What is a microsoft excel ole action

Last Update: Jan 03, 2023

This is a question our experts keep getting from time to time. Now, we have got the complete detailed explanation and answer for everyone, who is interested!

Asked by: Eladio Windler

Score: 5/5
(38 votes)

An Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) action is essentially a mechanism designed to help various Office applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Sharepoint) to communicate with other applications in order to complete an operation successfully.

How do I stop an Ole action in Excel?

3: How to fix the “Excel is waiting for OLE” issue

What causes OLE error in Excel?

OLE error when opening Word and Excel documents with embedded objects. You may receive an OLE error when opening Word and Excel documents that contain embedded objects. The error may read: Microsoft Excel (or Word) is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action.

How do I fix OLE action error in Word?

Solution. The solution is generally simple — switch to MathType and close the dialog box.

How do you restart Excel?

Click on file, Options. Go to the Advanced tab. Under the Display section, check the box for ‘Disable hardware graphics acceleration’. Click ok and restart Excel.
…

41 related questions found

In this article we will define what is an ole action. OLE Stands for Object Linking & Embedding. An OLE action is essentially a mechanism designed to help various Office applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Sharepoint) to communicate with other applications in order to complete an operation successfully. OLE is a feature that allows Office applications to interact with other applications. It allows one editing application to send part of a document to other applications and then import or take it back together with other content.

OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) is a component document technology from Microsoft that allows you to dynamically link files and applications together. For instance, an Excel spreadsheet can be embedded within a Microsoft Word document using OLE.

Steps to fix the “Excel is waiting for OLE” issue action:

• Open the Excel sheet.
• Go to the File menu.
• Click on Options.
• Go to the Advanced tab.
• Scroll down to the General area and check “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)”
• Restart Excel.

Causes the error ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’?

If Excel issues a communication request to another application, let’s say Word, it uses the OLE object and then waits for a response from the application. If the response does not arrive within the default time frame, Excel will trigger the following warning to the end user: ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’

Although the error message is always the same, there are actually a few common scenarios that will trigger this particular error in Microsoft Excel:

DDE Protocol is disabled from Excel:

This type of issue might be occurring because the Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) protocol is disabled from Excel’s settings.

Corrupted Office installation for OLE:

Some affected users have reported that the issue was resolved after they reinstalled or repaired the entire Office installation.

Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in is conflicting with Excel:

There have been multiple reports of users that have been able to resolve the issue by disabling or uninstalling the PDFMaker plugin.

Internet Explorer process is interfering with the DDE:

This is typically reported to occur when the user tries to save a file in Microsoft Excel. In this case, the solution is to close the process manually.

Below you have a selection of methods that other users in a similar situation have used to successfully resolve the issue. For those who are struggling to resolve these error messages, this article will provide you with a selection of troubleshooting steps. For best results, follow the below mentioned methods:

Method 1: Uninstalling Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker

As it turns out, this plugin has the potential to conflict with some versions of Microsoft Excel. So some users have managed to resolve the error message simply by uninstalling the Adobe Acrobat PDF Maker add-in. If you don’t rely heavily on PDF Maker, you can resolve the issue by disabling or uninstalling the Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in. Follow these steps:

• Open Microsoft Excel and click on File using the ribbon bar.
• From the File menu, click on Options.
• In the Excel Options menu, click on Add-ins using the left-hand side menu. Next, move over to the right-hand pane, expand the drop-down menu associated with Manage and choose COM Add-ins. Then, click the Go… button to launch the Com Add-ins menu.
• In the COM Add-ins box, either uncheck the box associated with Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Addin or select it and click Remove to delete it completely.
• Restart your computer and recreate the steps that were previously producing the error once the next startup is complete.

Method 2: Allowing applications that use DDE in Excel’s settings

If Microsoft Excel is set to ignore any such application then Exchange will not take place and you will instead see the ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ error message. Fortunately, you can easily fix this problem by accessing Excel’s Options menu and enabling the DDE protocol.

• Open Microsoft Excel and click on File. It doesn’t matter if you open a new workbook or a new document.
• In the File menu, click on Options from the left-pane.
• In the Excel Options menu, click on the Advanced tab from the left-hand menu. Then, move over to the right pane and scroll down until you reach the General section. Once you get there, make sure that the box associated with Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) is unchecked.
• Click Ok to save the changes, then restart Microsoft Excel. Then, repeat the operation that was previously causing the “Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action” error and see if the issue is still occurring.

Method 3: Killing the Internet Explorer process

users seeing the “Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action” error when trying to save the file, you might be seeing the error because of an IE process is interfering with the Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) exchange. Users in a similar situation have reported that the issue was resolved after they killed the IE process manually.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
• Inside Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and see if you have any process belonging to Internet Explorer that is currently active.
• If you see one open, simply right-click on it and choose End task to close it.
• Return to Excel and see if the “Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action” error is still occurring when you’re trying to save the file.

I hope this article is helpful to you.

Thank you!!

There is no introduction required for Microsoft Excel and its importance in our daily lives. We all use Microsoft Office programs for various purposes. However, sometimes it causes problems due to some technical issues. One of the most common problems that users face is OLE action error. You might be thinking what this error means and how it occurs. If you are experiencing this problem, let us help you to fix this problem. We have covered everything related to this error in this article, from its definition, causes of error and how to solve it. So keep reading and find out how to solve ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ error.

What is Microsoft Excel OLE Action Error?

We should start with understanding what OLE stands for. It is Object Linking and Embedding action, which is developed by Microsoft to let the office application interacts with other programs. It allows an editing program to send a part of the document to other apps and import them back with additional content. Did you understand what exactly it is and how it works? Let us share an example to make it more understandable.

For example: When you are working on Excel and want to interact with power point at the same time for adding more content, it is OLE that sends the command and waits for PowerPoint to respond so that these two program interacts with each other.

How this ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ occurs?

This error occurs when the response does not come within the specified time. When Excel sends the command and did not get respond within the stipulated time, it shows OLE action error.

Causes of this error:

Eventually, there are three major causes of this problem:

• Adding an innumerable number of add-ins to the application and some of them are corrupted.
• When Microsoft Excel try opening file created in other application or try to get data from an active one.
• Using Microsoft Excel ‘Send as Attachment’ option for sending Excel sheet in an email.

One of the solutions is to “Reboot Your System” and try again. Sometimes after closing all apps and restarting your systems may solve this OLE action error. In case, the problem persists, you can try one or more methods given below to solve the problem.

Method 1 – Activate/Enable the ‘Ignore other applications that use DDE’ feature

Sometimes it happens that due to DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) feature this problem occurs. Therefore, enabling the ignore option for the feature may solve the problem.

Step 1 – Open Excel sheet and navigate to File menu option and click on Options.

Step 2 – In the new window dialogue box, you need to click on ‘Advanced’ tab and scroll down to ‘General’ option.

Step 3 – Here you will find ‘Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)‘. You need to checkmark this option to enable this feature.

By doing this, the application may start working for you. You can restart the Excel and try again.

Method 2 – Disable all Add-ins

As we discussed above, that add-ins are another major cause of this error, so disabling add-ins may solve this problem for you.

Step 1 – Open Excel Menu, navigate to File and then Options.

Step 2 – In the new Windows dialogue box, you will find Add-ins option on the left side panel, click on it.

Step 3 – At the bottom of this dialogue box, select Excel Add-ins and click on the Go button, it will populate all Add-ins.

Step 4 – Uncheck all the boxes next to add-ins and Click on OK

This will disable all the add-ins thus reducing the load on the application. Try to restart the app and check if you’re able to Fix Excel OLE action and stdole32.tlb error in Windows 10.

Method 3 – Use different ways to attach Excel Workbook

The third most common case of OLE action error is trying to use Excel “Send Using Mail” feature. Therefore, it is recommended to try out another method to attach Excel workbook in an email. You can attach the Excel file in an email using Hotmail or Outlook or any other email app.

By adopting one or more above-mentioned methods, the OLE action problem will be solved however if you still experience this problem, you can go ahead and opt for the Microsoft Repair tool.

Alternate Solution: Use Microsoft Excel Repair Tool

You can use the recommended Microsoft Excel Repair tool, which repairs corrupts and damaged files in Excel. This tool will restore all corrupt and damaged files. With the help of this tool, you can get the problem solved automatically.

Recommended:

• 4 Ways to Insert the Degree Symbol in Microsoft Word
• 9 Ways to Fix Netflix App Not Working On Windows 10

Hopefully, above-given all methods and suggestions will help you fix Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action error on Windows 10.

Are you the one struggling with Excel OLE action error and looking for the ways to deal with it, then this is the right place.

Here check out the complete information about Excel OLE action error and how to get rid of it…

MS Excel is a very popular application and used for carrying out various functions. But sometimes this crucial application easily gets corrupted and starts showing Excel waiting for OLE action error.

OLE stands for Object Linking and Embedding action; this is developed by Microsoft and let the Office application to corporate with other applications. This permits an editing application to send part of the document to other apps and after that import and take it back with more content

For instance: When Excel tries to communicate with PowerPoint, it delivers the command to the OLE object and waits for PowerPoint to the response.

Why Does OLE Error Emerge?

Well, the OLE Action Excel error appears when the response does not arrive within a specific time period. As a result, it starts showing Excel OLE action error:

Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action.

Screenshot Of The OLE Action Excel Error:

What Are the Causes of Excel OLE Action Error?

Well, there are three common reasons behind getting the Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action message:

These are some common reasons which trigger this particular Excel waiting for ole action error.

• The very first reason for getting this ole action excel error is because of the disabling of DDE Protocol from Excel’s settings.
• Adding plenty of add-ins to the application and among then some are corrupted.
• Due to the installation of corrupted MS Office suit. To fix this out you need to either reinstall or repair the complete MS Office installation.
• When Excel try opening file created in other application or obtain data from an active one.
• Chances are also that Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in is frequently conflicting with the Excel application.
• Using Excel ‘Send as Attachment’ option for sending an Excel sheet in an email.

Well, these are some of the common reasons for the Excel OLE action error. So here check out the ways to fix Excel is waiting for the OLE action issue.

How To Fix Excel Is Waiting For OLE Action Error?

The common solution to fix the error Restarting your system and try again. Now check whether the Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an ole action is fixed or not.

If the problem continues, try the given workarounds.

Solution 1: Enable the “Ignore other application that use DDE” feature

It is found that many users are getting the error due to the DDE application feature. So, here it is recommended to enable the “Ignore other application that use DDE” feature.

Follow the steps to do so:

• Open Excel sheet > go to File menu > click Options.

• Now go to the Advanced tab > scroll down to the General area.
• Here check-mark the “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)” option

• And restart Excel file.

Now check whether the Excel waiting for OLE action error is fixed or not. If not then try the second solution

Solution 2: Disable add-ins

As I said above the users are getting the Excel OLE action error due to plenty of add-ins and commonly due to the corrupted ones.

Follow the steps to do so:

• Open Excel sheet > go to File menu > click Options

• Now click on Add-ins > choose Excel add-ins > click on Go button.

• And uncheck all boxes > click OK.

Hope this works for you to fix Excel OLE action error.

Solution 3: Use Other Ways To Attach Excel Workbook

While trying to use Excel’s “Send Using Email” option leads the error, so here it is recommended to try other ways to attach Excel workbook.

Try sending your Excel workbook by attaching it to an email as a file in Outlook or Hotmail or any other email app to fix the issue.

Well, it is estimated after following the above-given solution the Excel waiting for OLE action error is resolved. But if not then make use of the automatic MS Excel Repair Tool.

Solution 4: Disable Compatibility Mode

Some Excel users have successfully overcome this Excel ole action error by disabling the compatibility mode. Mainly this happens due to user intervention or 3^rd party application. So if your Excel is also running in the compatibility mode then disable it once and check whether the OLE action error has been resolved or not.

Here is the quick guide to perform the task of disabling Compatibility Mode:

• Right-click on the Excel executable or Excel shortcut icon after then choose the Properties.
• In your opened window of Properties, hit the Compatibility Now uncheck the option “Run this program in compatibility mode”.

Automatic Solution: MS Excel Repair Tool

Make use of the professional recommended MS Excel Repair Tool to repair corrupt, damaged as well as errors in Excel file. This tool allows to easily restore all corrupt excel file including the charts, worksheet properties cell comments, and other important data. With the help of this, you can fix all sorts of issues, corruption, errors in Excel workbooks.

This is a unique tool to repair multiple Excel files at one repair cycle and recovers the entire data in a preferred location. It is easy to use and compatible with both Windows as well as Mac operating systems. This supports the entire Excel versions and the demo version is free.

* Free version of the product only previews recoverable data.

Steps to Utilize MS Excel Repair Tool:

Conclusion:

Well, this is all about the Excel OLE action error.

OLE is an important function that helps the application to communicate with one other by delivering the commands but sometimes this won’t deliver respond and start showing error.

Here I tried my best to put together the complete information about OLE action and how to fix Excel waiting for OLE action error.

Additionally, Excel is an essential application and used in daily life, so it is recommended to handle the Excel file properly and follow the best preventive steps to protect your Excel files from getting corrupted.

Despite it, always create a valid backup of your crucial Excel data and as well scan your system with a good antivirus program for virus and malware infection.

If, in case you have any additional questions concerning the ones presented, do tell us in the comments section below or you can also visit our Repair MS Excel Facebook and Linkdin account.

Good Luck….

Several Office users report getting the “Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action” error when trying to run a VBA script or when trying to run Excel from a BI launch pad. The issue is reported to occur on all the recent Windows versions including Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10)

An Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) action is essentially a mechanism designed to help various Office applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Sharepoint) to communicate with other applications in order to complete an operation successfully.

What is causing the ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ error?

We investigated this particular issue by looking at various user reports and looking at the official Microsoft documentation. We even managed to replicate the issue on one of our testing machines.

If Excel issues a communication request to another application (let’s say Word), it does it using the OLE object and then waits for the response from the application. If the response does not arrive in the default time threshold, Excel will trigger the following warning to the end user: ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’

If you’re currently struggling to resolve this particular error message, this article will provide you with a selection of troubleshooting steps. Below you have a selection of methods that other users in a similar situation have successfully used to get the issue resolved.

For the best results, follow the methods below in order until you encounter a fix that is effective in getting the issue resolved. Let’s begin

Method 1: Uninstalling  Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker (if applicable)

Some users have managed to resolve the error message by uninstalling the Adobe Acrobat PDF Maker add-in. As it turns out, this plugin has the potential to conflict with certain versions of Microsoft Excel.

Here’s a list with Office versions that are compatible with PDF Maker:

• Office 2010 (Office 14) 32 bit and 64 bit
• Office 2013 (Office 15) 32 bit and 64 bit
• Office 2016 (Office 16) 32 bit and 64 bit

Note: You can consult Adobe’s full compatibility guide (here).

If this scenario is applicable and you don’t rely on PDF Maker that heavily, you can most likely resolve the issue by either disabling or uninstalling the Adobe Acrobat PDFMaker add-in.

Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

Update: You can also use the this Fix-it (here) to automatically disable the PDFMaker add-in automatically. It’s compatible with every recent Windows version including Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7 and Windows Vista.

1. Open Microsoft Excel and click on File using the ribbon bar.
2. From the File menu, click on Options (at the bottom of the menu list).
3. In the Excel Options menu, click on Add-ins using the left-hand side menu. Next, move over to the right-hand pane, expand the drop-down menu associated with Manage and choose COM Add-ins. Then, click the Go… button to launch the Com Add-ins menu.
4. In the COM Add-ins box, either uncheck the box associated with Acrobat PDFMaker Office COM Addin or select it and click Remove to delete it completely.
5. Restart your computer and recreate the steps that were previously producing the error once the next startup is complete.

If you’re still encountering the ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ error, move down to the next method below.

Method 2: Allowing applications that use DDE in Excel’s settings

As a lot of users have reported, the issue might occur if Microsoft Excel is set up to ignore any applications that try to communicate with Excel using the Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) protocol.

For example, say you double-click on an Excel workbook in Windows Explorer – as soon as the command registers, a dynamic data exchange (DDE) is sent to Excel. That exchange will instruct Excel to open the workbook that you’ve just double-clicked.

If Excel is set up to ignore applications that use the Dynamic Data Exchange protocol, the exchange will not happen and you will see the ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ error message instead.

Luckily, you can easily rectify this issue by accessing the Options menu of Excel and enabling the DDE protocol. Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Open Microsoft Excel and click on File. It doesn’t matter if you open a new workbook or a new document.
2. In the File menu, click on Options from the left-pane.
3. In the Excel Options menu, click on the Advanced tab from the left-hand menu. Then, move over to the right pane and scroll down until you reach the General section. Once you get there, make sure that the box associated with Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) is unchecked.
4. Click Ok to save the changes, then restart Microsoft Excel. Then, repeat the operation that was previously causing the “Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action” error and see if the issue is still occurring.

If you’re still encountering the same error message, move over to the next method below.

Method 3: Killing the Internet Explorer (IE) process

Several users seeing the “Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action” error when trying to save the file, you might be seeing the error because of an IE process is interfering with the Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) exchange.

Users in a similar situation have reported that the issue was resolved after they killed the IE process manually. Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Inside Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and see if you have any process belonging to Internet Explorer that is currently active.
3. If you see one open, simply right-click on it and choose End task to close it.
4. Return to Excel and see if the “Microsoft is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action” error is still occurring when you’re trying to save the file.

If you’re still encountering the same error, move down to the next method below.

Method 4: Suppressing the Excel Application Messaging

If you’re seeing the error message when trying to run a VBA script, one workaround would be to suppress the application messaging by using a tiny piece of code.

But keep in mind that this will not treat the issue itself – It’s only a workaround that prevents the error message from appearing. However, it will be helpful if your only goal is to prevent the error message from appearing.

Here’s a quick guide on inserting a VBA code to excel Workbook that will suppress the excel application messaging:

1. Open your workbook in Excel and press Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor (VBE).
2. In the Project bar (left-hand side), right-click on ThisWorkbook and choose Insert > Module.
3. In the newly created module, paste the following code (in the right section of the screen):

   Private Declare Function CoRegisterMessageFilter Lib "ole32" (ByVal IFilterIn As Long, ByRef PreviousFilter) As Long Public Sub KillMessageFilter()    Dim IMsgFilter As Long    CoRegisterMessageFilter 0&, IMsgFilter End Sub Public Sub RestoreMessageFilter()    Dim IMsgFilter As Long    CoRegisterMessageFilter IMsgFilter, IMsgFilter End Sub

   Update: Other users have reported that they managed to prevent the error prompt from appearing by using the following VBA code:

   Sub CreateXYZ()       Dim wdApp As Object     Dim wd As Object          On Error Resume Next     Set wdApp = GetObject(, "Word.Application")     If Err.Number <> 0 Then         Set wdApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")     End If     On Error GoTo 0     Set wd = wdApp.Documents.Open(ThisWorkbook.Path & Application.PathSeparator & "XYZ template.docm")     wdApp.Visible = True     Range("A1:B10").CopyPicture xlScreen     wd.Range.Paste End Sub

4. Press Ctrl + S and click No when you see the “The following features cannot be saved in macro-free workbook” warning.
5. Then, choose a suitable location for the modified workbook set a proper name and make sure that the Save as type is set to Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook. Once everything is in order, click on Save to create the Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook.
6. Press Alt + Q to close the editor and go back to your workbook. Once you’re back in your editor press Alt + F8, select the Macro that you’ve just created and click Run.

Once this procedure is complete, you should no longer see the ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ error with this WorkBook (even though it might still occur in the background).

Method 5: Disable Compatibility Mode (if applicable)

Some users have managed to resolve the issue after discovering that the Excel executable was running in Compatibility mode. This can happen due to manual user intervention or a 3rd party application.

If you suspect that Excel is running in compatibility mode, disable it and see if the  ‘Microsoft Excel is waiting for another application to complete an OLE action’ error stops appearing. Typically, the error is reported to occur if the Excel executable is configured to run in Compatibility mode with Windows Vista and older.

Here’s a quick guide on disabling Compatibility Mode:

1. Right-click the Excel executable (or the shortcut) and choose Properties.
2. In the Properties window, go to the Compatibility tab and uncheck the box associated with Run this program in compatibility mode.

1. 08-31-2005, 05:25 AM

   
   

   #1

   what is an OLE action
   

   HI

   I have a workbook which has a macro which exports data from a user to myself by attaching a file to an email. However the user has received an error «Microsoft Office excel is waiting for another aplication to complete an OLE action.» What is an OLE action.

   Could anybody suggest an answer? Many Thanks

   ---

2. 08-31-2005, 07:05 AM

   
   

   #2

   Re: what is an OLE action
   

   OLE stands for «Object Linking and Embedding», which is the
   mechanism or plumbing that lets you put, for example, a Word
   document or a command button, on an Excel worksheet. Excl issues
   commands to the OLE object, and waits for a reply back from the
   OLE object indicate that the command is completed, or at least
   that the OLE object received the command. The message «Microsoft
   Office excel is waiting for another application to complete an
   OLE action.» means that the OLE object hasn’t replied back to
   Excel within the timeout threshold.

   —
   Cordially,
   Chip Pearson
   Microsoft MVP — Excel
   Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
   www.cpearson.com

   «funkymonkUK»
   <funkymonkUK.1umied_1125482737.3836@excelforum-nospam.com> wrote
   in message
   news:funkymonkUK.1umied_1125482737.3836@excelforum-nospam.com…

   
   >
   > HI
   >
   > I have a workbook which has a macro which exports data from a
   > user to
   > myself by attaching a file to an email. However the user has
   > received
   > an error «Microsoft Office excel is waiting for another
   > aplication to
   > complete an OLE action.» What is an OLE action.
   >
   > Could anybody suggest an answer? Many Thanks
   >
   >
   > —
   > funkymonkUK
   > ————————————————————————
   > funkymonkUK’s Profile:
   > http://www.excelforum.com/member.php…o&userid=18135
   > View this thread:
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   ---

3. 08-31-2005, 07:31 AM

   
   

   #3

   Thanks for the explaination. What I found was the user was using Outlook XP which has a feature of warning users that other software is trying to send email and they can allow or disallow. is there a way around them getting this message?

   ---