Excel 2013 Starting With Two Windows?

Anonymous
2013-03-03T19:48:44+00:00

Upon installation of Office 2013 yesterday, I have found in a day that Excel starts with Two Windows, i.e. one is the application with no Book, while the other offering to select from a collection of templates, from which if I select Blank Workbook, the blank one window remains to be opened, while the other operating one opens with a default template instead of the Book.xltx & Sheet.xltx placed in XLStart folder of Office15? Even upon exiting I need to close both the windows separately, in other words using Alt+F4 twice.

Any idea, what might be causing the trouble?

Thanx in advance.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2013-03-04T12:13:14+00:00

Hello Faraz,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft community. We are glad to assist you with your concern.

As per the description, looks like the Excel application starts in two windows.

To resolve the issue, let us open Excel in application safe and check how they work.

To do that, press the ‘Windows + R’ key on the keyboard.

In the Run open box type in ‘Excel /safe’ and hit ok.

Note: There is a space between Excel and /.

If application safe mode works, try disabling the add-ins associated with Excel applications and check.

To do that, do the following:

  1. Open the application. Click on File and then click on options.
  2. In the Options Window click on Add-ins.
  3. Select Com Add-ins in the Manage list in the Add-ins section and click Go. Now uncheck the all the add-ins and click Ok.

You may also refer to the section Additional troubleshooting in the following article and check if it helps:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/280504

If you still have questions, you can always reply and I’ll be happy to assist you.

Thank you

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Anonymous
2013-07-18T16:53:50+00:00

Here's what finally appears to have worked for me. I suspected that it had something to do with the PERSONAL.XLSB workbook so after closing a regular workbook and getting the blank gray window I went to View>Window and found that Unhide was the only option so I clicked that and then Hide and saved the change and now everything closes as it should.

Bloody annoying that no one in MS support has been any help on this.

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92 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-04-15T14:33:24+00:00

    The problem occurs with any Excel file

    I've tried clearing the folders -- that doesn't fix it

    I've never had that trouble with Word

    This solution is the answer, but it is buried in the thread:  

    I found this to be an easy fix.  You have most likely installed an add in that modified your basic Excel settings.  It can be very hard to locate the exact settings that cause the extra window to open.  If you are at your wits end, press ' "win"+r ' to open the run program dialog box, then enter "excel /o" and press enter (no quotation marks) and it will reset your excel to the initial settings.  In most cases, this is the easiest way to solve the problem.

    We're here to help.  Visit our page at workspacepros.com (we're redesigning our website so it is currently down; should be back up in a week or less; as of 4-10-15).  ******@workspacepros.com

    Your Expert Excel Resource,

    Michael

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-04-15T14:43:50+00:00

    This post is buried in the thread so I will re-post here.  It will most likely fix your problem.  Please mark this and the original post as helpful so it will move up the results.  

    "I found this to be an easy fix.  You have most likely installed an add in that modified your basic Excel settings.  It can be very hard to locate the exact settings that cause the extra window to open.  If you are at your wits end, press ' "win"+r ' to open the run program dialog box, then enter "excel /o" and press enter (no quotation marks) and it will reset your excel to the initial settings.  In most cases, this is the easiest way to solve the problem.

    We're here to help.  Visit our page at workspacepros.com (we're redesigning our website so it is currently down; should be back up in a week or less; as of 4-10-15).  *** Email address is removed for privacy ***

    Your Expert Excel Resource,

    Michael"

    This was a new installation and first time use. I Tried the above suggestion and Safe mode neither of them worked for me. The only solution which did that still allows me access to the macros stored in my personal .xlsb file was the solution i posted of marking the file as hidden. i have not had an issue since.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-04-15T15:02:08+00:00

    This worked for me!

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