Excel 2013 starts up with blank screen when opened from explorer

I had the same issue, which was easily resolved by repairing the office application. Read the how to here: https://support.office.com/en-ie/article/Repair-an-Office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b

I installed Office 365, but could only open files by opening Word or Excel and selecting the document and not directly from my computer (grey screen). I have Windows 7 and chose 'quick repair' first before going to try 'Online Repair'. I'm glad this issue is resolved! Here's the how to for Windows 7, there is also a 'how to' for Windows 10, 8 and 8.1. 

Cheers, Daniëlle

Windows 7 or Vista

1. Click the Start button  (lower left corner), click Control Panel from the menu list, and then click Programs and Features.
2. From Category view, under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
3. Click the Office product you want to repair, and then click Change.
4. From the How would you like to repair your Office Programs screen, select Online Repair to ensure everything gets fixed, and then select Repair.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete.

If running Repair doesn't solve the problem, you might need to uninstall and reinstall Office. Refer to Uninstall Office 2010 or Uninstall Office 2013, Office 2016, or Office 365 from a PC.

I know this is a very old thread, but this week we run into the same problem. Because we just upgraded to Windows 10 we blamed that, baut people which were still on W8.1 suddenly also reported this.

I tried a lot of things, including reïnstallation. 

What did the trick for me was a solution I implemented to solve a different problem with Outlook 2013: KB317586.

This article suggests to revert click to run to an earlier version. 

Since click-to-run isn't exclusively an Outlook program, I just tried it and voila: my excel problem also vanished like snow on a summer day.

Someone told me this click-to-run is a b@#$h of a program causing all kinds of problems.

I just hope this answer helps some of you.

Yes, the hidden workbook issue suddenly appeared for me after this weekend.  I figured this out because I could open other workbooks without any problems.  I agree with the last commentator.  Try looking at the view first and make sure the workbook is not hidden.  Good luck to all.

Let me help everyone out. 

1)Right click on the file and select properties 

2. Click on unblock(at the bottom)
3. Open file, you might get an error message saying the file has the wrong file extension. Just click on OK or yes to continue.
4. The file will now be viewable.

Before doing this I do recommend running the quick repair and online repair.

A recent Microsoft Office Security update for Excel 2013 caused the blank workbook issue for me. Uninstalled the updates in Control Panel -> Program and Features -> View Installed Updates (left pane). Only Excel caused problems.

Hope that helps somebody