excel skips to another workbook for no apparent reason

<snip>

First, close excel and make sure all "EXCEL.exe" processes are closed in the task manager.

Type "run" (without quotes) in your windows search bar

Within "Open Field", type "excel /x" (without quotes).

-This will launch EXCEL in a separate instance, and from here please open the excel file you would like to use.

-Use this process again to open up your secondary or any additional workbooks.

</snip

We're trying this now. Note that a simple registry change can make this the default way of opening Excel, rather than using the complex steps above. See this article:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3165211/how-to-force-excel-to-open-in-a-new-instance-by-default

If this indeed fixes the problem, then shame on Microsoft for not addressing it yet.

Thanks for this suggestion, which we will try.

In the meantime, following up another forum suggestion, we have disabled the Intel service "ESIF Upper Framework Service" and this also seems to have stopped the problem. I am not happy about randomly stopping system services, which presumably are there for some useful purpose, but thus far after a couple of days we have not been seeing this problem. I'll post a follow up if more information becomes relevant.

UPDATE 3/25/2018: Despite a brief period of no problems, which I have trouble explaining, the ESIF service removal turned out not to be a cure. So we've turned it back on and are trying the 'separate instance' solution. See the note below about a registry change that makes separate instances the default.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3165211/how-to-force-excel-to-open-in-a-new-instance-by-default

Nope. We're all just on here complaining about the same thing. They don't seem to care. =(

Try running Excel with no addons.  For me it was an addon installed by Thomson One but other addons could cause this as well.  Since I've uninstalled the addon and taken steps to make sure the other program doesn't re-install it I've been fine.

Doesn't matter. Have run Excel with and without addons and the problem has still occurred. Short of starting Excel in safe mode every time I use the software (which is absurd), I'm out of options. This is a problem that's been going on for year and that Microsoft has clearly ignored.

This is the exact same response I have. I'm not running add-ons. It doesn't matter what is running or not running, what computer I'm on, whether it's 2013 or 2016, whether it's one employer or another... none of that matters. It does it all the time.

Any updates here?  I have this same issue, and it is beyond frustrating.  

This is clearly a bug that needs to be fixed...