Fix Excel Freezing When Bolding Cells or Editing Text
Question details
The user experiences severe freezing and a Not Responding message in Excel when performing simple tasks like bolding cells, changing text colors, or pasting values.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel
- Device & OS
- Windows
- Scenario
- Formatting cells or pasting values into an active worksheet.
- Observed behavior
- Excel becomes unresponsive for 1 to 3 minutes, usually during the first formatting action after opening a workbook, and the issue persists even after reinstalling Office.
Save your current workbook to prevent data loss, ensure that your Windows operating system is fully updated, and verify whether the freezing occurs in all workbooks or just one specific file.
Change the Default Windows Printer
Excel often queries the default printer for layout metrics when applying formatting. Changing the default printer to a virtual document writer resolves driver-related freezing.
A known bug in Excel 2019 causes the application to hang when it tries to communicate with certain physical printer drivers while rendering cell formats (like bold text). Temporarily switching to a virtual printer bypasses this bottleneck.
Click the Start menu and select Settings (the gear icon), then navigate to Devices > Printers & scanners.
Scroll down and uncheck the option that says 'Let Windows manage my default printer'.
Select 'Microsoft XPS Document Writer' or 'Microsoft Print to PDF' from the list of printers, click 'Manage', and then click 'Set as default'.
Close Microsoft Excel completely and reopen your workbook to test if bolding cells still causes the application to freeze.
Start Excel in Safe Mode and Disable Add-ins
Running Excel in Safe Mode helps determine if a third-party COM add-in is causing the performance delay.
Clear Excessive Formatting in the Workbook
Workbooks overloaded with unused conditional formatting rules or custom styles can cause Excel to hang during edits.
Enjoy Freeze-Free Spreadsheet Editing with WPS Office
If Microsoft Excel continues to frustrate you with 'Not Responding' errors during basic formatting tasks, consider switching to WPS Office. It provides a highly compatible, lightweight spreadsheet environment that avoids the driver bottlenecks present in Microsoft Office.
- 1. Download and Install: Visit the official WPS website to download and install WPS Office Free.
- 2. Open Your Spreadsheet: Launch WPS Spreadsheets, click Open, and select your existing Excel (.xlsx) file.
- 3. Edit Without Lag: Apply formatting, bold cells, or paste values instantly without encountering the 'Not Responding' delay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Excel freeze only on the first formatting action after opening?
When you apply formatting for the first time, Excel queries your default printer to calculate page layout and margins. If there is a communication delay with the physical printer driver, Excel will temporarily freeze until the request times out or succeeds.
Does reinstalling Microsoft Office fix the freezing issue?
Usually, no. Reinstalling or running an online repair does not reset your default printer drivers or clear out problematic COM add-ins, which are the most common root causes of this specific Excel 2019 bug.
Can a large file size cause Excel to display 'Not Responding' when pasting values?
Yes. Workbooks burdened with excessive conditional formatting, volatile formulas, or thousands of corrupted custom styles can cause severe performance drops. When you paste values into such a file, Excel struggles to recalculate and apply formats, leading to long delays.
