Infrequently, of course, but sometimes when opening office documents (XLS and XLSX formats), Excel error messages appear on the screen - "an error occurred while sending the command to the application." Why can't a program open "native" files? You need to figure this out. I must say that Word, Excel, and Access are equally prone to such errors. So, some of the proposed solutions to correct the situation are suitable for other applications.
What is the error in sending a command to Excel?
According to reviews of many users on various computer forums, the problem was initially noticed when trying to open spreadsheet files that were attached to an incoming Outlook e-mail message. However, then it turned out that even documents from the hard drive did not open. Why?
In any program, including Excel, an error when sending a command to an application indicates that the program cannot be closed if:
- she is in an active state;
- for some reason, the file itself is not recognized (for example, when using different versions of the office suite 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016) or modifications of operating systems that differ from each other.
The email may contain a link to the file. The Excel error in this case appears when you try to directly open the document directly in the message without saving the attachment or the original file on the computer’s hard drive. This is the most common occurrence, although other situations may occur.
The main methods of eliminating the problem in office programs
As for fixing such failures, when an error may even occur when starting Excel, here you can find a lot of options.
However, if we are talking specifically about the problem of directing the team, the most effective ways to fix the problem, if we are talking about Excel, are considered to be the following:
- Disabling DDE ignore (Excel only)
- deactivation of compatibility mode;
- disabling hardware acceleration;
- reassigning the program by default;
- Restore and reinstall the entire office suite.
Excel format: disable ignoring DDE requests
The first proposed solution, according to many, is one of the most effective. This eliminates not only the described failure, but also many other Excel errors.
The essence of the solution is to enter the program parameters through the file menu, select the general settings and go to the general configuration. Here you just need to check the box next to the ignore DDE request line. What is it, in this case is not so important. The main thing is that such a technique works almost always. But this is 99% of cases. For 1%, when this technique does not give a result, it will be necessary to apply other methods, which, by the way, are no less efficient under certain conditions.
Deactivate Compatibility Mode
It is no secret that in Windows operating systems, when installing different office suites or when using more recent versions of Office on older OSs, it is possible to run programs in compatibility mode (for example, with Windows XP).
To correct the situation, go to the "Office" directory, which is usually located in the Program Files (x86) directory. We find the executable EXE file of the main program in it, through the RMB we call the property line and uncheck the start lines in compatibility and start mode as administrator, and then we reboot the system. This option is suitable for all office applications, including Word, Excel, Access, Power Point, etc.
Hardware Acceleration Issues
Another technique is to deactivate the use of hardware acceleration. In this situation, in Excel, just like in any other office program, you need to use the same options menu with a choice of additional settings.
In the menu, we simply find the line for using hardware acceleration and uncheck it. In addition to this solution, you can disable the use of add-ons.
To do this, select the appropriate section in the options menu, go to COM add-ins and, again, uncheck the box for their use.
Installing default programs
Perhaps the error when sending the command to Excel or any other application is due only to the fact that by default the corresponding program for opening them is simply not mapped to registered file extensions.
In this case, you need to call the standard “Control Panel”, select the default program section and use the file or protocol matching menu. In the list you just need to find the Excel format, select the program of the same name and use it. If it is absent, the path to the executable file will need to be specified manually.
Repair and reinstall Office
However, errors in Excel 2007 or any other version of the application are not limited to the situations described above.
In the event that nothing helps, you can use Office Recovery Tools. To do this, use the programs and components section, where the required application is selected, click the change button on the panel at the top, and then use the recovery line for software products in the menu that appears.
If this does not help, you will have to completely remove the entire package (for this it is better to use third-party uninstallers that allow you to scan the system for the presence of residual files, folders and registry keys with their complete removal), and then reinstall it.
If the user has some unofficial version of the installer, in which the product key is missing, you can register the software package using the small KMSAuto Net utility, although this is recognized as an unlawful act. Nevertheless, for our users this is a fairly acceptable solution.
However, these steps may not be necessary. Perhaps the only problem is that the automatic update is disabled for the operating system, which, in addition to software modules and security system components, provides for the installation of updates for office products.
Alternatively, you can go to the "Update Center", set a manual search when the installation of updates for other Microsoft software products is enabled, and integrate everything that is found into the system.
What is the result?
Drawing conclusions from the foregoing, it can be noted that in most cases, the technique of disabling DDE requests helps. True, other options cannot be ruled out either. Here, intentionally, situations related to the penetration of various viruses into the system, which are also sometimes capable of blocking the work or even launching office programs, were not considered, since security issues for any user should be a priority. But in general, the main problem is eliminated quite simply, and sometimes even the usual system recovery helps.