Prevent files from opening automatically in Excel

How to prevent files from opening automatically in ExcelThis article describes how to prevent files from automatically opening when you start Microsoft Excel.

When you start Excel, all the files that are located in the XLStart folder are automatically opened. This behavior occurs regardless of the type of file. Additionally, if you specified an alternative startup folder for Excel, every file in that folder is also automatically opened. To specify an alternative startup folder, in Microsoft Excel 2002 or Microsoft Office Excel 2003, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the General tab. In Microsoft Office Excel 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button, click Excel Options, click the Advanced tab, and then locate the General section. This behavior may cause Excel to stop responding or this behavior may cause Excel to take a long time to start if either of the following conditions is true:

• The files in either startup folder are not valid Excel files.
• The files are stored on a network drive that has a slow network connection.

Use one of the following methods to prevent files in these locations from automatically being opened when you start Excel.

Remove files from the XLStart folder and from the alternative startup folders

loadTOCNode(3, 'summary'); To remove files from the XLStart folder and from the alternative startup folders, follow these steps:

1. Start Excel.
2. Excel 2002 or Excel 2003
   On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
   
   Excel 2007
   Click the Microsoft Office Button, click Excel Options, click the Advanced tab, and then locate the General section.
3. Note the folder that is listed in the At startup, open all files in box.
   
   Note If you do not want to open any files at startup, delete the contents of this box.
4. Click OK.
5. Exit Excel.
6. Start Microsoft Windows Explorer or double-click My Computer on the desktop.
7. Locate the following folder:
   • Excel 2007:
     C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12\XLSTART
   • Excel 2003:
     C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\XLSTART
   • Excel 2002:
     C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE10\XLSTART
8. Select any files that you do not want to open when Excel starts, and then move the files to another folder.
9. If you are running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, locate the following folder:
   C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
10. Select any files that you do not want to automatically open when Excel starts, and then move the files to another folder.
11. Locate the folder that you noted in step 4.
12. Select any files that you do not want to automatically open when Excel starts, and then move the files to another folder.

Start Excel in safe mode

loadTOCNode(3, 'summary'); When you start Excel, any files that are located in the XLStart folders or the alternative startup folder start to open. To prevent the files in these locations from opening when you start Excel, you can start Excel in safe mode. Starting Excel in safe mode prevents all add-ins, toolbar customizations, and startup folders from loading when Excel is started. You can use a command-line switch to start Excel in safe mode.

To start Excel in safe mode, hold down the CTRL key while you start Excel. You will receive the following message:

If you click Yes, Excel starts in safe mode. You can then clear the alternative startup location as described earlier. In all versions of Excel, you can use a command-line switch to start Excel in safe mode.