Solve “Excel Cannot Complete This Task with Available Resources” Error

“Hello everyone! I am running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit and Office. I am getting an error while attempting to open Excel documents. The spreadsheets are not that much large and my system has 8GB RAM, 436 GB free disk space, and i5 core processor. After searching this error I found that so many computer users are facing the same issue and there is not an appropriate solution that can fix it. This Excel cannot complete this task with available resources error can occur while nothing else is running on the system except the spreadsheet. Is there any expert who can suggest me any method to resolve this issue without any data loss? Thank you in advance.”

Are you one among those users who are facing ‘Excel cannot complete this task with available resources’ error and searching a solution for the same? If so, then don’t be panic, this post is meant just for you.

Problem

MS Excel is a spreadsheet software of the Office suite, developed and distributed by the Microsoft publisher. It allows the creation of tables, automated calculations, schedules, charts, and databases. Excel makes it easy to create tables of all kinds and to integrate the calculations. The value, in the table will update automatically based on user entries and calculations. However, sometimes while attempting to save the updates in an Excel Spreadsheet, it stops responding and says that the task cannot be completed with the available resources.

Causes

• The data saved in the spreadsheet includes more than 10,000 rows
• The excel file is large in size or comprises numerous features
• Unavailability of sufficient memory resources in the local machine
• Performing any action such as sorting or use of macros in Excel
• Using dimensions in the Pivot table report
• Opening the email attachment directly from the mail
• Too many applications are running at the same time in computer

Solution

In this section, we are going to disclose some simple methods that can resolve this Excel cannot complete this task with available resources issue quickly.

1.Check Worksheet limit

The error can occur if you have exceeded the certain Excel 2010 limits. For instance, if you are running too many calculations in the workbook. Few limitations are the following:

• Maximum size limit or spreadsheet: 1,048,576 rows * 16,384 columns
• Total number of characters a cell can include: 32,767 characters
• Max selected range in one calculation: 2,048
• Maximum nested function level in a calculation: 64

2. Check active instance of Excel

The error message can come out if multiple instances of Excel are running. Basically, this happens when more than one Excel workbook is opened at a time. It is recommended to close all the instances of Excel after that, reopen Excel workbook to test. Now, if you do not know how many Excel instances are running then, follow the steps mentioned below:

• Launch Task Manager and press Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys. Click Start Task Manager
• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys and hit a right-click on the blank area of the Taskbar
• Select Start Task Manager and click on Applications tab
• Click on the Taskbar to sort the applications alphabetically

3. Quit all applications

The error might occur if multiple applications are actively running and using system memory. Hence, it is essential to close all the unnecessary applications except Excel workbook. To do this:

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc buttons to launch Task Manager
• Now, you can check the Excel sheet with its name in Applications menu that is situated under Tasks as well as other applications that are running currently
• Hit a right-click on each program, including all other excel sheets that are running and not in use currently and choose End Task option

4. Turn off Automatic Calculation

• Open Microsoft Excel application and press ALT + F + T keys to launch Options wizard
• Click on Formulas and press ALT + M buttons to choose Manual under the Workbook Calculations. Click OK

Now, relaunch Excel program and check if the error gets resolved. If not, then move to the next solution.

5. Open Excel in safe mode

The Excel cannot complete this task with available resources error can occur if too many Excel add-in programs are running. In order to test whether an add-in is resulting in the error, start MS Excel in safe mode. Below is how to do this:

• Click on the Start menu of your computer
• If using Windows 7, type excel /s in Search programs box and hit the Enter button
• If using Windows Vista, type excel /s in Start Search box then press Enter
• Now, check the title and it should read Book1 – Microsoft Excel (Safe Mode)
• Click on the File tab and select Open
• Find the Excel workbook to test then, open it
• Launch the Excel workbook and test it now

6. Permanently disable background or startup program

Follow the instructions below to turn off the background/ startup program permanently:

• Press the Windows + R keys
• Type msconfig and click OK
• In General tab, choose Selective startup
• In the Startup tab, disable all unnecessary items
• Now, from Services menu, select Hide All Microsoft Services, then uncheck all unnecessary items
• Click OK and restart your system

7. Disable details and preview pane

Sometimes it is noticed that disabling the details pane and preview pane fixes the error. Below is how to disable it:

• Press the Window + R keys to open Run dialog box. Here, type Excel and press Enter
• Press CTRL + O keys and in Open window click on Organize button. Click on Layout
• After this, uncheck the Details pane and Preview pane

Conclusion

How to resolve ‘Excel cannot complete this task with available resources’ error is one of the most common queries searched on the Internet today. This article comprises complete information about this error message. Also, we have defined some eminent techniques by which one can overcome the issue seamlessly.