Excel 2013 starts up with blank screen when opened from explorer

Anonymous
2013-02-27T17:34:15+00:00

When I double click any Excel file in windows explorer, Excel starts up maximized and I can see the ribbon but the whole grid area where my data should be is blank, no gridlines or row/column headers.   If I "restore down" the Excel window then everything appears as normal.

I sometimes get subsequent Excel crashes.

I also get an Excel crash by clicking on an Excel file in windows explorer, as if to preview it.  The Excel file preview function is not working since I installed Office 2013 Professional.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-04-30T13:14:46+00:00

    this worked for me except where in your sample code you have:

    "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\Root\Office15\EXCEL.EXE" "%!

    I put

    "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\Root\Office15\EXCEL.EXE" "%1"

    as per your text .. then bingo problem fixed

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-02-28T22:46:36+00:00

    My system does not have appwiz but I repaired office13 from "add or remove programs".  That didn't help.

    The event viewer  under Application and Services logs  doesn't show "Microsoft Office applications"

    Can you please give me instructions for Windows 7.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-09-02T17:11:01+00:00

    I have figured out that if you have the sidebar preview open in window's explorer, viewing files on a HD, and select an excel file to preview it before opening, that is when the "blank excel program" opens.  I close the sidebar preview function in windows and select the same excel file and the blank program doesn't open.

    Same for everyone else?

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  4. Vijay A. Verma 104.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2014-07-31T17:45:06+00:00

    Microsoft Office File Validation Add-In may not be relevant for 2013 as it was for previous versions of Office. Hence, you may try uninstalling this. Once again, like every other option this is a try only, so you have to do it and see it...

    Few other things, you may try -

    Following are likely solution. But check the option 4 first.

    1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15, look for EXCEL.EXE

    Right Click on this, Properties, In Compatibility tab, check "Run this Program as an Administrator"

    Start the Excel. You might again get the error. Close Exel and uncheck "Run this Program as an Administrator". Start Exel again. You should not get the error anymore.

    1. File > Options > Advanced - In General section (go very much down in Advanced), check "Ignore Other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)". Close and re-start the Excel. Uncheck "Ignore Other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)". Close and re-start Exel again. You should not get the error anymore.
    2. Many third party applications also cause the problem like Tuneup Utilities, Abby Finereader etc. See if you have any of them installed.
    3. You may try to disable the Hardware Graphic Acceleration and verify the result:

        Open Excel.

        Click on file, Options.

        Go to the Advanced tab.

        Under the Display section, uncheck the box for 'Disable hardware graphics acceleration'.

        Click ok.

    1. Review the KB article - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919196/en-us
    2. See if the suggestions that Doug Robbins has made in the following thread are useful: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office\_365hp-word/word-2013-keeps-shutting-down-wont-print-to-my/708f3b8c-ac40-4e54-a028-fc18da6cf7c4.
    3. For one person upgrading Internet Explore did the trick and for one uninstalling the windows compatibility package that was left over from a previous version of office did the job.
    4. If none of above works, please uninstall the current installed Office, and reinstall it again. Before resorting to uninstall, make sure that you have the license keys.

    To uninstall the Office, follow the instructions in the following support article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2739501

    Note: Ensure to save the Fix it on the desktop and then run the file.

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-07-31T15:56:41+00:00

    Thanks for your quick reply, Vijay. No luck though. 

    Problem: No grid, icons in ribbon are grey, etc. The only files that open normally are those previously created with Excel 2013 or that I had opened a week ago or  and converted when closing. I installed Office 2013 about two weeks ago.

    Option 1: No files in folder XLSTART 

    Option 2: There were three xlb files: Excel12.xlb, Excel14.xlb, Excel15.xlb. At first I just changed the extension for 15 and opened Excel, which created a new file. Then I tried to open one of the files that is giving me trouble. Same problem. Then I changed the extensions of all 3 files. No improvement. Then I removed ALL xlb files. No change. 

    Option 3: Not relevant. 

    Option 4: I disabled the only 2 non-native Excel Add-ins, one at a time: Omni Page, and Send to Bluetooth. No change. 

    Option 5: This link refers to older versions of Excel. Some suggestions are not relevant. Others did not help. 

    Option 6: Not relevant. 

    Option 7: No help.  

    What next?

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