How to fix Microsoft Error Reporting, There was a problem with Microsoft Excel and we apologize for the inconvenience. Microsoft Excel will attempt to recover your work.

Because the crash occurs with one workbook only, preserve the current file and recover an earlier or AutoRecovered copy instead of repeatedly selecting Recover work and restart Microsoft Excel.

1. Preserve the workbook and recover an earlier version

First, duplicate the affected file in Finder so subsequent recovery attempts do not overwrite the only copy.

If the workbook is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint:

1. Open its containing folder in OneDrive or SharePoint using a browser.
2. Right-click the workbook and select Version history.
3. Open a version from before the crashes began.
4. Verify its contents, then select Restore.

Restoring replaces the current cloud version and discards edits made after the selected version, so download a copy of the current file first if those edits may still be recoverable. ^1^

If Excel can remain open without that workbook, the corresponding Mac command is File > Restore > Browse Version History. Open an older version and save it under a new name before deciding whether to restore it. ^2^

2. Retrieve the AutoRecover copy manually

Since Excel’s automatic recovery is looping, inspect the recovery folder directly:

1. Quit or Force Quit Excel.
2. In Finder, select Go > Go to Folder, or press Shift–Command–G.
3. Enter:

~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Application Support/Microsoft

4. Look for an AutoRecovery copy corresponding to the workbook.
5. Copy it to another folder before opening it.
6. Open the copied recovery file and immediately use File > Save As with a new name.

The folder is hidden, so use Go to Folder rather than browsing manually. Microsoft also notes that AutoRecover files can be removed after a manual save or when Don’t Save is selected. ^3^

3. Isolate the file from its storage location

If no usable earlier copy exists:

1. Copy the workbook to a local folder such as Documents; do not open it directly from email, a network share, external storage, or a synchronized folder.
2. Try opening the local copy in Excel for the web.
3. If it opens, save or download it as a new .xlsx file.
4. If it opens only partially, copy the required worksheets or data into a new workbook and validate formulas, charts, links, macros, and PivotTables.

Microsoft recommends moving a workbook to a local disk before recovery when a network or disk condition might prevent it from opening. Its documented Open and Repair workflow is a possible fallback on a Windows installation of Excel, but the supplied menu sequence is not documented as a current Excel for Mac command. On Windows, use File > Open, select the copied workbook, open the arrow beside Open, and choose Open and Repair > Repair; if that fails, choose Extract Data. ^4^

4. Treat an application-wide repair as a fallback only

Your report shows Excel 16.114.3 build 26102720, released October 27, 2026. ^5^ Microsoft’s current Excel for Mac known-issues page does not list this exact build-specific, single-workbook crash. ^6^

Do not start by deleting Excel caches or reinstalling Office: the documented recent-cache workaround applies when Excel exhausts memory on every cold launch before any workbook opens, which does not match a crash limited to one file.

If Excel later starts crashing with blank and unrelated workbooks too:

1. Quit all Office applications.
2. Move com.microsoft.Excel.plist from ~/Library/Preferences to the desktop.
3. Test Excel.
4. If the problem remains, restore the file; if resolved, discard it.

Microsoft documents preference corruption as an application-startup cause, but this is a conditional fallback rather than the primary fix for a single workbook. ^7^

If neither an earlier version, AutoRecover copy, Excel for the web, nor Windows Open and Repair can recover the workbook, submit Help > Feedback from another Office application and attach the crash report, workbook format, file size, and the last operation performed before the failure. Do not attach the workbook if it contains confidential data. ^8^

References

1. Restore a previous version of an Excel file | Microsoft Support
2. Collaborate on Excel workbooks at the same time with co-authoring
3. Recover files in Office for Mac | Microsoft Support
4. Repair a corrupted workbook | Microsoft Support
5. Update history for Office for Mac - Office release notes
6. Fixes or workarounds for recent issues in Excel for Mac | Microsoft Support
7. "Microsoft Excel has encountered a problem and needs to close" when starting Excel for Mac
8. How do I give feedback on Microsoft 365? | Microsoft Support