Why does the "Microsoft Excel" background process not terminate when using "Columns.I​tem(col).A​utoFit()" feature with actxserver?

I am using "actxserver" to operate on an Excel worksheet, "ws", in MATLAB R2025a. In my workflow, I execute the following command:

>> ws.Columns.Item(1).AutoFit()

After quitting my ActiveX server connection (saved as "excel") using "excel.Quit()" and "delete(excel)", a "Microsoft Excel" process remains visible in Task Manager until I either close and restart MATLAB or manually terminate the process. Is this intended, or am I not properly cleaning up my ActiveX Server session?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

This is a confirmed issue with the "Columns.Item.AutoFit()" feature of "actxserver" in MATLAB R2024a, R2024b, and R2025a. The developers will fix this issue in a future MATLAB release.

In the meantime, the following workarounds can be used to get rid of the extra process:

1. Manually close and restart the MATLAB process.
2. Select and terminate the "Microsoft Excel" process in Windows Task Manager.
3. Execute "system('taskkill /F /IM EXCEL.exe')" from the MATLAB Command line.
   1. Note: This will attempt to terminate all active Microsoft Excel processes running on the machine.