How do I fix a long delay in Excel 2016?

Question

I just bought a new computer (Lenovo ThinkPad E560 with Solid State Drive and Intel Core i5 processor) with Windows 7 and the local version of Office 2016 (NOT Office 365). I have noticed when using Excel 2016 that there is sometimes a long delay when using the buttons in the top ribbon to paste values or to change the fill color of a cell. Oddly, the delay does not happen when I do a regular paste and then use the drop-down menu that appears in the file immediately after the paste to select paste values--it is only when I use the paste values command underneath the paste button in the top ribbon. The delay varies in length, but sometimes seems as long as 30 seconds or more. During this time, Excel essentially freezes up and I am unable to do anything with any open Excel window. The delay eventually clears, the operation (whether pasting or changing cell fill color) completes, and I am able to use Excel normally again. At first I thought it had to do with the number of cells being affected, but this has happened with large and small cell ranges alike, so I don't think that is the issue. The problem is intermittent. Has anyone else seen something like this? Do I need to reinstall Office?

Solution

Change your default printer to a document printer (like XPS). Most inexplicable Office hangs are because Office insists on being in continuous communication with its printer.

You can also attempt the answers that were provided in the comments section--disabling hardware acceleration can help.

Comments

[Dave]

You could try to reinstall office. You could make sure your drivers are up to date, such as graphic and chipset

[patkim]

Try disabling Hardware Acceleration in Display Settings in Excel 2016.

[ejbytes]

Agree with @pat2015 this is what happened to me and it fixed it. Could write it up too. With me if I recall, it actually was the same thing but in the older version of Excel with the "Paperclip Guy", but in fact it was the same issue of Hardware and/or Graphic Acceleration.

[ejbytes]

Still here? Can a Jeanie close this already?

[ganesh]

While this sounds very weird I can confirm that this issue at least existed 18 years in the past and probably still does today. Old known bug in office.