Fix Excel ADO Add-In Error tfcofficeshim.connect.16
Question details
Users experience an application crash or receive a tfcofficeshim.connect.16 error when using the Excel ADO add-in to connect to specific Azure DevOps instances.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Opening a workbook linked to a specific Azure DevOps instance or creating a new connection to query lists via the ADO add-in.
- Observed behavior
- Authentication succeeds, but querying lists causes Excel to crash. The faulting module is identified as Microsoft.WITDataStore64.dll with exception code 0xc0000005.
Before proceeding, ensure you have administrative access to Windows Event Viewer to check application crash logs and verify your Azure DevOps instance URL is active.
Isolate the Instance Connection and Collect Crash Logs
Since reinstalls often fail to resolve this instance-specific crash, isolating the connection and gathering error logs is required to request a patch from Microsoft.
This specific error (exception code 0xc0000005 in Microsoft.WITDataStore64.dll) generally indicates a memory access violation triggered by an incompatibility between the add-in and a specific Azure DevOps environment configuration.
Open a blank Excel workbook, navigate to the Team tab, and create a new connection to a completely different Azure DevOps instance to confirm if the crash is isolated to one specific environment.
Press the Windows key, type 'Event Viewer', and hit Enter. Navigate to 'Windows Logs' and select 'Application'.
Filter the log for 'Error' level events and find the entry where the Application Name is Excel.exe and the Faulting Module is Microsoft.WITDataStore64.dll.
Copy the full exception details, including the 0xc0000005 code, and submit these logs to Microsoft Support or the Azure DevOps developer community for a targeted fix.
Perform a Clean Reinstallation of the Integration Tools
Perform a clean sweep of the add-in components to rule out a localized file corruption.
Switch to WPS Office for Stable Spreadsheet Management
If Microsoft Excel continues to crash due to unstable COM add-ins, consider switching to WPS Office. While specific Azure DevOps add-ins require the Microsoft ecosystem, WPS Spreadsheet provides a lightweight, crash-free environment for analyzing large datasets exported from DevOps.
- 1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS Office website and click the free download button.
- 2. Install the software: Run the downloaded installation file and follow the simple on-screen instructions.
- 3. Open exported data: Export your Azure DevOps queries as CSV or XLSX files and open them seamlessly in WPS Spreadsheet for crash-free analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does exception code 0xc0000005 mean in Excel?
Exception code 0xc0000005 indicates an access violation error. In this scenario, the Microsoft.WITDataStore64.dll file attempted to access an invalid memory address while processing Azure DevOps data, causing Excel to abruptly close.
Why does the tfcofficeshim.connect.16 error only occur on specific DevOps instances?
This behavior usually points to a data formatting conflict, custom field incompatibility, or API version mismatch between the specific Azure DevOps cloud instance and the locally installed ADO add-in.
Will reinstalling Microsoft Office fix the Microsoft.WITDataStore64.dll crash?
In most documented cases for this specific Azure DevOps issue, reinstalling or repairing Office, Visual Studio, and the add-in does not resolve the crash if it is triggered by a specific instance connection. It typically requires an update or patch from the developer.
