Knowledge Base

How to troubleshoot Excel 2007 startup problems

Article ID: 919196

Article Last Modified on 1/4/2008

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Office Excel 2007

INTRODUCTION

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.

MORE INFORMATION

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 (Excel12.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:

http://support.microsoft.com/search

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

Click Start, click Search, and then click All files and folders.
In the All or part of the file name box, type Excel.exe.
In the Look in list, click My Computer, and then click Search.
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

Click Start, and then click Search.
In the Search box, type Excel.exe.
In the in list, click All Drives and Devices, and then click Search. Search will start automatically.
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.

Start Excel 2007 in Safe Mode

If Excel does not start as expected, follow these steps to start Excel in Safe Mode.

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
After you locate the Excel.exe file, click the file, and then click Open.
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
In the Run dialog box, click OK to start Excel 2007.

If Excel starts as expected, see the "Additional troubleshooting" section 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:

315222 A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP

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 (Excel12.xlb) or the Quick Access Toolbar file (Excel12.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:

Locate the Excel12.xlb file or the Excel12.qat file.

Notes
- By default, the Excel12.xlb file is located in the following folder:
  
  C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel
- By default, the Excel12.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
Right-click the Excel12.xlb file or the Excel12.qat file, and then click Rename.
Type Excel12.xlb.old or Excel12.qat.old, and then press ENTER.

Note The Excel12.xlb file stores changes to the Ribbon. These changes include buttons that are added by add-ins. The Excel12.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:

310353 How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state

An add-in is not valid

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

Click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Excel Options.
Click Add-Ins.
In the Manage box, click the type of add-in that you want to disable, such as Excel Add-ins, and then click Go.
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

Exit Excel and determine if these registry keys exist. If the registry keys do exist, you can rename the AddIns key to "Addins.old". Start Excel and see if the problem has been resolved. If this resolved the issue, you can look at the registry keys below "Addins" to determine who the manufacturer of the add-in is to contact them for updates.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins

Additional query words: excel2007 excel2k7 excel12 xl2007 xl2k7 xl12

Keywords: kbinfo kbstartprogram kbexpertisebeginner kbtshoot kbhowto KB919196

Microsoft KB Archive/919196

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