[FIX] Microsoft Excel Cannot Open Or Save Any More Documents Because There Is Not Enough Available Memory Or Disk Space

Learn how to fix "Microsoft Excel cannot open or save any more documents because there is not enough available memory or disk space" error for spreadsheets.

Kapil Arya
11x Microsoft MVP · Admin
2 min read
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There exists two conditions when you’re expected to receive the error mentioned in title of this post. Firstly, when you’re running out of space on your system hard drive and secondly, when a feature of Microsoft Office is causing this issue. In the latter case, where the problem is not actually related to memory space, but still you’re receiving the following error message which directly indicates the low disk space condition:

Microsoft Excel cannot open or save any more documents because there is not enough available memory or disk space.

To make more memory available, close workbooks or programs you no longer need.

To free disk space, delete files you no longer need from the disk you are saving to.

Microsoft Excel Cannot Save Any More Documents Because There Is Not Enough Available Memory Or Disk Space

We faced this problem with a Excel spreadsheet downloaded from Google Docs. The spreadsheet size was less than 1MB and we have GBs of free space on the disk where this spreadsheet was saved. Also we’ve another spreadsheets saved on same location and created by Excel on local computer, which we can open without this error. So this clearly shows that this is not a memory related issue at all, plus the problem persists with spreadsheets downloaded from the Internet only.

Read : How to prevent Internet usage in Office 2013?

After a bit of research on this, we summarize that the Protected View feature of Office 2013 / Excel 2013 is root cause in generating the hiccup, so here is how to fix it:

FIX : Microsoft Excel Cannot Open Or Save Any More Documents Because There Is Not Enough Available Memory Or Disk Space

1. Open any new document in Excel, and click FILE -> Options.

Microsoft Excel Cannot Save Any More Documents Because There Is Not Enough Available Memory Or Disk Space

2. Next, in the left pane of Excel Options window shown below, select Trust Center. Now in corresponding right pane click on Trust Center Settings button:

Microsoft Excel Cannot Save Any More Documents Because There Is Not Enough Available Memory Or Disk Space

3. Moving on, in the Trust Center settings window, select Protected View from the left pane. Finally, uncheck/disable all options in right pane there, which are:

  • Enable Protected View for files originating from the Internet
  • Enable Protected View for files located in potentially unsafe locations
  • Enable Protected View for Outlook attachments

Microsoft Excel Cannot Save Any More Documents Because There Is Not Enough Available Memory Or Disk Space

Click OK, OK and then restart your system. After rebooting the machine, try to open the spreadsheet with which you’re getting error, you’ll find that this time it opens as expected.

That’s it! Checkout how to make files password protected in Office 2013.

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Article by

Kapil Arya
11x Microsoft MVP · Admin

Kapil holds Microsoft MVP title in Windows IT Pro expertise, 11-times in a row (2014-2025). He is 8-times Windows Insider MVP as well, and author of 'Windows Group Policy Troubleshooting' book. In 2015, Microsoft India accomplished him as 'Windows 10 Champion'. Being passionate Windows blogger, he loves to help others on fixing their system issues. Kapil has worked with official Microsoft Community Engagement Team (CET) on several community projects. You can subscribe him for news/updates and fixes for Windows.

85 Comments
Dan Grover

This did not work for me. Ive been trying to find a fix for this for days now and nothing works. Even the boxes when selecting don’t match up sometimes. What is ther about 20 different versions of office and windows 10? I just dont get it.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Then you need to make sure, you’ve enough space on the harddisk :)

Junaid Atari

Solved my problem. Thank you.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Glad we could help :)

Chip

Thank you! This solved my problem with Excel 2016.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Happy to help!

Ganesh Bawane

Thank you! solved my problem.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Thanks for feedback!

Simon

Thanks man, you made my day ! What a piece of crap ! Especially the error message that had nothing to do with it whatsoever !

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Great to see it worked!

Terence

Finally solved my issue! Thanks!!

Eldridge Scott

worked for me thanks using Office 2013 on a surface Pro 3

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Cool :)

Akshay singh

problem resolved……..thanks…

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Glad it helped! :)

gh iran

tankyou for data
very nice

efafofana

Resolved, thanks for help

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Awesome 😊

techiebuddhas

thanks man :)

Tom

Many thanks, got me out of a hole.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Nice ☺️

sriram

Thank you Kapil Arya

JPin MN

I have 700 gb available – still getting this error. I have MS Excel for Mac 2016. There is no Trust Center or Protected View settings that I can find. Any advice?

Kapil Arya Author

^^ The settings should be there. By the way which edition of Office you’re using?

edalati

thanks a lot you solve my problem

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Perfect 😎

Alice

Thank you!!! I was going nuts, but your solution worked. Yay!

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Thanks for your feedback!

Ajay

problem showing same i have remove all protected view options but problem same in office 2016

Kapil Arya Author

^^ No idea why it didn’t worked for you! Anyway, try repairing Office and see if it helps: https://www.kapilarya.com/how-to-repair-office-2013-offline

vel

Thanks problem got solved,…..

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Great!

Mustakinur Islam

Thanks for your help

Kapil Arya Author

^^ :)

Nancy

This was AWESOME! Totally fixed the problem I was having. Thank You!

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Very nice!

Judith

this worked for me:
file–>options–> Trust center –> trust center settings –> File Block Settings –> activa la opción Open selected file types in protected view and allow editing

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Thanks for adding this!

Jimmy

Thank you !!!! It works perfect

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Excellent 😊

Andres Barreto

Trust center settings did not work. This did work:

youtube.com/watch?v=3ugck2ml_WE

I had to change the registry file to point to C:\windows\temp

gidraj

thkz bro..!you made it easy.

Great JOb.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ 😎

nurhadi kamil

Tks, guys

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Very cool!

shree

Thanks a lot !! It worked :-

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Welcome!

chetan Ghodasara

dear team,
Thanks for the solution.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Nice!

Abdul Mohsin

Thanks a Lot !
Solved my long time issue…
Appreciated!

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Happy to hear that!

Taslimarif

solved my issue thanks

Kapil Arya Author

^^ 👍

vijay kumar t r

this works!!!!

sariful

Thank you so much its really working..

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Thanks a lot for your feedback!

Francois

Thank You for posting this awesome fix! This fixed for our Office 2016 and 2013 users. I cannot seem to figure out how those settings were turned on. Might have been an update to the Office Suite? Thanks again.

ajay

thanks problem has been resolve.

gerry

This fix worked for me only on “existing Excel files”.
I am still unable to open a “new Excel file” and still getting the same error message.
Any suggestions?

I am running Excel 2016 on Windows 10 64 bit

edo bastanta sinuhaji

thanks 10x

vinu

thanks !
issue has been resolved

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Amazing!

pedramrasouli

i dont trust at first, but solved the problem so thanks

Kapil Arya Author

^^ That’s cool!

Abhishek

Yippee issue resolved. Thanks Kapil

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Glad it helped 😊

KATIE CARTWRIGHT

THANK YOU!!!

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Thanks for your feedback, Katie!

Dron

hello Kapil,

Can you please help me withan issue were user is unable to sign in to the Office applications.?

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Sure, what happens when you sign-in to Office? Do you see any error message/code?

BALDEV SINGH

Thanks Kapil for Help

Kapil Arya Author

^^ 👍😊

Saurabh Lokhande

Its Working. TYSM

Kapil Arya Author

^^ You’re welcome, Saurabh!

Bob T

I tried all of the above without success. Finally, I went to the Trust settings as explained earlier, and went to “Trusted Locations”. The file I couldn’t open was on the desktop, so I added the desktop to the list of trusted locations. Bingo! The file opened up with no problem.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Thanks for adding this, Bob 😊

Prabakaran Murugasamy

Hi Thank you its working fine. Issue solved.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Glad to hear it helped you 😎

Joyz

I’m using MS Excel 2016 and Bob T’s instruction worked for mine. TY!!!

Miki

Thanks alot .. solved ! 😄😄

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Glad to help, Miki 😊

Prashant Upadhye

Thank you. This setting worked for me :)

Kapil Arya Author

^^ You’re most welcome, Prashant!

PKS

Totally solved my problem. Using Office 2016 on Win 10. Thank you.

Kapil Arya Author

^^ Glad to help PKS 😊

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