Are you experiencing the Download did not complete error message when using Power Query in Microsoft Excel? Some Excel users have reported getting this error when refreshing Power Query. If you are also facing this error message, you can follow the fixes we have discussed in this post to resolve the error.
Fix Download did not complete error in Excel
If you are experiencing the Download did not complete error message in Microsoft Excel, here are the troubleshooting methods to fix the error:
- Perform preliminary checks.
- Unprotect, then protect your sheet again.
- Disable background refresh.
- Repair Microsoft Excel.
1] Perform preliminary checks
Before getting onto advanced fixes, you should start with standard troubleshooting practices to resolve this error message.
The first of all you should do is make sure that your Microsoft Excel app is up-to-date. For that, open the Excel app, go to the File menu, and click the Accounts option. Now, click on the Update Options drop-down button and select the Update Now option. Let Office download and install pending updates. Once done, restart Excel and see if the error message is disappeared or not.
Another thing you should check is that no change is done in the query and structure. If you have made any change in the structure of your dataset to the structure it was created in, you will be required to update your query. Else, Power Query will throw the Download did not complete error.
You can also recreate the same query and see if it fixes the error message.
This error message can also be triggered due to an incorrect source location of a file that you have used in Power Query. So, make sure the location of the file is not changed.
Read: FileType selected not supported by this app Teams, Excel error.
2] Unprotect, then protect your sheet again
If the above tips didn’t help, you can unprotect your worksheet and then reprotect it. As it turns out that this error may occur if a worksheet is protected in an older version of Excel. So, you can remove the protection from the worksheet and then protect it again to fix the issue.
To do so, open the problematic worksheet and navigate to the Review tab. After that, tap on the Unprotect Sheet button, enter the right password to unlock the worksheet, and press the OK button. Once the worksheet is unprotected, you can restart Excel and open the worksheet to protect it using Review > Protect Sheet.
Read: Errors were detected while saving Excel file.
3] Disable background refresh
Excel provides a handy feature called Enable Background Refresh in Power Query’s properties. This feature keeps updating imported external data continuously while you may work on other worksheets. However, this feature may cause errors while working with external data like a webpage, etc. Hence, if the error continues, you can try disabling the background refresh feature and check if the error is gone.
Here’s how:
- First, select a cell in your worksheet and then navigate to the Data tab present on your ribbon.
- Next, click on the drop-down arrow button present next to the Refresh All option under Queries and Connections.
- After that, from the appeared options, choose the Connection Properties option.
- Now, in the Query Properties window, disable the checkbox associated with the Enable Background Refresh option.
- Finally, press the OK button to save changes.
You can now check if the error is resolved.
See: How to enable or disable Error checking rules in Excel?
4] Repair Microsoft Excel
If the above solutions didn’t work, try repairing your Excel app. To do that, open Settings using Win+I, go to Apps > Installed apps, and press the three-dot menu button present next to the Microsoft Office app. Next, choose the Modify option and then choose Quick Repair or Online Repair and press the Repair button. When done, restart Excel and see if the error message is gone.
How do I fix a data format error in Excel?
To fix data formatting errors and issues in Excel, you can clear all formatting by using the Clear > Clear Formats option and then re-apply simple formatting as per your requirement. If you are having an issue with the formatting of a specific cell, right-click on it and choose the Formal cell option. After that, go to the Number category and select the preferred format to display the data.
How do I fix data type error in Power Query?
To fix the DataFormat error in Power Query in Excel, you can try changing the data source of the row with the error to the correct values rather than NA. You can also use the Replace Errors function to fix the error.
Now read: Fix Excel printing problems in Windows.
