Excel double-click issue on MacMini M4 with latest macOS and MS Office

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Level 1

34 points

Excel double-click issue on MacMini M4 with latest macOS and MS Office

I have also tried reaching out to Microsoft, but they contend that it is not their software causing the issue, so thought I would try here.

The problem: latest version of MacOS and MS Office on a new MacMini M4. Inexplicably Excel started being weird - if I try to double click a cell to edit it (or edit as cell within the "formula bar"), is gets "stuck" - the mouse behaves as though I am holding down the mouse button. So, for example, if there is a string "12345" in the cell, and I double click, inserting the cursor between the 2 and the 3, the cursor disappears, and then if I move the mouse left it highlights "12", and right it highlights "345". But the cursor is sort of trapped there, in that I cannot click on another cell, escape won't get me out, and command-Q will not quit Excel. Weirdly, if I put the mouse under Excel's "File" menu, I can quit excel that way.

What I tried that made no difference: 1. I uninstalled and reinstalled MS Office. 2. I started in Safe Mode. 3. I reinstalled the OS. 4. I used Disk Utility and Onyx to check the drive and clear caches. 5. In desperation, I reset the machine completely, and then did not use migration assistant, but manually re-installed all of my apps. 6. I checked to see if it was only certain files that do it (e.g., on dropbox, on icloud, .xlx vs .xlsx, newly-created, etc). Still no joy.

What I think might be a clue: I tried creating a second Admin user, and Excel worked fine there. Strangely, I accidentally discovered that Excel works fine in my main user as long as a second user has Excel open. So I made a User named Excel, and just leave that user running a copy of Excel (which is installed for all users), and the problem does not occur until/unless that user quits Excel.

So, it is a weird workaround, but I also feel that is likely a clue as to what is causing the issue, I just am not savvy enough to figure it out. I even tried migrating the user on the Mac to another Mac (MacBook Pro M1), and Excel works fine there, which makes me struggle to figure out if this is software or hardware. I tend towards software, but that seems odd given that even a full wipe and fresh install gives me the same issue (as does safe boot etc).

I welcome any input!

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Excel will not let me edit cells, BUT this seems like it may be an OS issue

Mac mini, macOS 15.6

Posted on Aug 26, 2025 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 26, 2025 11:14 AM in response to Drew T

Because the problem only occurs in your main macOS user account, not in a new account or on a different machine, it’s almost certainly not a hardware issue. It points to a corruption or misconfiguration in your user‑specific Excel settings.

What Microsoft’s support forums suggest trying first is toggling the “Edit directly in cell” and other editing options in Preferences and restarting Excel. One user recommends unchecking the option, quitting Excel, starting it again and then re‑checking it . This forces Excel to rewrite its preference file and sometimes clears odd selection behaviour.

If that doesn’t help, create a new standard user account and test Excel there. This isolates whether the issue is tied to the application or your user profile . Since you’ve already seen it work fine under another account, that’s the best confirmation that the problem is in your profile.

To repair the profile, reset Excel’s preferences:

Quit all Office apps.
In Finder choose Go → Go to Folder… and open
~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Library/Preferences/.
Delete the file named com.microsoft.Excel.plist. Microsoft support suggests removing this file to rebuild your preferences . Excel will recreate a fresh copy the next time it launches. This step often clears up stuck edit modes and other odd behaviour.
Relaunch Excel and test cell editing again.

You may also want to delete other Office preference files (for example com.microsoft.office.plist) and the group container ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office while Excel is closed; these store add‑in and template information. After you move them to the Trash and restart your Mac, Excel will rebuild them. You’ll need to re‑set some preferences, but any corrupted setting that’s causing the stuck‑drag issue should be removed.

If the problem still persists, the easiest long‑term fix is to abandon the corrupted user profile. Microsoft’s advice in similar cases is simply to migrate your files to a new account and delete the bad one . Since Excel functions normally for a different user, this approach guarantees a clean environment without the mystery bug.

Finally, ensure there are no add‑ins or third‑party utilities interfering with Excel. Disable all add‑ins (Tools → Add‑ins) and re‑enable them one at a time. Also check System Settings → Accessibility to ensure features such as Full Keyboard Access or sticky keys are turned off.

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Answer 2

Drew T Author

Level 1

34 points

Aug 26, 2025 12:49 PM in response to Jesus_Saves1

I greatly appreciate your thorough response. It reminds me that I was not as thorough in my own description of my troubleshooting efforts.

I had followed the MS procedures of toggling "edit in cell", and when I said I uninstalled and reinstalled, I actually went and purged every preference file and removed any add-ins, and it still behaved the same.

The one thing I just discovered is that Excel does not need to be running in the 2d user account - simply having a second account logged in makes Excel behave normally. In fact I restarted, opened Excel to make sure it was misbehaving, and without quitting Excel I logged into the second account (using fast user switching), switched back to my primary account, and Excel worked fine.

I am baffled!

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