Fix Excel Workbooks Closing When Mac Enters Sleep Mode
Question details
The user needs to prevent Microsoft Excel workbooks from automatically closing or failing to reopen when their Mac enters sleep mode or the lock screen.
- Product
- Microsoft Excel for Mac
- Device & OS
- macOS (M1 Mac)
- Scenario
- Putting the Mac to sleep or locking the screen while working on active spreadsheets.
- Observed behavior
- Excel workbooks abruptly close or fail to restore their previous state after waking the Mac from sleep mode.
Manually save all your open Excel workbooks to your local drive or cloud storage before putting your Mac to sleep to prevent any accidental data loss while applying these fixes.
Disable the Close Windows When Quitting Setting in macOS
Disabling this macOS system behavior prevents applications from automatically discarding their open windows when closed or suspended.
macOS has a built-in feature that automatically closes application windows when you quit an app to save system resources. In some cases, sleep mode can trigger this behavior, causing your active Excel workbooks to disappear.
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen and select System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS versions).
Scroll down the left sidebar and click on Desktop & Dock. If you are using macOS Monterey or older, click on the General icon instead.
Locate the option labeled 'Close windows when quitting an application' and turn the toggle switch off (or uncheck the box).
Boot into Safe Mode to Check for App Conflicts
Starting your Mac in Safe Mode helps determine if a third-party background process or utility is interfering with Microsoft Excel during sleep.
Disable Automatic Logout and Lock the Screen Manually
Preventing macOS from automatically logging out inactive users ensures that background applications like Excel are not forcefully terminated.
Try WPS Office for a Stable Mac Experience
If Microsoft Excel continues to crash or close documents during Mac sleep mode, consider switching to WPS Office. It provides a highly stable, lightweight, and free alternative optimized for Apple Silicon Macs, ensuring your work remains safe and uninterrupted.
- 1. Download the App: Visit the official WPS Office website to download the macOS installer.
- 2. Open Your Spreadsheets: Launch WPS Spreadsheets and seamlessly open your existing .xlsx files without format loss.
- 3. Work Uninterrupted: Enjoy editing your documents with reliable performance, even across sleep and wake cycles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my Mac close applications when it goes to sleep?
macOS may close applications to save system memory or battery power. It can also happen if the 'Log out automatically after inactivity' privacy setting is enabled, which forcefully logs you out and terminates running applications.
Is the Excel sleep mode crashing issue specific to M1 Macs?
While it can happen on Intel Macs, this issue is frequently reported by users on Apple Silicon (M1, M2) Macs running specific versions of macOS (like Monterey). It is often tied to how macOS handles background app memory during the sleep cycle.
Will I lose my Excel data if the Mac goes to sleep and the app closes?
If AutoSave is disabled or you haven't saved your workbook manually before the Mac enters sleep mode, you risk losing unsaved progress when Excel abruptly closes.
