Error message when attempting to connect to Excel file from Tableau Desktop IPC_NamedPipe::Select(WaitForMultipleObjects): Timeout

Issue

Error message when attempting to connect to Excel file from Tableau Desktop .

e::Select(WaitForMultipleObjects): TimeoutIPC_NamedPip

or

An error occured while communicating to Microsoft Excel Reader.
Unable to connect to the server. Check that the server is running and that you have permissions to access the database.
IPC_NamedPipe::Select(WaitForMutipleObjects):Timeout

Additionally, the error message "TableauException: XML enumerated value cannot be encoded" may also occur.

Environment

Tableau Desktop
Excel

Resolution

Option 1
Run Tableau Desktop as administrator.

Option 2
Reinstall Tableau Desktop (using the most recent version) as an administrator.

Option 3
If the machine is in a Citrix-like environment and the user cannot access "My Tableau Repository" folder, move "My Tableau Repository" to the C: drive