If Excel has been closing on you, update to BidScreen XL 9.8.2.3
Microsoft's newest Excel builds started closing on BidScreen XL users when they opened a workbook or clicked a cell. BidScreen XL 9.8.2.3 fixes it. Here's what happened, what changed and how to update.
Mark Schwab·
If Excel has been closing on you this fall, you weren't doing anything wrong. You'd open a bid workbook, click a cell, and Excel would shut down. Some of you saw it freeze instead, or got a prompt to end the task so an update could finish. On bid day, that costs you the afternoon.
BidScreen XL 9.8.2.3 went out today and fixes it. Update, and Excel stays open.
What you were seeing
On the newest Microsoft 365 builds of Excel, three things showed up:
- Excel closing when you opened a workbook or clicked a cell.
- Excel freezing with BidScreen loaded.
- A prompt to end the task to finish installing an update.
Why it happened
Over the late summer and early fall, Microsoft shipped new Excel builds to Microsoft 365 customers on the Current Channel (versions 2607 and 2608). Those builds changed how Excel runs calls from add-ins like BidScreen XL. A call BidScreen has made the same way for years started landing on memory those builds now treat as off-limits, and Excel closed.
Nothing in your workbooks or your setup caused it. It came with the Excel update, which is why it showed up on machines that had been running fine for years.
What we changed
We changed the way BidScreen connects to Excel. The call now goes straight through instead of being put together while Excel is running, which was the part the new builds were choking on.
That is the whole change. No features were removed. Your conditions, workbooks and templates work the way they did before. It covers both 32-bit and 64-bit Excel.
Who should update
- Everyone on Microsoft 365 or an Office that updates on its own. That's most of you, and it's the group that was hitting the crash.
- Anyone who saw Excel close, freeze or ask you to end the task. This is your fix.
- Anyone on an older Office that doesn't update. You weren't hitting this crash, but update anyway so you're covered when your Office does.
How to update
- BidScreen XL already installed: open Excel. BidScreen will prompt you to update. Accept it and you're on 9.8.2.3.
- Fresh install or IT-managed machines: download the current installer from your Downloads page, or use the company installer we provide.
- Network (pool) licenses: your seats update through the license channel. IT can also pull the refreshed company installer.
What this update doesn't do
This is a fix for one crash, not a speed or feature release, so don't expect BidScreen to feel different. It fixes the crash on the current Microsoft 365 builds. We can't promise how future Excel updates will behave, but if one breaks BidScreen again, we'll tell you plainly and fix it the same way.
Still seeing Excel close after you update? Contact support and we'll work through it with you, or ask in the BidScreen XL community channel.
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