Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 25, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
Harvey has a large Excel worksheet, cuurently 700 columns and 1000 rows. It has formulas in about 600 of those columns, some of which refer to other worksheets held on the server. In total there are about 420,000 formulas in the worksheet. He needs to delete some rows and columns, but Excel gives an error message that he does not have enough resources. Harvey has Googled the problem and tried all the suggested solutions but still has the problem. He wonders if there are any thoughts as to how he can remove the columns and rows.
Tracking down and correcting this type of problem can be frustrating, as it could be caused by any number of things. (Microsoft isn't that great on providing helpful information in some of its error messages; this particular message is a prime example.) There are a few things you can try that are quite easy.
If these suggestioins don't work, then you'll need to continue with the trial-and-error process. You can find some good information on possible solutions on this page:
https://www.add-ins.com/support/out-of-memory-or-not-enough-resource-problem-with-microsoft-excel.htm
The advice on the page is particularly good if you suspect that the resource issue is related to a misbehaving add-in.
You might also check to see if you are pushing the limits imposed on Excel by Microsoft. You can find information on these limits here:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Data-Model-specification-and-limits-19aa79f8-e6e8-45a8-9be2-b58778fd68ef
Note that this page also provides access to a "workbook size optimizer." You might find this tool helpful in reducing the size of your workbook and thereby freeing up resources.
Finally, it could be that your workbook is slightly corrupted. (I've had this happen to me with much smaller workbooks.) The best solution in this case is to copy the data from the worksheet to a new workbook. Don't copy or move entire worksheets; you need to copy the actual data. You might even try to save your workbook as a CSV file and then load the CSV file into a different workbook. You will lose formatting in this manner, but everything else should come across just fine.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (407) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365.
Dive Deep into Macros! Make Excel do things you thought were impossible, discover techniques you won't find anywhere else, and create powerful automated reports. Bill Jelen and Tracy Syrstad help you instantly visualize information to make it actionable. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, real-world case studies, and 50 workbooks packed with examples and solutions. Check out Microsoft Excel 2019 VBA and Macros today!
When you filter rows in your data, you may want to later number those rows. This tip provides a variety of ways you can ...
Discover MoreIf you copy a cell that contains a reference to external data, do you get an error? It could be due to the complexity of ...
Discover MoreWhen entering data in a worksheet, you may only want to add information to the cells in a particular range. You can ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
2023-03-25 17:25:18
Tomek
A problem in saving as CSV is that you lose all the formulas. What is saved are results of these formulas saved as values.
Instead, you may try one of other formats that Excel recognizes; ones that come to mind are:
.xlsb - Excel binary workbook,
.xml - XML Spreadshee 2003 (not just XML data - Excel will likely reject such attempt),
.ods - Open Document Spreadsheet.
You can experiment with other formats including old .xls. Depending on how complex your spreadsheet is and whether the formulas used are specific to the newer version of Excel, you may lose some functionality and possibly formatting. If it works however, it may remove some of the demand on resources.
As for lost formatting, you can restore it from the original file to the fixed one by using Format Painter.
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments