[Fixed] Excel 2013: There was a problem sending the command to the program.

5:39 PM 15 Comments

So, Excel problem again.

I have one user having this issues for a few days before she decided to approach me.





The Problem

The symptoms was the xlsx file would not open if she double click the file; but it works just fine if she opens it via File - Open (within Excel itself).

Screenshot of the problem attached:


The Fix

Head to File - Options - Advanced - General
Ensure "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" is uncheck


Try to double click the xlsx file as per normal.

If this doesn't work, try this other workaround:

Go to File - Options - Trust Center - Trust Center Settings - Macro Options
Enable all macros & tick Trust access to the VBA project object model

ActiveX Settings
Ensure "Prompt me before enabling all controls with minimal restrictions" is selected.

Privacy Options
Ensure "Check Microsoft Office documents that are from or link to suspicious Web sites" is unchecked.

However, please double check which one of the options are getting your spreadsheets opening again as there might be security risks for you if you select all as above (referring to Trust Center Settings)


Gd luck,
Jo.