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Excel Says It's Out of Resources or Memory

Intermediate Excel Errors & Fixes Applies to: Windows 7, Windows 10, Windows 11

"Excel ran out of resources" or "There isn't enough memory to complete this action," even on a PC with plenty of RAM.

Before you start: save any open work and note down what you were doing when the problem started — that context helps if you need to search further or ask for help.
  1. Close other open workbooks and heavy apps — Excel's resource warnings are often about total system load, not just what Excel itself is using.
  2. Check whether you're running 32-bit Excel with a very large or formula-heavy file — 32-bit Office has a much lower memory ceiling than 64-bit, regardless of your PC's total RAM. Check under File > Account > About Excel.
  3. Reduce unnecessary formatting and unused rows/columns — select far beyond your data (Ctrl+Shift+End) and delete the excess, then save, since Excel tracks the "used range" even when cells are empty.
  4. Disable hardware graphics acceleration: File > Options > Advanced > scroll to Display > check "Disable hardware graphics acceleration."
  5. If the file is genuinely huge, consider splitting it into linked workbooks or switching to Power Query/Power Pivot, which handle large datasets far more efficiently than raw worksheet formulas.
Still not fixed? Send us the details and we'll help you dig further, or browse related guides in Excel Errors & Fixes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this mean I need to buy more RAM?
Not necessarily — this error is often caused by too many large files or programs open at once rather than genuinely insufficient RAM. Closing other applications first is worth trying before assuming a hardware upgrade is needed.
Why would a spreadsheet that worked before suddenly trigger this?
If the file has grown larger over time (more data, more formulas, more formatting), it can gradually cross the threshold where it starts running into memory limits it didn't hit before.

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