[Fix] “There was a Problem Sending the Command to the Program” Error Message in Windows

Since a few days I was facing this strange problem. I was trying to open a Microsoft Excel 2013 file (.xlsx) in Windows 8.1 but whenever I tried to open it, I received following error message:

There was a problem sending the command to the program.

There was no problem in the file. Also the error message was coming only once. After clicking on the OK button and trying to open the file again, it opened without any problem. It was happening each time I started my computer.

I searched and found various solutions for this problem. So today in this tutorial, I'm going to share all possible solutions to fix this irritating issue. I hope it'll come handy for some people.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

When you try to open a Microsoft Office file such as a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, Access database file, etc, you receive following error messages:

There was a problem sending the command to the program.

OR

Windows cannot find the file, Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.

OR

Cannot find the file (or one of its components). Make sure the path and filename are correct and that all required libraries are available.

After getting the error message, following things might happen:

CASE 1: The error message is shown only once and you'll be able to open the file in second attempt.

CASE 2: The error message is shown each time you try to open the file.

PROBLEM REASON:

According to Microsoft KB article, this problem occurs due to Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) feature. DDE is a type of communication protocols which is used by Windows to open certain filetypes which require this protocol for communication between source and target programs.

DDE mechanism is used to prevent unnecessary opening of multiple instances of a program if one instance of that program is already running in background. So basically DDE helps Windows in saving computer resources so that you get better performance from your computer.

Now lets talk about our problem! The above mentioned error message appears when Windows sends DDE command to MS Office application but Windows fails to connect with the application, thus it shows the error message in return.

PROBLEM SOLUTION:

We talked about 2 cases above! If CASE 1 is applicable to you i.e. you receive the error message only once and then you are able to open the file, you can ignore this problem. Nothing bad is going to happen with your computer.

But if CASE 2 is applicable to you and you are not able to open the file, then you can try following solutions:

SOLUTION 1:

1. Open the Microsoft Office program and open its Options window. Click on Office ORB or FILE menu present in the ribbon and then click on Options.

2. Now go to Advanced tab and scroll down to bottom. You'll find "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" option present in General section.



3. Make sure its unchecked. If its enabled in your system, disable it by unchecking the checkbox.

4. Apply changes and restart Office program. It should fix the problem.

SOLUTION 2:

If the above mentioned solution doesn't work for you, try following method. Basically we are going to re-associate Office program as default application to open the filetype:

1. Right-click on the Office file and select "Open with" option.



2. If you are using Windows 7 or earlier Windows versions, click on Browse button.

If you are using Windows 8 or later, click on More Options link and then click on "Look for another app on this PC" option.

3. Now go to "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office..." folder in Browse dialog box and select the correct EXE file. For example, if you are trying to open .xlsx file, select EXCEL.EXE file. If you are trying to open .docx file, select WINWORD.EXE file.

Make sure "Always use this application for this file type" or similar option is enabled in Open with window.

4. That's it. It should fix the problem.

SOLUTION 3:

You can also try to repair Microsoft Office suite with the help of following steps:

1. Open Control Panel and click on Programs and Features icon.

2. Now click on Microsoft Office entry present in the list and click on "Change" button.

3. Now select "Repair" option and click on "Continue" button.

 

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