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Excel is freezing and not working anymore with smb shares

Mike Radmacher 0 Reputation points
2025-11-09T16:04:42.8966667+00:00

Hardware and Software setup

  • I’m using a iPhone 16 and and iPad Pro M2
  • Both with iOS 26.1

Issue

  • Excel is freezing and file changes can’t be stored

Description:

When I open a smb share with the apple file app, excel is freezing and sometimes it reacts perfectly but in any case changes I made are not stored.

First, when I close excel and return to the file app everything look fine but after reopening the spreadsheet an error message is coming up - excel wasn’t able to store the file, store a copy.

First, I thought it is a typically permission error, but it doesn’t. Using Collabora office on the same iPhone / iPad with the smb drive - everything works fine.

I also set up a raspberry pi with a samba server to have second smb share to compare.

if I copy a spreadsheet to that share, I can open it. Sometimes excel is freezing, sometime it opens but I also not able to store the file. Also in this case using a different office application, it works perfectly on the same smb shares.

I tried every typical first move.

  • reboot the device
  • reinstall the apps
  • sign out and sign in (Microsoft account)
  • reconnect to smb share
  • even set up a new smb user is case of permission errors
  • …

if I recall correctly, it started with iOS 26 but I’m not sure.

Working with the office apps and a smb share is not possible anymore under iOS :-(

any advice?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | iOS
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  1. Q&A Assist
    2025-11-09T16:05:31.8566667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    It seems you are experiencing issues with Excel freezing and not saving changes when accessing SMB shares on your iPhone and iPad. While the context provided does not specifically address iOS issues with Excel, it does mention that problems can occur when saving files to network drives, which could be relevant in your case.

    Here are some potential reasons for the freezing and saving issues:

    1. Network Issues: If the SMB share is on a slow or unreliable network, it may cause Excel to freeze or fail to save changes.
    2. Permissions: Even though you mentioned it doesn't seem to be a permissions issue, it's still worth double-checking that you have the correct permissions set on the SMB share.
    3. File Size and Format: Large files or unsupported formats could potentially cause issues when saving.
    4. Antivirus or Security Software: If any security software is running on your devices, it might interfere with the saving process.
    5. Excel Version: Ensure that you are using the latest version of Excel for iOS, as updates may fix bugs related to SMB shares.

    Since you mentioned that other applications can access the SMB shares without issues, it might be beneficial to reach out to Microsoft Support for further assistance specific to Excel on iOS.

    References:

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