why does research keep coming up in excel

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How to disable the research task pane in Excel?

In Excel, when you press Alt key and then click one cell in worksheet, a Research pane will appear at right of the sheet at the same time as left screenshot shown. This will be annoying. If you want to disable this pane, and make it no longer displayed when you apply Alt + Click in Excel. From this article, I will introduce you an easy way to solve it.

Disable the research task pane in Excel with VBA code

Disable the research task pane in excel with an easy feature.

Do with the following operations to disable the research task pane in Excel:

1 . Launch your workbook, and then hold down the Alt + F11 keys in Excel, and it opens the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window .

2 . In the opened VB Editor, press Ctrl + G to open the Immediate Window , and then copy and paste this code Application.CommandBars("Research").Enabled=False into the Immediate box, and press Enter key on the keyboard, see screenshot:

3 . Then save and close this VB Editor, and now, when you press Alt key and click the cell in the worksheet, the research task pane will not display any more.

Note : If you need to make the research task pane appear again in your workbook, please copy and paste this code Application.CommandBars("Research").Enabled=True into the Immediate box to replace the original code, and remember to press Enter key.

If you have installed Kutools for Excel , with its Disable research pane option, you can disable this pane quickly and easily as below demo shown:

Tips: To apply this Disable research pane  feature, firstly, you should download the Kutools for Excel , and then apply the feature quickly and easily.

After installing Kutools for Excel , please do as this:

1 . Click Kutools > Show & Hide > View Options , see screemshot:

2 . In the View Options dialog box, please check Disable research pane option under the Other box, see screenshot:

3 . Then click Ok to close this dialog box, now, the Research Pane will be disabled, and it will not be displayed any more.

Note : If you want to enable this Research pane, just uncheck the Disable research pane option in the View Options dialog box.

Click to Download Kutools for Excel and free trial Now!

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Thomas' Miniblog

Technology, digital insights and more, accidentally open the research pane here is how to disable it in office (excel, word).

The Research pane is a small utility build in some Office applications. It allows to search the meaning of a word, get synonyms, pronunciation…

The Research Pane is,  however, often opened by accident. When pressing the ALT key and clicking, the window opens on the right side. This can be very annoying to say the least. I had the same issue for a long time and I wanted to disable the Research pane completely, so it would not appear again by accident when hitting that ALT key during my work. Here is how!

Here are the steps to disable the Research pane in Excel and Word:

• Open Excel, and open a new empty file .
• Now press ALT+F11 keys to open the Visual Basic for Applications window.
• You now have a Visual Basic editor open. Press CTRL+G keys to open the Immediate Window .
• In that new window, paste the following: Application.CommandBars(“Research”).Enabled = False and press ENTER key
• Save your work ( CTRL+S )

Note that after pressing ENTER, nothing will appear to happen. There will be no confirmation or information pop-up that will say ‘success’ or ‘operation completed’. Don’t worry at this stage, this means the command was executed correctly and successfully.

The very last step is to close the Office windows (Excel and/or Word).  Once re-opened, the annoying Research pane will no longer appear.

13 thoughts on “ Accidentally open the Research Pane? Here is how to disable it in Office (Excel, Word) ”

Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU!!! Trust Microsoft to implement something that completely brings your work to a halt… I couldn’t even type text into a cell. The research pane appeared upon selecting any cell, with some crazy irrelevant search text and searching Spanish & French dictionaries enabled (I speak English and located in Australia). All of my shortcut keys became disabled. I have a .xlsm workbook that opens hidden whenever I start Excel and it contains a host of VB code and shortcut key assignments that I use all the time. Including (believe it or not) all my Excel 4 macros that I wrote back in the 1990’s. Why would I still use those you might ask? Because they can be undone, they are basically menu commands in text form. Try to do any of these simple operations in VB and WHAM, your undo stream is cleared and you cannot undo. Sorry for the rant – I got a bit worked up, just gradually calming down again, now that I can continue working normally!

Run-time error ‘9’:

Subscript out of range

Didn’t work, don’t know what that error means.

if you copy paste it from the above solution the double quotes are not copied properly. Hence type the double quotes from keyboard.

That’s it.

Thanks so much for this. i had the same issue, but manually typing the double quotes fixed the issue.

omg ty ty ty

if you copy pasted it from the above solution the double quotes are not copied properly. Hence type the double quotes from keyboard.

Thank you so much!

I tried but I am getting error popup-

Runtime error – `9′

Thank you so much.

My Excel was responding when I press ALT+F11 at all. Therefore, I went turn on Developer to open up VBA screen. Copy paste the code you gave, and it works.

Really appreciate!!!!

The only thing that happens when I press Alt+F11 is the document just moves down to the taskbar

This remedy saved me a lot of aggravation. Thanks! (also the note re entering the double-quotes manually)

I got the “Run time error “9”. Subscript out of range.” message after the press enter. Please help

Thank you For your help! This happened to me and I could find no way out of it. We’re good now!

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Stop the Research Pane appearing in Microsoft Office

How can I stop the Research Pane from appearing in Microsoft Office, for example when I am holding Alt and click somewhere in an email in Outlook?

This is unintentional and typically happens when I am Alt-Tabbing between windows and causes a painful delay. Can this be switched off?

• microsoft-office

• Which Microsoft Office do you use? 2007 or 2010 (or something else)? –  Rolnik Commented Mar 30, 2011 at 21:27
• 2 For those interested in the bounty, I'm referring specifically to 2007 if it makes a difference but I suspect it doesn't. –  Daniel DiPaolo Commented Apr 4, 2011 at 20:33

8 Answers 8

After fighting with this myself for years, I found out the answer.

From Word, press Alt-F11 to open the VB Editor.

Press Ctrl-G to open the Immediate Window.

Type this line and press Enter:

Note that nothing will seem to happen, but you can go ahead and close the VB Editor and Word. The next time you open Outlook, the feature should be disabled.

• 2 The original question mentioned Outlook, not Word. When I try this with standalone Outlook I get "Object does not support this method or property". –  Burhan Ali Commented Oct 17, 2012 at 15:50
• 6 In Outlook I appear to have got it working with Application.Explorers(1).CommandBars("Research").Enabled = false –  David Cornish Commented Sep 26, 2013 at 9:09
• 6 Using Microsoft Word 2010, this appears to work: Application.ActiveWindow.CommandBars("Research").Enabled = False –  John Fisher Commented Dec 4, 2013 at 15:35
• 1 This works perfectly fine, thanks for the solution! (Tested on MS Word 2013) –  Christian Feldbacher Commented Jan 22, 2014 at 10:50
• 4 David Cornish's solution worked for me: Application.Explorers(1).CommandBars("Research").Enabled = false –  ScrappyDev Commented Sep 25, 2015 at 17:44

Unfortunately, the answer is "No, this can't be switched off".

People have been wondering this for quite a while now (here's some examples dating back to like 2007):

• http://ask.metafilter.com/48486/How-do-you-turn-off-an-annoying-Outlook-2003-feature
• http://www.ozgrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=60022&page=1
• http://forums.techarena.in/ms-office-support/899432.htm
• http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/29325828/how-do-i-disable-or-uninstall-research.aspx

You'll probably have to rig up something kludgy to trap the keys using AutoHotkey or AutoIt or alike.

Couple things you can try to live with it:

• Remove all entries from the Research Options and ensure it's not trying to access network-based research services (so at least it will open quickly).
• Leave the pane open all the time (just shrink it down a bit, or undock it and hide it someplace out of the way).

Not the answer you want I'm sure, but it's the answer as far as I can find.

• +1 for the research revealing shared misery at least, and also for the other good suggestions for reducing the headache –  Daniel DiPaolo Commented Apr 4, 2011 at 20:36
• Thanks, glad to know it's not just me. Appreciate your time in investigating this. –  Andrew Doran Commented Apr 5, 2011 at 13:41
• Daniel, @rzlines Oct '09 response was correct and works well when add/remove is run as Administrator. Some registry edits to complete the cleanup. –  V Stuart Foote Commented Apr 6, 2011 at 2:46
• Validated answer from Jon worked in Office 2016, see my comment in his answer –  Mat M Commented Oct 23, 2020 at 12:56

I was able to turn mine off by opening the Outlook options menu (File > Options). Then go down to the Add-Ins sub-tab.

Once in the Add-Ins menu, go to the bottom where it says, "Manage [COM Add-Ins]" and click on the Go button. Uncheck the box next to "Business Connectivity Services Add-In", then click OK.

This should keep the research pane from opening.

• I don't see 'File > Options' in Outlook? –  Andrew Doran Commented Jul 24, 2013 at 15:43
• Are you sure that add-in is related to the Research Pane? I get the pane but there is no "Business Connectivity Services Add-In" –  golimar Commented Nov 27, 2019 at 14:31

You can also do this in Outlook via VBA. Office 2010 no longer lets you remove via most of these solutions.

Word, PowerPoint, and Excel allow you to use this easy solution .

Outlook requires more hassle as it uses both Explorers and Inspectors, which in different contexts both have this commandbar enabled. The solution is therefore two part.

Part one is setting up WithEvents to handle creation of each new Inspector. Generally these are whenever you OPEN a message/event/etc, and they are created/destroyed each time. So even if you hit every current Inspector, your new ones will not have the commandbar disabled.

Put the following into ThisOutlookSession in your VBA editor (Alt+F11). Each new inspector (and explorer, too, though I've yet to have an explorer created) will have its command bar disabled.

However this only will get the menu gone from some of the views in Outlook. You will still need to run the following macro to remove it from all explorers. As best I can tell this is persistent when you close/reopen Outlook:

Add/Remove Programs ---> Microsoft Office ---> Add or Remove Features ---> expand Office Tools ---> disable Research Explorer Bar

• 1 I tried that and unfortunately it hasn't worked - I still see the research pane appearing when I hold down Alt. –  Andrew Doran Commented Mar 9, 2010 at 15:22
• Andrew, you may want to check on that. It has to be for all Office 2007 users on the PC, but when run as Administrator the Add/Remove Programs --> Microsoft Office --> Add or Remove Features Installation Options --> Office Tools --> Research Explorer Bar set to "Not Available" and Continue. Followed by reboot is honored. Research bar is disabled. The per user HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common\Research Key can be cleared. Highlight <alt> should no longer result in Research bar launch. –  V Stuart Foote Commented Apr 6, 2011 at 2:36

In Outlook try this; it won't disable but will prevent freezing.

• Hold Alt & Left Mouse Click on a word to open the Research pane
• On the bottom of the Research pane click "Research Option"
• Under "Services" uncheck everything
• Click "Ok" to save the changes

• This still causes the Research pane to open it just stops it displaying any results. –  ChrisB Commented Jun 28, 2019 at 9:31

If you don't want to disable the Research alt-click, but want to avoid it happening while you're alt-tabbing between windows, just avoid clicking within the content area in the Office app (i.e., click on the title bar or scrollbar etc). This avoids triggering Research.

Put a toggle button on your QAT. So you can turn it on when you want it!

In word I put this in Normal.dotm VBE:

Then rightclick QAT, customise, type M in the choose commands box, enter, tab, select the macro. In the QAT box click the line you want your macro below. Click add, modify the name as required, and assign a button - done!

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Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged windows microsoft-office ..

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How to Close Research Option in Excel: A Step-by-Step Guide

Closing the research option in Excel is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is locate and disable the "Research" pane from the menu. This will help you work more efficiently without the pane taking up space. Below you’ll find a step-by-step guide to complete this task.

How to Close Research Option in Excel

By following these steps, you’ll be able to close the Research pane in Excel. This will make your workspace cleaner and more efficient.

Step 1: Open Excel

Open Excel from your desktop or start menu.

Once Excel is open, make sure you have a workbook ready to work on. This will allow you to see the changes immediately.

Step 2: Go to the "Review" Tab

Click on the "Review" tab located at the top of the Excel window.

The "Review" tab houses various tools for checking, including the Research pane. This is the section where we’ll be focusing our attention.

Step 3: Find the "Research" Button

Locate the "Research" button in the Review tab.

The "Research" button looks like a small magnifying glass. It’s usually found in the "Proofing" group within the "Review" tab.

Step 4: Click the "Research" Button

Click the "Research" button once to open the Research pane.

Once clicked, the Research pane will appear on the right side of your screen. This pane can take up valuable workspace, so let’s move on to closing it.

Step 5: Close the Research Pane

Click the X button at the top right of the Research pane to close it.

After clicking the X, the Research pane will disappear, freeing up more space for your workbook.

After you complete these steps, the Research pane will be closed, allowing you to focus more on your work without distractions.

Tips for Closing Research Option in Excel

• Shortcut Use : If you frequently need to open and close the Research pane, consider using the shortcut Alt + Shift + F7.
• Minimize Distractions : Closing the Research pane can minimize distractions and make your workspace cleaner.
• Customize Ribbon : You can customize the ribbon to remove the Research button if you never use it.
• Check Add-ins : Sometimes third-party add-ins can trigger the Research pane to open automatically. Check your add-ins if this happens often.
• Feedback : If you find the Research pane popping up frequently, send feedback to Microsoft to make the feature more intuitive.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the research pane in excel.

The Research pane is a built-in tool that helps you look up information online without leaving Excel.

How do I open the Research pane again?

You can reopen it by clicking the "Research" button in the "Review" tab or using the shortcut Alt + Shift + F7.

Can I disable the Research button?

Yes, you can customize your ribbon to hide the Research button if you don’t use it.

Why does the Research pane open automatically?

This can be due to certain actions or third-party add-ins. Check your add-ins and settings to avoid this.

Is the Research pane available in all versions of Excel?

The Research pane is available in most recent versions of Excel, but some features may vary depending on your version.

• Open Excel.
• Go to the "Review" tab.
• Find the "Research" button.
• Click the "Research" button.
• Close the Research pane by clicking the X button.

And there you have it! Closing the Research pane in Excel is a breeze once you know where to look. By following the steps outlined above, you can reclaim valuable workspace and streamline your workflow.

If you find yourself frequently needing to toggle the Research pane, mastering the keyboard shortcuts or customizing your ribbon can save you even more time. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or anyone in between, removing unnecessary distractions is key to staying focused and productive.

Feel free to explore Excel’s settings and features to further optimize your experience. Sometimes, a small tweak can make a world of difference. So go ahead, take control of your Excel environment, and make it work for you. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, don’t hesitate to dive into Excel’s help resources or community forums. Happy Excel-ing!

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.

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• How To Disable Research Feature In Excel 365
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Struggling with the automatic 'Research' task pane in Excel 365? Our guide provides a straightforward approach to disabling this feature, ensuring a smoother experience with your spreadsheets.

By following simple steps, you can prevent interruptions and maintain your workflow efficiency. We'll also delve into how Sourcetable offers a more user-friendly alternative for managing such preferences compared to Excel 365.

Disable Smart Lookup in Excel 365

To stop Smart Lookup from sending data without consent, access your account settings. Visit Office 365 Account or log in to Office 365. Click the settings icon, select 'Office 365 settings', and choose 'App Permissions' from the left menu to adjust Smart Lookup permissions.

Turn Off Viva Insights in Excel 365

Opting out of viva insights features.

To remove Viva Insights from Teams and the web, toggle the opt-in setting available on the Home screen of the Viva Insights app. This will disable features such as the Briefing email, Outlook add-in, and Virtual commute notifications. Shared plan notifications and reminders will remain active.

Effect of Disabling Viva Insights

Turning off Viva Insights preserves all settings for reinstatement. Some changes, including the disabling of the Digest email and add-in, may require up to a week to reflect. The opt-in option remains accessible for future use.

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Common Use Cases

Use case 1: Improve Excel performance by disabling unnecessary features

Use case 2: Streamline user interface by removing the research option

Use case 3: Reduce distractions for users focusing on data analysis tasks

Use case 4: Enhance company compliance with data policies by limiting external data access

Use case 5: Customize Excel environment to match specific workflow requirements

Excel vs Sourcetable: Streamlining Data Management

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Streamline your data processes with Sourcetable's innovative approach, offering a spreadsheet-like experience enhanced by cutting-edge AI assistance.

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How To Disable The Research Task Pane In Excel?

Millions of people and professionals use Microsoft Excel, a robust and adaptable spreadsheet programme, globally. Excel has a large number of functions, and it also provides practical methods to increase productivity and efficiency. The Research Task Pane is one such feature that enables users to access online research, translations, and other data straight from the Excel user interface.

Although some users may find the Research Task Pane useful, others could choose to disable it in order to speed up their workflow or get rid of distractions. The Research Task Pane can be disabled easily and quickly by following a few easy steps. In this lesson, we'll show you how to disable Excel's Research Task Pane so that you have full control over your spreadsheet. This article will give you the steps you need to take in order to disable the Research Task Pane, regardless of whether you are a student, professional, or someone who uses Excel on a regular basis. These instructions will enable you to personalise your Excel experience in accordance with your preferences, enabling you to concentrate on your job without being distracted.

Disable The Research Task Pane

Here we will add the code to the immediate window, then save the sheet to complete the task. So let us see a simple process to learn how you can disable the research task pane in Excel.

Consider any Excel sheet. First, right−click on the sheet name and select "View Code" to open the VBA application.

Right click > View code.

Then use the command CTRL + G to open the Immediate window, copy the below code into the text box, and press enter as shown in the below image to complete the task.

CTRL + G > Copy > Enter.

Then save the sheet as macro enabled template and close the VBA using Alt + Q.

Then, from now on, when you press Alt and click on the sheet, the research task pane will not be displayed.

In this tutorial, we have used a simple example to demonstrate how you can disable the research task pane in Excel to highlight a particular set of data.

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Add or change research services

Through Research options , you can customize options to suit your research needs such as including or excluding reference books or research sites. You can activate services for searching, add new services, and remove others from your computer. You can also turn on Parental Control, which helps to protect children from finding potentially offensive or disturbing material.

Tip:  If you're using Word for Microsoft 365 you might want to take a look at the similarly-named, but much more powerful, Researcher feature. You can learn more at  Research your paper easily within Word

Step 1: Find the Research feature

Click Review > Research.

For Outlook the Review tab only appears in the message inspector, so you need to start a new message first.

Step 2: Find research options

Near the bottom of the Research task pane, click Research Options .

Another way to find the research options is to click File > Options > Trust Center . Next, click the Trust Center Settings button to open the Trust Center dialog. Now click the Privacy Options tab and then click the Research Options button.

Step 3: Set the research options you want

Do one or more of the following:

To activate or remove research services, check or uncheck the check boxes you want, and then click OK .

To add research services, click Add Services , select or type the Internet address for the service you want in the Address box, and then click Add . The service is automatically enabled for searching, and it will appear in the Search for list the next time you open the Research task pane.

To add a Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server site, type or copy and paste the following URL into the Address box:

http://your root directory/_vti_bin/search.asmx

To remove a service provider and all of its research services, click Update/Remove , select the provider you want to remove, click Remove > Close .

To turn on Parental Control, click Parental Control , select the options you want, and then click Close .

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Why does the research box keep popping up?

• Thread starter John of Romsey Town
• Start date Oct 23, 2008

John of Romsey Town

• Oct 23, 2008

My Excel 2007 appears to have developed a fault. After a few minutes of use (variable amount of time) the Research "search for" box pops up by itself whenever I press a key or click on a cell. I can turn if off again from the Review tab, but as soon as I press another key or cell, it pops back up again. This makes Excel unusable and I am forced to turn Excel off and on again, to allow another few minutes use before the bug reappears. It happens with any spreadsheet. This has only just started to happen after 1 year of use. I have no idea what is causing it or how I cure the problem. Does anyone have any experience of this? Should I reinstall Excel or is it something I am doing wrong? V grateful for advice John  

The research tab should not make excel unuseable. It couyld stay in the side while working in excel. However, the research tab pops up when pressing the ALT key while clicking any cell. Make sure you are not holding down the ALT key. ART.  

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How to disable the research task pane in Microsoft Excel?

This blog post will explain in simple steps on how you can disable research task pane in MIcrosoft Excel.

In Microsoft Excel 2016 , when you press the Alt Key and simultaneously click a cell in the worksheet , a research pane would appear at the right hand side of the sheet.

There are times when you would be noticing that it would be annoying and you might want to disable this functionality. Here’s how you do it.

How to disable the research task pane in Microsoft Excel 2016 using VBA Code?

1. Press Alt + F11 shortcut key to open the VBA Editor.

2. Press Ctrl + G to open the Immediate Window and enter the following code and press the enter key.

Application.CommandBars(“Research”).Enabled = False

3. Now , close the VBA Editor and check the excel worksheet to see the research task pane disabled.

Thank you for this! It fixed the problem

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Is it possible to disable the Research pane?

I'm using Excel 2003.

Is there an option hidden away somewhere, a registry setting, a way to override the event that triggers the Research pane, anything at all, that will permanently disable this very annoying feature?

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MS Excel Research Pane Popping Up

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Every few minutes or even SECONDS, this stupid Research Pane pops up and makes using excel completely useless and frustrating. I can't do anything, it's as if my ALT key is randomly being held down by itself. Whether I click a cell, or type something, or restart my computer, or exit excel, this error yet occurs. Every single time I use it. All i've found was this: http://forums.techguy.org/business-applications/812148-research-pane-keeps-popping-up.html A problem similar to mine, however no solutions or answers. Can someone please help me. I'm using Eeepc netbook series, with Windows XP installed. I believe I have MS 2003...  

i dont know if this works in 03 but you can try disabling the pane Add/Remove Programs ---> Microsoft Office ---> Add or Remove Features ---> expand Office Tools ---> disable Research Explorer Bar  

Thank you for that, but unfortunately it hasn't convenienced me in any form =/ All i've been given the option to do is UPDATE or REMOVE: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, or Outlook. And btw, it's Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003. Stupid piece of crap...with these irritating errors -_-  

Open Excel itself and go to Tools, Options, View and make sure the check box beside the words "Startup Task Pane" is unchecked.  

There was a post in the previous thread about keyboard problems - is there a chance that this is the case?  

I doubt it, since it ONLY occurs with Excel...and nothing else. =(  

Reopening for solution to be posted.  

After fighting with this myself for years, I found out the answer. From Word, press Alt-F11 to open the VB Editor. Press Ctrl-G to open the Immediate Window. Type this line and press Enter: Application.CommandBars("Research").Enabled = False  

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Research Dialog Box keeps appearing

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When I click my mouse to Copy and Paste, the Research Dialog Box often pops up. When I "X" it out I have to repeat my Copy command. I am not touching the ALT key, not using the keyboard at all at these times. Can anyone tell me how to stop this from happening?

Re: Research Dialog Box keeps appearing

You may have a stuck key on the keyboard. Try turning the keyboard over and tapping lightly all over the bottom of it, and also try rapidly pressing and releasing on the ctrl and alt keys to dislodge whatever may be stuck in them.

Hi gmjoja and welcome to the forum, Does this happen with every workbook you have or only on a certain one. There are Event Macro's that might be behind your workbook to make a keystrokes or mouse clicks work differently. Also - Did this just start happening after April Fools day?

One test is worth a thousand opinions. Click the * Add Reputation below to say thanks.

Originally Posted by MarvinP Hi gmjoja and welcome to the forum, Does this happen with every workbook you have or only on a certain one. There are Event Macro's that might be behind your workbook to make a keystrokes or mouse clicks work differently. Also - Did this just start happening after April Fools day? Marvin, thank you. It happens with every worksheet in every file, and has for years. I assumed it was a built-in result of my moving the mouse too fast, some sort of shortcut move I didn't intend, until it occurred to me recently it could be fixed.

A stuck key is a good possibility . . . will do when I return to work Thursday (I'm PT). Thanks!

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Why does the research box keep popping up?

• Thread starter Thread starter John of Romsey Town
• Start date Start date Oct 23, 2008

John of Romsey Town

• Oct 23, 2008

My Excel 2007 appears to have developed a fault. After a few minutes of use (variable amount of time) the Research "search for" box pops up by itself whenever I press a key or click on a cell. I can turn if off again from the Review tab, but as soon as I press another key or cell, it pops back up again. This makes Excel unusable and I am forced to turn Excel off and on again, to allow another few minutes use before the bug reappears. It happens with any spreadsheet. This has only just started to happen after 1 year of use. I have no idea what is causing it or how I cure the problem. Does anyone have any experience of this? Should I reinstall Excel or is it something I am doing wrong? V grateful for advice John  

The research tab should not make excel unuseable. It couyld stay in the side while working in excel. However, the research tab pops up when pressing the ALT key while clicking any cell. Make sure you are not holding down the ALT key. ART.  

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Why do so many family offices use excel.

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Microsoft Excel is a surprising backbone in the private wealth industry - a consequence of cost, ... [+] opacity, and willingness to embrace new tools.

Microsoft Excel is a household name - and has been so well adopted that it’s become the generic name for “spreadsheets” (alongside other contenders such as Google Sheets or Apple Numbers).

However, an era dominated by sophisticated financial software and complex data analytics that Excel helped foster, it might seem surprising many family offices - with traditionally abundant access to capital - still rely on the software for many core functions and tasks.

A recent LinkedIn post poked fun at this irony, given that family offices can be slow to adopt new technologies that support more sophisticated data aggregation and investment management tools that their core operations typically demand.

Diving into the comments on the post, there’s a lot to unpack.

What Is Excel Really Used For?

In short - Excel can be used as a Swiss Army Knife in almost every organization, and the same holds true for family offices.

Data teams use Excel to organise data, sales teams use it for organising leads and sales funnels, marketing teams for customer data, HR teams for employee info, C-level roles for reporting across key metrics and then, of course, finance teams use Excel for everything financial from budgets, to cash flow, projections, P&Ls - you name it.

In a family office environment, investment teams also use Excel for investment tracking and, alongside with finance teams, build reporting.

The Enduring Appeal of Excel - Why Does It Dominate?

Best high-yield savings accounts of 2024, best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024.

There are several reasons why Excel has solidified its position as an indispensable tool in managing the complexities of family wealth - among them, and perhaps most naturally, excel is incredibly versatile, widely used, and understood - making it accessible to a broad range of users within the family office.

Familiarity

Excel was first released in 1987 - making the program itself 37 years old today. For many older familiar generations, Excel has remained a mainstay throughout a significant portion of their lives.

As Microsoft has continually enhanced Excel, family offices have similarly tailored spreadsheets to suit their specific needs across an array of use cases - from tracking investments to managing household expenses. While also having a powerful array of features, Excel also has a relatively straightforward learning curve - enabling new users to onboard quickly.

Marc-Phillipe Davies, co-founder of Deallocker, said it best - quipping that "Excel is not unsophisticated just because everyone has it and costs next to nothing. It's proof how incredible a tool it is! Shallow learning curve, cheap, universal, reliable, trustworthy”.

For that reason, many family offices continue to hold on to Excel as a trusted source of truth. Which leads to…

Resistance To Change

The saying, ‘if it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ easily applies to many family offices that continue to use Excel. Older familial generations can feel most at home with the software.

It’s also worthwhile to mention that this resistance is also not usually the fault of the family office itself. In an industry that’s renowned for its opacity, there are few benchmarks that would compel family offices to significantly enhance their operations by updating their technology stack; contributing to a resistance to, and fear of change that is pervasive - even when new options and features can significantly enhance portfolio reporting capabilities across complex financial instruments at a minimum.

As Michael Casciano from EVO Wealth Tech playfully added, "Inertia is the second most powerful force in wealth management after compounding interest!"

There’s also the fact that compared to specialised financial software, Excel is relatively inexpensive, making it an attractive option for many family offices, especially those in the early stages of their establishment or those that have existed for many decades.

"I also see a heavy reliance on spreadsheets, and reluctance to change is high for the reasons mentioned, especially ‘cost’," outlined Ian Keates, Chief Executive Officer at Altoo AG.

Excel can additionally integrate with many other software applications (such as accounting systems and CRM platforms) enhancing its utility in the overall family office ecosystem.

While there are many platforms that can expand on Excel’s feature set and further integrate with more complex alternative investments or assist with ESG or Impact reporting, these toolsets can come with their own price tag - meaning that many family offices may simply choose to ‘go it alone’.

Software Vendors Don’t Make It Simple

Finding the right technology foundation, or replacement for Excel, is not an easy task. Many vendors who are the first to point out that family offices shouldn’t be using Excel do not simplify their marketing, messaging, and introduction to illustrate how family offices can understand, compare, buy and implement their solutions.

While there are many interesting and unique selling points among family office software providers, few invest the time and effort to transparently highlight their value propositions and unique features that could otherwise make a move from Excel.

From Excel To The Stars

While Excel is a powerful tool, it's essential to recognize its limitations. For large and complex family offices, it might not be sufficient for managing all financial data and operations - additionally, manual data entry and calculations can be time-consuming and prone to errors. The key-person risk involved with only one person knowing how the sheets work they they built is also a risk that is often entirely overlooked.

For family offices seeking a solution in the middle, many are adopting hybrid approaches, combining Excel with specialised financial software for specific tasks. This allows them to leverage the strengths of both tools and optimise their operations.

The essential takeaway is that while Excel can suffice, family offices seeking to digitise - and who are ready to expand their abilities in-line with new tools as an investment - can access a wide array of new technologies that are reshaping the market.

As Oliver Topham, Business Development Manager at Flanks, concluded "…The mindset of 'we’ve done it this way for years and it works' will only hold the wealth management industry back and they need to consider how much time and money could be saved by looking into the many tech solutions out there today.”

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