Excel constantly crashing

[chisox721]

Hi guys-I've been very frustrated with Excel lately. I have a few different files that seem to lock up on me all the time and I'm not sure what is causing it or how to prevent it (1 file is 13mb and the other 8mb). I bought a new computer last summer with 12gb of memory in hopes that it would solve my issues, but unfortunately it hasn't helped much.

Are the files just too big for my computer to properly handle or could there be some sort of other underlying issue? I've done some research but can't seem to pinpoint a specific resolution. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kersplash]

Can it be isolated to certain files or can you start a blank workbook and still have it crash?

I consistently work on much larger files than this with few problems.

[chisox721]

Can it be isolated to certain files or can you start a blank workbook and still have it crash?

I consistently work on much larger files than this with few problems.

I'm fairly certain it's isolated. These files do have a decent amount of formatting and formulas. Also, it will lock up when I'm not even using the file. I have 3 monitors, so for example I will have the 13mb file open on one monitor while browsing the web and it will just freeze on me.

I know having the file open + 1 Chrome tab adds to the workload but when I check memory usage it still hovers at below 40% (still seems too high to me). I'd be more willing to live with the situation if my computer was old but I've only had it for 9 months!

[sandy666]

separate the presentation layout from the data layout
remove unnecessary formats (CF, colors, etc...) - data is data not a Christmas tree with a gewgaw
you can use separate wworkbook to get presentation data from data workbook
try zip file then unzip and check how big it is before and after

12 GB RAM is a very big memory

[chisox721]

separate the presentation layout from the data layout
remove unnecessary formats (CF, colors, etc...) - data is data not a Christmas tree with a gewgaw
you can use separate wworkbook to get presentation data from data workbook
try zip file then unzip and check how big it is before and after

12 GB RAM is a very big memory

The 13mb file does have a lot of formatting that I've been trying to cut down on, but the 8mb file doesn't really have any. I will try zip/unzip now. Thank you for the reply!

[sandy666]

btw. if you've many files on desktop try to move them into a folder. Better is to have a few folders than many files - because windows read first desktop and files and folder. If you have 1000 files in one folder windows reads 1 item not a 1 thousand, whatever you do windows reads everything on the desktop every time
try clean up Temp folders (user and windows)
all above slow down computer and hence slows down excel and it takes unnecessarily too much memory
try chkdsk & defrag your C drive

If you've a big data try to use any database tool, like access, sql, db2 or something like that. Excel is not a database.

Edit:
I forgot this is an Excel not a Windows section