Workday OfficeConnect + think-cell: Resolving the Conflict

Workday OfficeConnect and think-cell both use Excel COM subclassing and can interfere with each other — refresh failures, broken charts, Excel crashes. Here’s the documented fix.
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If your finance team uses both Workday OfficeConnect and think-cell (the PowerPoint chart add-in), you’ve probably hit a conflict: Excel crashes during OfficeConnect refresh, think-cell charts won’t update, or one of the two add-ins quietly disables the other. This article documents the conflict and the workaround.

Symptom

Any of the following with both add-ins installed:

  • Excel crashes during OfficeConnect Refresh
  • think-cell PowerPoint charts won’t refresh from the Excel source
  • One ribbon tab disappears after a crash (more often OfficeConnect — see Re-enabling a Disabled COM Add-in)
  • “OfficeConnect has encountered an error” dialog with no error code
  • Sluggish Excel performance with both add-ins loaded

Root cause

Both OfficeConnect and think-cell are COM add-ins that hook deeply into Excel through subclassing — they intercept Excel’s internal Windows messages to extend behavior. When two add-ins subclass the same Excel window in incompatible ways, the second one to load can break the first, or both can corrupt Excel’s message handling.

think-cell documents this conflict from their side in KB0231. The fix is symmetric — it works the same regardless of which add-in you “prefer.”

Fix — Load order workaround

The most reliable workaround is to control load order so that one add-in finishes initializing before the other starts.

1
Decide which add-in loads first think-cell’s KB recommends loading think-cell first, then OfficeConnect. We’ve seen both orders work; if you’re hitting crashes, try think-cell-first first.
2
Disable both add-ins In Excel: File → Options → Add-ins → Manage: COM Add-ins → Go. Uncheck both Adaptive Insights OfficeConnect (or Workday OfficeConnect) and think-cell. Click OK.
3
Restart Excel Close Excel completely.
4
Enable think-cell first Reopen Excel. Go back to File → Options → Add-ins → Manage: COM Add-ins → Go. Check think-cell only. Click OK.
5
Wait for think-cell to fully load Allow a few seconds for think-cell’s ribbon to appear and its initialization to complete.
6
Enable OfficeConnect Go back to the COM Add-ins dialog and check OfficeConnect. Click OK.
7
Test refresh Click Refresh on an OfficeConnect workbook. If the workbook refreshes without crashing, the load order workaround is sufficient.

Once you’ve established the working order, Excel typically remembers it on subsequent starts.

Fix — Selective loading per workbook

If load-order tweaking doesn’t fully resolve crashes for your environment, the next step is to load only one add-in per session:

  • For pure OfficeConnect work: disable think-cell, then open the workbook
  • For pure think-cell work: disable OfficeConnect, then open the workbook
  • For workbooks that need both: accept the risk and save frequently

This is workable for individual users but inconvenient at scale.

Fix — Separate Excel install profiles (advanced)

For organizations where many users hit the conflict, IT can deploy two Excel “profiles” via Office shared computer activation or a separate Excel install — one with OfficeConnect, one with think-cell — and let users choose per session. This is a heavyweight solution; reserve it for teams that genuinely need both.

For admins & power users If you’re managing the conflict at scale, capture which users hit crashes and how often. Workday support and think-cell support both want this information to prioritize their respective fixes.

What doesn’t work

  • Updating one add-in alone rarely fixes the conflict. Both vendors have shipped multiple updates without eliminating it.
  • Office repair through Control Panel doesn’t help — Office itself isn’t corrupt.
  • Reinstalling either add-in doesn’t help unless you also clear Excel’s add-in load order.

When to escalate

If the load-order workaround doesn’t resolve crashes:

8
Capture an OfficeConnect log See Troubleshoot → Capturing Logs (coming soon) for the procedure.
9
Open a ticket with both Workday support and think-cell support Reference think-cell KB0231 and provide the OfficeConnect log in the ticket.
10
Include version details in the ticket Note your Excel version (File → Account → About Excel), OfficeConnect version, and think-cell version.

Result

Both add-ins coexist in the same Excel install without crashing, even if you have to be deliberate about load order or switch between them per workbook.

Next steps

Last modified May 19, 2026: Rename 'Get Started' section to 'Wiki' site-wide (6ebea16d)