launch Excel in safe mode, all the add-ons and plugins are disabled. If Excel works fine in Safe Mode, you can start disabling the add-ons one by one to find out which one is causing the error.

First, head to the Start Menu and type Excel. Then, from the search results, press the Ctrl key and then click on the 'Excel' tile. This will bring an alert to your screen.

From the alert, click on the 'Yes' option.

Then, click on the 'Options' tab from the left sidebar to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.

Next, click on the 'Add-ins' tile from the left sidebar to continue.

Afterward, click on the 'Manage' dropdown and select the COM Add-ins option. Finally, click 'GO'.

Then, select the add-in from the list and click 'OK'.

Repeat the step with each add-in to find the one causing the issue.

8. Launch Excel in a Clean Boot

Many times there's a third-party software or service that interferes with other software. A Clean Boot state is when all third-party software and services are disabled, and only necessary Microsoft services are running on your computer.

First, head to the Start Menu and type System Configuration to perform a search. Then, from the search results, click on the 'System Configuration' tile.

Then, click on the 'General' tab and select the 'Selective startup' option. Afterward, check the 'Load system services' option.

Now, head to the 'Services' tab and click the 'Hide all Microsoft services' option. After that, click on the 'Disable all' button.

Finally, click the 'Apply' and 'OK' buttons to save the changes and close the window.

Now, restart your PC from the Start Menu, and after the restart, launch Excel on your computer. If it is working without any issues, there is some third-party software/service that is interfering with it. Enable processes one by one to check exactly which is causing the problem.

9. Change Trust Center Settings

First, head to the Start Menu and type Excel to perform a search. Then, from the search results, click on the 'Excel' tile.

After that, click on the 'Options' tile from the bottom of the left sidebar to proceed.

Next, click the 'Trust Center' option from the left sidebar.

After that, click on the 'Trust Center Settings' to continue.

Then, click on the 'Protected view' from the next screen.

Afterward, from the right section, uncheck all the checkboxes by clicking on them.

Now, head to the 'File Block Settings' tile.

Then, uncheck all the checkboxes individually and click 'OK' to proceed.

Once done, exit and relaunch Excel to check if the problem persists.

10. Launch Excel as Administrator

One of the reasons could be that Excel is not being launched in administrator mode.

To do so, head to the Start Menu and type Excel to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, right-click on the Excel tile and select the 'Run as administrator' option.

A UAC (User Account Control) window will appear on your screen. If you are logged in with an admin account, click on 'Yes'. Otherwise, enter the password for an admin account to launch.