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Issue: The Databricks Excel Add-in launches authentication in an external browser window rather than within the Excel task pane. The Unity Catalog does display in the external browser window, but after sign-in, Excel remains stuck spinning/loading indefinitely.
Affected Platforms: Reproduced on both Windows and macOS using Microsoft 365 Excel.
Deployment Method: The add-in is side-loaded through a custom XML manifest rather than deployed tenant-wide from the Microsoft Marketplace.
Troubleshooting Completed:
Verified and modified manifest trust and authentication settings.
Cleared Excel Web Extensions Framework (WEF) caches and reloaded the manifest.
Tested browser settings, pop-up permissions, cookies, and documented authentication workarounds.
Reproduced on multiple independent Windows and Mac installations.
Business Impact: Users cannot refresh a recurring internal report through the add-in and must perform manual exports from the Databricks UI as a temporary workaround.
Suspected Cause: The issue may be tied to an August 2026 update to the Databricks Excel Add-in that introduced new features such as cascading filters and Genie One integration. The timing aligns with the appearance of the authentication problem. https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/release-notes/product/2026/august
Request to Support: Investigate the regression and provide any known workarounds or fixes.
