Task-pane app stuck at "Loading..."

Question

This happens to me randomly about 6-7 times out of 10 even without doing any modifications to the code. When I start debugging my app (it's an Excel task-pane app written in JS/HTML/CSS), it shows the task-pane for a second, then it disappears and the screen "Loading..." appears and stays there until I close Excel. If i try it again, then it either works normally or does the same again...

I've updated Visual Studio and tried to create new projects but the problem still occurs.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

For future reference in case someone stumbles onto this question: see KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2866015/en-us

Quoting from the article:

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods:

Method 1:

Disable the COM add-ins. To do this, follow these steps:

1.In Excel 2013, on the File tab, click Options, and then click the Add-Ins category.

2.In the Manage box, click COM Add-ins, and then click Go.

3.In the Add-Ins available box, disable the add-ins by clicking to clear the check boxes next to the add-ins, and then click OK.

Method 2

If the app is not designed only for Excel 2013, you can debug the app by using another Office application such as Word. To do this, follow these steps:

1.Select the app for the Office project from Visual Studio Solution Explorer.

2.Locate the properties window, and then set Start Action to another Office application such as Word.

Method 3 Close the task pane app, and then re-insert the app into the document without closing Excel. To do this, in Excel 2013, click Insert, click Apps for Office, and then select the app from the Developer Apps category. Because the "Loading" issue occurs only when the document is first opened, you can resolve the issue by restarting the task pane app.