New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on July 4, 2022) follows:

Excel is Microsoft’s spreadsheet software and one of the most used tools in its segment.

Microsoft Excel started out as a completely offline software. But over the years, Microsoft modernized it to make it accessible from the cloud through Office 365.

The software also receives constant updates with bug fixes and new features. However, a recent update brought an annoying glitch to its users.

Apparently, the latest Microsoft Excel 2206 update brought a bug where a white overlay appears over cells, columns and buttons. The issue is breaking the UI and preventing users from using the tool properly.

White overlay over Microsoft Excel cells, columns and buttons after 2206 update

According to multiple reports, Microsoft Excel users are experiencing a glitch that makes cells and buttons disappear behind a ‘white layer’.

The white overlay appears in the areas of the spreadsheet where the user hovers the mouse pointer. Also, all reports agree that the problem started after the Microsoft Excel 2206 update.

microsoft-excel-white-overlay-over-cells-buttons-2
Source

Excel Cells/Buttons turn white while scrolling/mouseover

Hey guys,
it seems that several guys in our company have struggle with Excel.
As soon as you start a new sheet and start scrolling, 50% of the rows, buttons etc. simply turn white.

Environment – W10 21H2 completely updated, O365 Update 2206 (June)

Any ideas?
Source

strange visual glitch in excel 365

Hi, I started getting a strange visual glitch in excel as shown in the figure below. There is white color everywhere that blocks the contents of the cells, cell row and column numbers, and the sheet numbers. Any idea how to fix it? Reinstalling didn’t help.

Excel version: 2206 (build 15330.20196 click-to-run)
Source

The problem can be seen more clearly in the following image:

microsoft-excel-white-overlay-over-cells-buttons-1
(Click/tap to expand)
Source

Also, one of the affected users describes the consequences of the glitch on the spreadsheet in more details:

Here’s what’s happening:

1: When typing something in a cell, the text of entire row becomes grey, and the gridlines and the row number blocks disappear.

2: When hovering the cursor over the row number block, it turns white and the number itself becomes grey.

3: The area displaying the different worksheets has turned white, I can still change between the worksheets bike double clicking the now white box.
Source

Official acknowledgment and potential workaround

The Microsoft team is already aware of the issue and is investigating. But there are no details of an ETA for a fix yet.

microsoft-excel-white-overlay-over-cells-buttons-3
Source

Meanwhile, there is a potential workaround that consists of rolling back the Excel version through Microsoft 365:

‘I had the same problem. I saw that MS365 recently pushed out a new Version (2206, Build 15330.20196) on July1, and I did not have this problem a couple days ago.

By reloaded the previous version that was on my MS365 account it solved the problem. Hopefully MS fixes it in their next version release!’
Source

You can check out the detailed instructions of how to roll back to the previous version of Excel using Microsoft 365 through this link.

We will update this story as events unfold.

Update 1 (July 5)

01:49 pm (IST): Some users have reported that this issue has been fixed in the latest version of MS Excel. So, if you are still facing this bug, then you should try and update your MS Office 365.

I started facing this issue since yesterday. It got solved for me by just updating the office 365. Go to File > Account> Office updates> update now. (Source)

Update 2 (July 6)

11:31 am (IST): One of the affected users has suggested a potential workaround to resolve this issue. You can check it out below.

Workaround: Good news is that you don’t have to revert to a previous version. I did an Online Repair (<< click for the official microsoft instructions) and it fixed it. (Source)

Update 3 (July 7)

06:45 pm (IST): There is another workaround for those users who are still experiencing the issue.

According to a Redditor, all cells, columns and buttons are perfectly visible when activating the dark mode (although the spreadsheet background will be black).

When I change to dark mode it changes the background to black and you can see the tabs.
Source

Featured Image: Microsoft

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Jean Leon
1613 Posts

A tech enthusiast since ever. I like to always be up to date on the latest news in the industry and write about it. Twitter: @jean_ERdC

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