Microsoft Excel Error: "There was a problem sending the command to the program."
For the last three years or more, I’ve been living with a little annoyance with Microsoft Excel. It’s one of those things that’s just not quite annoying enough to get to the bottom of, and I figured it was some obscure registry setting I’d never find and must be something odd about my laptop setup only. Sure, I tried a few times to fix it, but I never got anywhere.
Well, today as I was moving from the laptop I’ve been using through the last three years to my brand spanking new HP Envy 15 (more about this bad boy later), I got the dreaded “There was a problem sending the command to the program.” error on the new machine. Ok, now it was personal.
The error occurred anytime I tried to open an Excel file from outside Excel by clicking on it in Windows Explorer or an email. It can look like either of these two examples:
The bottom line is that while the Excel application opens just fine, it doesn’t open the file, showing the error instead. (“Was this information helpful?” No, not so much.)
Off to the Interwebs, and I finally found a post in some obscure forum (three or four reboots later, I have no idea where it was) that gave me a clue about the cause. There’s a setting in Excel 2007 which prevents it from opening files if the request comes via Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), and it is enabled by default. Go to the Office Button / Excel Options / Advanced, and scroll all the way down to the General section. There you will see the “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)” setting checked. Uncheck the box, click OK to apply, and you’re good to go. Never mind that those very applications that want to use DDE may be other Office apps!
<UPDATE dateTime=”2011-07-21T16:48″>If you’re using Office 2007, the Office Button is the big circle with the logo in the upper left of the screen shown above. If you’re using Office 2010, there’s no longer a button, but what’s called “backstage”, shown below.</UPDATE>
Have suddenly began experiencing these error messages with Excel files, although running excel 2003 on Windows 7 system. As there is no office button in Excel 2003 – any idea how I find the options tab to change the DDE setting? Any help appreciated, cheers
I don’t have a machine running Excel 2003 that I can check anymore, but the setting is probably in the Options somewhere. I vaguely remember that the terminology didn’t change significantly across versions.
M.
“Was this helpful?” Yes!
Thanks…that’s annoyed me for some time but I hadn’t researched how to fix until stumbling across your webpage. Thanks again!
Thanks so much for the great post! I know exactly what you mean “not quite annoying enough to get the bottom of” haha… thought it was just something I’d have to “live with”
kudos marc :)
THANKS!!! I’ve been messing around trying to fix this for most of the afternoon.
Doesn’t work for me. I get the message every time I click on the shortcut to the file or the file itself, but the Office Button / Excel Options / Advanced/General section doesn’t show the “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)” checked, it’s definitely unchecked. Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate and Office 2007 with all the patches applied. Not running Zone Alarm.
This is driving me mad, and Googling for an answer reveals that it’s a common problem. If anyone can come up with an answer please post!
very good of your suggestion and if posible i want to know what the DDE (work function) and if possible pls; explan to me too.
Torpong:
I’m not sure if I understand your question. If you’re looking for an explanation of Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), there’s plenty of info on the Web.
M.
Thank You veru much……it helps alot to me.
Thanks for the fix. I was just having this error on Windows 7 running Office 97. Obviously the location of the culprit checkbox is slightly different, but your solution worked great.
For the record, Go to Tools > Options > “General” Tab. Uncheck the box: “Ignore Other Applications”
This worked on the first try and helped me fix a customer’s computer in record time! Thanks a ton.