Office Apps Freezing

Fix Excel Freezing When Opening a Specific File on Mac

Aamir Naveed Akram Oct 10, 2026 868 views

Question details

Excel becomes entirely unresponsive and consumes significant CPU and memory when opening one specific workbook.

How to Fix Excel Freezing When Opening a Specific File on Mac

Product: Microsoft Excel
Device & OS: macOS (Apple Silicon)
Scenario: Attempting to open and edit a specific Excel workbook on an Apple Silicon Mac.
Observed behavior: The Excel application freezes, CPU and memory usage spikes to over 1 GB, and a crash report displays a SIG_HANG_QUIT error.

Before you start

Duplicate the problematic workbook in Finder to create a safe backup, and ensure no other heavy applications are running in the background.

Solution 1Recommended

Test in Mac Safe Mode and Remove Unnecessary Objects

Safe Mode isolates OS-level conflicts, allowing you to open the file and strip out heavy elements causing the crash.

If the file opens successfully in Safe Mode, the issue may be related to background processes, or the workbook itself is overloaded with complex formatting and hidden objects.

Enter Mac Safe Mode

Shut down your Mac, then press and hold the power button until 'Loading startup options' appears. Select your volume, press and hold the Shift key, and click 'Continue in Safe Mode'.

Open the Problematic File

Launch Excel and attempt to open the specific workbook that was causing the SIG_HANG_QUIT error.

Clear Formats and Objects

If it opens, navigate to 'Edit' > 'Clear' > 'Clear Formats' on any unused rows or columns. Delete any unnecessary charts, hidden images, or broken external links.

Save and Restart

Save a new copy of the optimized file using 'Save As', then restart your Mac normally.

Test in Mac Safe Mode and Remove Unnecessary Objects

Identifying App vs. File Issues: Try creating a completely blank workbook first. If the blank workbook opens perfectly but the specific file freezes, the issue is strictly isolated to that document's contents.

Solution 2

Restore an Earlier Version of the Workbook

If the current file is corrupted and causing a SIG_HANG_QUIT error, rolling back to a previous version can bypass the corruption.

Solution 3

Clear Excel Preferences and Reinstall the Application

Corrupted application preferences can cause high CPU usage and freezing on Mac, requiring a reset or clean installation.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Open Heavy Spreadsheets Smoothly with WPS Office

If Microsoft Excel continues to freeze, consume excessive resources, or crash with SIG_HANG_QUIT errors on your Mac, WPS Office offers a highly optimized, lightweight alternative. It natively supports Apple Silicon, ensuring your complex spreadsheets load quickly without hanging.

1. Download WPS Office: Download WPS Office for Mac from the official website.
2. Install the App: Install the application and open the WPS Spreadsheets module.
3. Open Your File: Drag and drop your problematic Excel file into WPS to load and edit it smoothly.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Excel formats (.xlsx, .xls, .csv).Lightweight architecture consumes significantly less CPU and memory.Native support for Apple Silicon Macs ensures fast, crash-free performance.Familiar interface means no learning curve when switching from MS Office.

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Excel freeze only on one specific file?

This usually indicates file-level corruption or excessive resource demands. The workbook might contain thousands of unused formatted cells, invisible objects, volatile formulas, or broken external links that overwhelm your Mac's memory when loading.

What does the SIG_HANG_QUIT error mean in a Mac crash report?

A SIG_HANG_QUIT error means that the application (in this case, Excel) stopped responding to the macOS operating system for an extended period. Because it is entirely unresponsive and hogging CPU resources, macOS or the user ultimately forces the application to quit.

Is there a Quick Repair option for Excel on Mac?

No, the 'Quick Repair' feature is exclusive to Windows. On a Mac, you can achieve a similar troubleshooting result by starting in Safe Mode, deleting the Excel preferences folder in the hidden Library directory, or reinstalling the application entirely.

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