XL2000: "Can't Open This Item" Error Opening Files from Public Folder

If you try open a Microsoft Excel workbook saved in a Microsoft Outlook public folder, you may receive the following error message, with Microsoft Outlook in the title bar: The only option is to click OK.

This problem may occur when the following conditions are true:

• You create multiple windows (Sheet1:1, Sheet1:2, and so on) by clicking New Window on the Window menu, before saving the workbook.
  
  -and-
  
  
• You store the file in a Microsoft Exchange public folder (point to Send to on the File menu and click Exchange Folder).
  
  -and-
  
  
• You reopen the workbook, create a new window, and then save and close the workbook.

When you save and close a workbook with more than one window open in a public folder, Excel seems to hide the last window. The error message only occurs when you reopen a workbook saved in a public folder, create a new window without unhiding the previous window that Excel hid, and then save and close the file. The next time you try to open the workbook, you may receive the error message.

To resolve this problem, use the appropriate method for your situation.

Close Windows Before Saving and Closing from Excel

To prevent the error message from occurring, close any extra open windows (Sheet1:1, Sheet1:2, and so on) before saving and closing the workbook:

• Click the Close button (the box with an "X") in all the windows of the workbook until you no longer see something similar to "Sheet1:1" in the title bar of the window. When you have closed all windows of a workbook except for the first window, you no longer see a colon and a number after the file name.
  
  NOTE: You may need to click Unhide on the Window menu to unhide and close hidden windows.

Drag the Workbook to the Desktop

If you have already received the error message, drag the workbook to the desktop to open the workbook and remove extra windows. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Drag the workbook from the Exchange public folder to your desktop.
2. Open the workbook and click the Close button (the box with an "X") in all the windows of the workbook until you no longer see something similar to "Sheet1:1" in the title bar of the window.
   
   NOTE: You may need to click Unhide on the Window menu to unhide and close hidden windows.
3. Drag the workbook back to the Exchange public folder and delete the previous copy of the workbook in the Exchange public folder.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

If you cannot open files that you create and place in a public folder on one computer, you may be able to open them on another computer.