KB0196: Error in PowerPoint or Excel: "thinkcell is not compatible with your current Office version"

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Problem

When you open PowerPoint or Excel, or when you insert or edit a thinkcell chart, you get an error message that says thinkcell isn't compatible with your current Office version. The message contains the error CHUNKERROR, CFindCodePattern failed, or CModuleFindChunk failed. This error typically appears after you've installed an update for Microsoft Office.

Solution

Download and install the latest thinkcell version from our download page.

If you've joined the Microsoft 365 Insider beta program, you might have installed an Office update with which thinkcell is not yet compatible. In this case, you can opt out of the Insider program.

Contact support

If you're still experiencing this issue after updating to the latest thinkcell version, please contact our support team.

Please send us the thinkcell log files. To do so, on the PowerPoint or Excel ribbon, select Insert > thinkcell > Tools Tools Menu icon > Help > Request Support. A new email will open with the log files automatically attached.

If Request Support works neither in PowerPoint nor in Excel, follow these steps: Read more

  1. Open a new File Explorer window.

  2. In the address field, enter %LOCALAPPDATA%\think-cell. Select Enter.

    Alternatively, you can open the think-cell folder by browsing the directory: Read more

    The full default filepath is C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\think-cell. Replace USERNAME with your username.

    If you can't find this folder, it's probably hidden. To show hidden items, in File Explorer, select one of the following:

    • Windows 7: Organize > Folder and search options > View > Show hidden files and folders
    • Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10: View > Show/hide > Hidden Items
    • Windows 11: View > Show > Hidden Items

  3. Send all the files in the think-cell folder that end in log to our support team. These files may include any of the following:

    • EXCEL_log.log
    • POWERPNT_log.log
    • ppttc_log.log
    • setup_think-cell_VERSION_log.log
    • tcasr_log.log
    • tcindex_log.log
    • tcmail_log.log
    • tcrunxl_log.log
    • tcupdate_log.log

      • Additionally, if thinkcell is active, please send us a screenshot of the About thinkcell dialog. To open the About thinkcell dialog, on the PowerPoint or Excel ribbon, select Insert > thinkcell > Tools Tools Menu icon > Help > About.

Technical background

Microsoft frequently releases updates for Microsoft 365 that older versions of thinkcell may not be compatible with. To learn more, see KB0165: Does thinkcell work with Microsoft 365 (Office 365) and Office 2016/2019 Click-to-Run?.