Office Apps Freezing

Fix Excel Showing a Blank Screen While Scrolling on iPad

Phi Hung Vo Oct 12, 2026 869 views

Question details

Users report that Microsoft Excel displays a blank or incomplete view and pauses for several seconds when scrolling through workbooks on an iPad, despite working fine on an iPhone.

How to Fix Excel Showing a Blank Screen While Scrolling on an iPad

Product: Microsoft Excel
Device & OS: iPadOS
Scenario: Scrolling through workbooks or small tables in the Excel app on an iPad.
Observed behavior: The screen goes blank or incomplete during scrolling, and the rows only render after the scrolling stops.

Before you start

Ensure your iPad is connected to Wi-Fi and your spreadsheets are synced to the cloud before performing any app or system updates.

Solution 1Recommended

Update iPadOS and the Excel App

Since this is often an OS or app-specific rendering bug, updating to the latest versions can resolve compatibility issues causing the blank screen.

Rendering delays and blank screens on specific devices like the iPad Pro are frequently tied to bugs in either the iPadOS version or the Microsoft Excel build. Installing the latest patches ensures known bugs are fixed.

Update iPadOS

Open the 'Settings' app on your iPad, navigate to 'General', and tap 'Software Update'. If an update is available, download and install it.

Update Microsoft Excel

Open the 'App Store', tap your profile icon at the top right, and scroll down to the 'Available Updates' section. Tap 'Update' next to Microsoft Excel.

Restart the iPad

Press and hold the power button and either volume button until the power-off slider appears. Drag the slider, wait 30 seconds, and turn the iPad back on.

Solution 2

Test with a New Workbook

Creating a new workbook helps identify if the scrolling lag is caused by file corruption or complex formatting in your current document.

Solution 3

Report the Issue to Microsoft Support

If the issue persists across all files and updates, reporting it directly helps Microsoft investigate and patch this iPad-specific bug.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Try WPS Office for Smooth Spreadsheet Scrolling on iPad

If Microsoft Excel continues to lag and freeze while scrolling on your iPad, WPS Office provides a lightweight, highly compatible, and free alternative. It is optimized for mobile devices and handles large spreadsheets smoothly without frustrating blank screens or rendering issues.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Excel formats (.xlsx, .xls, .csv).Optimized for iPadOS to ensure smooth rendering and scrolling, even with complex data.Lightweight app design prevents screen freezing and excessive battery drain.Familiar user interface makes switching from Microsoft Excel seamless.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Excel scroll perfectly on my iPhone but not my iPad?

This discrepancy usually occurs due to app optimization issues specific to the iPad version of Excel or display rendering bugs in iPadOS that do not affect the smaller screens and different scaling logic of iPhones.

Does the size of the Excel table cause the blank screen on the iPad?

While extremely large files can cause rendering lag, users have reported this specific blank screen issue happening even with very small tables, indicating it is an app or OS compatibility bug rather than a file size limitation.

Will uninstalling and reinstalling the Excel app fix the scrolling issue?

Reinstalling can sometimes clear corrupted cache data that causes rendering problems. Ensure your files are backed up to OneDrive or iCloud before deleting the app, then download it fresh from the App Store.

Can background apps cause Excel to freeze while scrolling?

Yes, having too many resource-intensive background apps can limit the RAM available for Excel to render pages quickly. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen and close unnecessary apps to free up memory before opening Excel.

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