Try this temporary solution:
Disable wifi (or toggle on airplane mode) when it freezes and then enable it again.
After doing this the app works fine until I restart it (Excel application?) again.
Credit can be found in:
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I have noticed in the last few days that the Excel app is malfunctioning on my iPhone. Version 2.102.1. I have tried deleting and reinstalling it. The app seems to struggle when I search for text in spreadsheets. It starts to hang and freeze. Can someone please look into this? It was fine before.
The spreadsheet also seems to go blank when I’m scrolling down.
This is ridiculous and so very frustrating. Doesn’t MS check how an app is running before releasing updates publicly? A satisfactorily working app has been completely stuffed up!
I hope they take this seriously. I have not yet found similar post / discussion elsewhere yet it's not only affecting my device, but also my friends so I expect that it's a very severe issue that should be addressed asap.
I try editing a sheet and the app freezes. Sucks!
Frustrating! All of the steps I’ve tried with no success!
Amazing that this problem is nowalready happening for days and no response from MS
I did notice that you have log log off and on MS365 apps and you’ll have one time access (no freezing) on Excel (and Word, for that matter).
Thanks Petri - this worked for me!!
BK: But it’s a one time remedy. After you close Excel, you’ll have to re-signaali off and on. Very frustating. I wish there’d be LibreOffice for IOS …
Please fix Excel app for Iphone. Not only does the app no longer work on Iphone (crashes or just will not load spreadsheets), but I updated a spreadsheet on my laptop then attempted to access it again using the phone app and it completely wiped out all the changes I had made by restoring to a previous version somehow. I couldn't find my edits in version history on the laptop, so they were just lost.
App freezes on iPhone. Frustrating
Have you guys tried this yet?
Disable wifi (or toggle on airplane mode) when it freezes and then enable it again.
After doing this the app works fine until I restart it (Excel application?) again.
Credit can be found in:
Petri, you are right! But Wifi toggle also seems to work and is much quicker than logging out every time. Hopefully fix coming soon! 🤞
Now it won’t let me switch to a different sheet in the same file. Can you please fix these bugs, Microsoft.
Is MS going to acknowledge that there's a problem here? We reply on this app. How can MS release an update without testing it properly?
Agreed we are paying to subscribe to something we cannot use at all this is ridiculous.
Also having the same problem since the update. It’s not usable anymore
And you know what’s the best part? They are charging us more and we can do nothing about it!
Everything is working again.
No, still Excel freezes. Word, too. Airplane mode on/off for a temp remedy.
No it’s not working. Excel is still the same
An update was released just 4hrs ago with detail bug fixes but doesn’t seem to solve the issue of freezes when I tried editing.
Another blip is missing titles and gaps where they should be - action works but in this example the word “copy” is missing - there are other areas where this is happening too.
Copy has moved - click the arrow to right. Wrong place but there it is!
It hasn’t moved if you click the space where it should be then it copies. It’s just the word that is not visible. I’ve used it a few times since this change has happened - bit poor really than this version has not been thoroughly tested for obvious issues like a missing word in an action box.
Has anyone received any answers yet? Surely this is affecting everyone?
I have the same problem! 😩 No suggestions have worked.
I try to do anything at all and it freezes edited to add: I placed my phone on airplane mode. As soon as I did, it immediately started working.
Basic failure when opening Excel files, freezes, not displaying rows correctly, simply not working on this release. Switching to Apple equivalent apps now.
MS finally did an update to fix “bugs” must not of tested that either because same issues. When you pay for a product like this it should have to be tested and work before being rolled out.
Right you are. Got both updates (Excel, Word). Same behaviour, airplane mode toggle is still the remedy.
Can IOS’s version of Excel handle 25000+ rows and all Excel formulas?
I have the same issues with Excel everytime i try to use it on my Iphone it Freezes so cannot work on my spreadsheets,Have tried deleting and re installing but still the same,Microsoft can see hiw many people are having the sane issue so they need ti respond ti every one and say when this will be fixed
Toggling wifi airplane mode is ineffective for me. Has MS acknowledged this problem & declared that they’re actually working on a solution? Can we just go back to the previous version?
WTF? why I even pay for this bullshit? The app is not working at all. It’s last time I paid for office. F you ms.
Worked for 10 seconds after toggling airplane mode then froze again and blanked out parts of the worksheet in Excel
Opening Safari then Excel online has worked. The other ways no. Hopefully this issue will be fixed soon because opening Excel online is different than the app.
M$ released 2.102.2 (25101813) update for Excel and Word. No change, however. Same noin-working behaviour.
I am running an iPhone XR, up to date with all the latest updates, and it repeatedly crashes using a basic spreadsheet upon launch. The Airplane mode does nothing different for me. Microsoft, get on this serious bug YOUR team introduced. If you can't fix it, rollback the versions until it does work.
I think this glitch has happened because Microsoft gets 30% of its code from AI. So this is a huge glitch made by AI I guess.
Also the latest update did not fix the problem. Now new cells are not loading and shafting tabs is a nightmare.
Having the same issue.
I’m still having this problem. The only way I can get excel to work for about 10 minutes is to completely shut down my phone and restart. When is this going to be fixed. We pay for this app
Both Excel and Word continue to freeze on my iPad and iPhone. Disconnecting WiFi seems to be a temporary fix. 10/26/2025 Update: both my iOS Excel and Word are working mostly like they should after the V2.102.3 for iOS update. One lingering problem is when searching for an ascii(32) after copying and pasting these spaces from website data, Excel is unable to find the copied space character like it used to.
It freeze here and there when I try to edit. Takes a few tries to just edit one cell.
Just can’t understand Microsoft they can see all these comments about this problem
very quick at charging us all to use this app but not very good at solving the Problem
Latest update just pushed out today fixed the issue for me!! 👍
Latest update from today fixed the issue for me!!
What update? I didn’t get one. What number is it?
V2.102.3 for iOS
Well that’s good news hope the problem has been solved now 👏
Well, Copilot is not working but who needs that anyway.
New version of Excel- and Word-app of oktober 24 solves the problem!
Try this temporary solution:
Disable wifi (or toggle on airplane mode) when it freezes and then enable it again.
After doing this the app works fine until I restart it (Excel application?) again.
Credit can be found in:
I tried that, no such luck
I have found that if you use the copilot365 app excel works as normal, however until the normal excel app is working I dont know whether it is being updated to the data i have input so far.
Your answer helped a lot, thank you!
This Copilot thing kinda made my day!
I’ll take that back. Copilot helped maybe for 12 hours, now when I open Copilot, it will not launch anything. Back to airplane mode toggle.
Did you use search after opening?
Yes, I did.
I have both working now so not sure what’s wrong. There was a co pilot update today? Could be that
Well, Copilot asked me to change to Excel, did that and it ended up screwing things up. Rebooted the iPad and now I do have access to Excel through Copilot version 2.103.
Now from now on I’m not touching anything …
Very wise if it ain’t broke dont fix it
In this case it’s more like ”it’s broken handle with care, fragile”
Hi There,
Thanks for reaching out. I know how frustrating it is when an app you rely on like Excel starts freezing or going blank, especially when it was working perfectly just days ago.
This issue seems to be tied to Excel version 2.102.1 on iOS, which may have introduced a bug affecting how the app handles search and rendering in spreadsheets.
This can cause the app to hang, freeze, or display a blank screen when scrolling or searching particularly in larger or more complex files.
Reinstalling the app doesn’t resolve it because the problem likely lies in the app’s current build or compatibility with recent iOS updates.
Force Close and Reopen Excel:
Swipe up from the bottom of your iPhone screen and close Excel completely
Reopen the app and try again
Check for App Updates:
Go to the App Store > Excel > Update
If a newer version is available, install it
Restart Your iPhone:
A fresh reboot can sometimes clear temporary memory issues affecting app performance
Use Excel Online as a Temporary Workaround:
Open Safari and go to Excel Online
Sign in and open your spreadsheet there
You can submit feedback directly from the app:
Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app - Microsoft Support
Tap your profile icon > Help & Feedback > Send Feedback
Let me know how it goes, Happy to help!
Same issue with me. Even opening an a new workbook freezes then have to force close the app. Deleted and redownloaded, still happening.
iOS 18.6.2 iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Excel v 2.102.1
Similar issue here where the app just freezes. Opening an file and the outside range of the screen just does not load when scroll up/down/left/right, similar issue observed in a new workbook so it's not related to a specific file and seems to be a rendering issue. The app is completely unusable now.
Tried with all the suggestions above: Force Close and Reopen Excel / Check for App Updates (already using the latest version) / Restart Your iPhone / Reinstall the app. None works.
iPhone (iOS 26.0.1) and Excel version 2.102.1.
It was upgraded to the versions above since 16 Oct 2025, however only started to have this issue since today.
Please help as I use Excel on my phone on a daily basis, probably a few times in an hour to keep my expense records up to date.
Same issue here since latest app update. Looks like a bug like you said. Website works as a workaround until MS pushes update out.
Is there a way to reinstall b earlier version.
I don't think web version works on iPhone. It asks me to edit in app.
Requesting the desktop website? somehow it slowly scroll up automatically, it's a joke.
I have same issue. Is Microsoft aware of this problem?
I have reported this issue to MS in Excel app, would appreciate if other affected users also report and hope MS could speed things up. This is utterly unacceptable.
I don’t want work arounds. I want a fix. Wake up, MS!
I've tried all these things and nothing is fixing the issue. :(
I tried all of this it didn’t not work and now won’t even let me open a spreadsheet
I appreciate the routine steps to correct the issue. It’s a great suggestion.
But this is a failed regression testing deployment of a new update with Excel.
iOS excel which I use every day freezes when I go to edit the first so within seconds. This is occurring on my iPad and my iPhone one running the new iOS the first running last years iOS.
The workaround described above worked great. I turned off Wi-Fi but remain connected on my cell phone signal, my file was updated to the cloud and I was able to easily edit the file without it freezing. This suggests that there must be some call to Microsoft cloud that is causing the app to freeze. This did not happen on the new update to Microsoft Word. I hope a fix can be deployed soon.
Work around as described. Simply turn off Wi-Fi..
I had the same problem before update the app, Microsoft said that because I haven’t updated my app but same issue happened after update 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
I had to update the app and it appears to working now. Try the steps above. Thank you.
It’s not resolved. It may seem like it for a little while but then stops again
Update worked for me. I had to reboot the app but after that it has been working well again.
The Hub docs not run in IOS, nor it recognizes IOS problems on Windows app.
This update just bricked the app on my iPhone 12 mini. I have to turn on airplane mode and turn it off to make it work again as told by someone here. Pls Microsoft fix this.
Thank you for the tip
This is a reported issue with the latest Excel app version on iOS. Microsoft is likely aware and should address it in an upcoming update. In the meantime, use Excel Online as a workaround.
Please advise how is Excel Online (web version) a workaround when it does not allow to edit the workbook.
Excel Online does not allow editing on all mobile devices, as shown in your screenshot. If editing is blocked in both the app and browser, there is currently no workaround except to wait for a Microsoft update or use a desktop browser.
I ended up finding a workaround. I don’t know where you guys save your files, but I was saving mine to my iCloud. I ended up saving my spreadsheet to my OneDrive and that seemed to do the trick. So maybe you can try saving it to your OneDrive if it’s not already there.
My files are all on OneDrive and issue persists
I save files to OneDrive and still have the same problem with both Excel and Word
Never mind after one day of using the app, it doesn’t work anymore. Scratch the comment of it works for me now. Bleh.