How to troubleshoot Excel 2007 startup problems

There are several reasons why you may experience problems when you start Microsoft Office Excel 2007. This article describes how to troubleshoot Excel 2007 startup problems. Additionally, this article contains possible remedies to correct the problems.

Note Keep track of any new software installations or updates that you performed just before you experienced the Excel 2007 startup problem. These new installations or updates may be directly involved. Additionally, this information will be helpful if this article does not resolve your issue and you must telephone Microsoft Product Support Services.

When you start Excel 2007, you may experience problems for any of the following reasons:

• Corrupted shortcut to the Excel 2007 program
• Problematic file in the Excel startup folder or in an another startup folder
• Conflict with another program
• Incorrect version of a core Microsoft Office file
• Corrupted Excel toolbar file (Excel.xlb)
• Add-in is not valid
• Registry key is not valid

If you receive an error message when you start Excel 2007, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for the exact error message. To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base, visit the following Microsoft Web site: If you do not receive an error message, or if you cannot find specific information about the error message in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, use the following information to troubleshoot the Excel 2007 startup problem.

First, consider the scope of the problem. Does the problem occur when you start Excel 2007 by clicking a workbook file? Does the problem occur when you run Excel from the Start menu?

If the problem occurs only when you open an Excel workbook, see the Additional troubleshooting section. Otherwise, see the "Create a new shortcut to Excel 2007" section.

Create a new shortcut to Excel 2007

If the problem occurs only when you start Excel, follow these steps.

Microsoft Windows XP

1. Click Start, click Search, and then click All files and folders.
2. In the All or part of the file name box, type Excel.exe.
3. In the Look in list, click My Computer, and then click Search.
4. After the Excel.exe file is found, double-click the file to start Excel 2007.
   
   Note By default, the Excel.exe file is in the following location:
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12

Windows Vista

1. Click Start.
2. In the Start Search box, type Excel.exe.
3. In the Programs list, choose the applicable program. Search will start automatically.
4. After the Excel.exe file is found, double-click the file to start Excel 2007.
   
   Note By default, the Excel.exe file is in the following location:
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12

If Excel starts as expected, the problem may occur because of a corrupted shortcut to the program. To resolve this problem, create a new shortcut to Excel 2007. Then, use the new shortcut to start Excel 2007.

To have us create a new shortcut to Excel 2007 for you, go to the "Create it for me" section.

Create it for me

To create a new shortcut automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.




Note this wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Next, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Did this fix the problem?

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this article. If the problem is not fixed, try the steps in the "Start Excel 2007 in Safe Mode" section.

Start Excel 2007 in Safe Mode

To have us start Excel in Safe mode for you, go to the "Start it for me" section. If you prefer to start Excel in Safe mode yourself, go to the "Let me start it myself" section.

Start it for me

To start Excel in Safe mode automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.




Note this wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Next, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me start it myself

If Excel does not start as expected using a new icon, follow these steps to start Excel in Safe Mode yourself.

1. Click Start, click Run, click Browse, and then locate the folder in which Excel 2007 is installed.
   
   Note By default, the Excel.exe file is in the following location:
   C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
2. After you locate the Excel.exe file, click the file, and then click Open.
3. In the Open box, type a space at the end of the path, and then type /s. The path should resemble the following:
   "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Excel.exe" /s
4. In the Run dialog box, click OK to start Excel 2007.

Did this fix the problem?

Check whether the Excel is started in Safe mode. If the Excel is started in Safe mode, you are finished with this section. If the Excel is not started in Safe mode, you can contact support. If Excel starts as expected, see the "Additional Troubleshooting" section later in this article for more information.

Start Windows in Safe Mode

If Excel 2007 still does not start as expected, a conflict with another program may exist. Try to start Microsoft Windows in Safe Mode. Then, follow the steps in the "Start Excel 2007 in Safe Mode" section to start Excel in Safe Mode. For more information about how to start Windows in Safe Mode, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If Excel 2007 does not start when you use the /s switch and if Windows is running in Safe Mode, remove the 2007 Microsoft Office system (or stand-alone Excel 2007) by using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. For more information about how to add or remove programs refer to the Windows documentation.

This troubleshooting step may be necessary because when you run both Windows and Excel in Safe Mode, Excel is in the most basic mode that is required to start the program. This means that no other programs or files are involved in the Excel startup process. The Excel startup problem may occur because of a corrupted Office file that Excel uses to start. Therefore, if you remove and then reinstall the Microsoft Office system (or stand-alone Excel 2007), this problem should be resolved.

Additional troubleshooting

If Excel starts when you use the /s switch

If Excel 2007 starts as expected when you use the /s switch, Safe Mode appears in the Excel title bar. This indicates that Excel 2007 is running as if it were the first time after Excel was installed.

Excel 2007 bypasses the following areas in Safe Mode. After you start Excel 2007, use a process of elimination to troubleshoot the following areas until the problem is corrected.

Excel startup folders

A common reason that you may experience problems when you start Excel 2007 is that Excel is loading a problematic file from one of several different startup folders.

If you install Excel 2007 in the default location, Excel opens files from the following paths:

• C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\Xlstart
• C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\Xlstart, where username is your logon user name.
• The folder that is specified in the At startup, open all files in box. The At startup, open all files in box is in the General section under Advanced options for working with Excel. To locate the General section, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Excel Options.

If you suspect these files to be a problem, remove the files from these folders. Then, try to start Excel 2007. If Excel starts as expected, one of the files is the problem. To determine which file is the problem, add each file to the startup folders one at a time. Then, try to start Excel. Repeat this procedure until you determine the problematic file.

Excel toolbar file and Quick Access Toolbar file

Occasionally, the toolbar file (Excel.xlb) or the Quick Access Toolbar file (Excel.qat) for Excel 2007 can become corrupted. If this occurs, you may experience problems when you start Excel. In this situation, locate the toolbar file, and then rename it. After you rename the toolbar file, Excel rebuilds a new toolbar file the next time that you start Excel.

To rename the Excel 2007 toolbar file, follow these steps:

1. Locate the Excel.xlb file or the Excel.qat file.
   
   Notes
   • By default, the Excel.xlb file is located in the following folder:
     C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel
   • By default, the Excel.qat file is located in the following folder:
     
     Windows Vista
     C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Office
     Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000
     C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Office
2. Right-click the Excel.xlb file or the Excel.qat file, and then click Rename.
3. Type Excel.xlb.old or Excel.qat.old, and then press ENTER.

Note The Excel.xlb file stores changes to the Ribbon. These changes include buttons that are added by add-ins. The Excel.qat stores changes to the Quick Access Toolbar.

If Excel 2007 starts when Windows is in Safe Mode

If the Excel 2007 startup problem no longer occurs when Windows is in Safe Mode, some other program is causing the problem with the Excel startup process.

Use a process of elimination to determine which program is causing the problem. If you are not sure about how to do this, contact your Windows vendor for more information about how to eliminate each program that loads during Windows startup. For more information about how to troubleshoot Windows startup, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

An add-in is not valid

To determine whether the problem is caused by an add-in that is not valid, follow these steps:

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Excel Options.
2. Click Add-Ins.
3. In the Manage box, click the type of add-in that you want to disable, such as Excel Add-ins, and then click Go.
4. Click to clear the add-ins check box for any add-ins that are selected, and then click OK.

A registry key is not valid

To determine whether the problem is caused by a registry key that is not valid, remove the following registry keys. The registry keys are re-created after you restart Excel and then exit Excel.

Note Customized user settings may be reset when you remove these registry keys.

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0

A COM add-in is causing problems

COM add-ins can be installed in any location. Programs that interact with Excel install COM add-ins. To resolve issues that may occur with Excel, delete the registry keys for the COM add-ins, and then restart Excel.

To have us do this for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to do this yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To do this automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.




To replace the COM add-ins registry keys back automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.



Note this wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Next, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To do this, follow these steps:

1. Exit all Office programs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\AddIns
4. Click Addins, and then click Export on the File menu.
5. Name the file "XLaddinHKCU.reg," and then save the file to the desktop.
6. Select the AddIns subkey, click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes.
7. Locate the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins
8. Click Addins, and then click Export on the File menu.
9. Name the file "XLaddinHKLM.reg," and then save the file to the desktop.
10. Select the AddIns subkey, click Delete on the Edit menu, and then click Yes.
11. Exit Registry Editor.
12. Start Excel.

If the problem is resolved, a COM add-in program was causing the problem. You can examine the registry keys under Addins in Registry Editor to determine the manufacturer of the add-in. Then, you can contact the manufacturer for updates.

Did this fix the problem?

Check whether the problem is fixed. If the problem is fixed, you are finished with this section. If the problem is not fixed, you can contact support.

Thanks to MVP Jan Karel Pieterse for contributing to the Fix it solutions contained in this article.