Stopping Excel from starting with Windows

Windows 11 - 23H2 - 3007 & Office 2019

 

Hi.

i have set up a brand new Laptop with Windows 11, and Office 2019, and the problem I am having is as follows :

 

when I power off the Computer even if I have closed any Excel files that are open, when I restart the Computer, the last Excel file I opened appears.

 

i would like to know why this is happening please….?

 

is there a setting I have got wrong ?

 

I have looked in the (no) help files, and even googled it, but nothing I can see has helped.

 

excel (or any office reference) isn’t in the start up are of the Task manager….

 

the last time it showed up as a tiny window on the desktop !

 

Thanks

Edited by davec1510, 07 February 2024 - 03:12 PM.

Hi, do you just hit X in the corner to shut Excel down. ?   If so the proper way is to use File-->Exit and nothing has changed regarding the proper way.

 

Try the correct way of shutting down Excel (or any program) 

 

Or it is this : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot/excel/files-open-automatically

Hi Pkshadow,

 

yes I hit the X, which I have always done on all my Computers, which are all running Office 2016. This is 2019, so I’m wondering if something has been added to 2019 which is causing this.

However, I will try what you suggest to see.

 

Regarding the item from the link, no - this doesn’t appear to be the case:

”Summary

This article describes how to prevent files from automatically opening when you start Microsoft Excel“

as Microsoft is starting without me starting it, and it’s opening the last file I was using.

 

Thanks

Edited by davec1510, 07 February 2024 - 05:33 PM.

I've never heard of this problem, cannot replicate it (although I have not used Office 2019 for many years) & cannot find much/anything about it.

FWIW I use MS Office heavily every day & have never heard of having to click File > Exit to close an Office application, across multiple Windows platforms. AFAIK clicking the X *should* close it (sorry @Pkshadow).

It sounds like something with "click-to-run" is broken or corrupted. (I think Office 2019 was the first Office version to use "CTR". So, yes, 2019 is different from 2016 in that regard.)

A few questions:

1. Does the same behavior occur with other applications in the Office Suite, such as Word or PPT?

2. Is this Office 2019 installation "on top" of a previous MS Office installation on this computer? (IOW could there be remnants of another Office installation - perhaps a Trial version - on this computer?)

3. Have you tried to repair MS Office 2019 on this computer?

Ok.

just booted up the PC to see what happened and -of course - excel didn’t start up !!

 

so - maybe something in the “corruption” theory….

 

(What does “Click to Run” do BTW ?)

 

1. I literally had the PC on Monday, so have not tried Ppt, but did open Word today, and it didn’t restart the word document when I restarted the PC.

 

2. There was an offer of a trial version of 365, but I declined installing it when setting up, However, could it have installed itself anyway? If so how can I get rid of it.

 

3. I haven’t tried a repair - no.

 

so

1. How do I initiate a repair

2. If the repair doesn’t help - can I uninstall and re-install, and will this remove any trial version ?

 

Thanks

Actually the File-->Exit is the proper way to shut down any program not just Excel.

 

It includes my time at Mozilla and Firefox (up to 57) and it is the proper way to shut it down as well at least what I was told then.    

 

Is a gentle way to exit when a command is exit rather bonk it's down/close/disappeared/out of the way. 

 

Coding changes have taken place to make it less Brutal of a Close the Program (X) but File->Exit still remains the correct way to shut down any program.

Hi:


>>> What is “Click to Run” in MS Office?
Uncle Google can help you with that.
https://www.makeuseof.com/microsoft-office-click-run-service-guide/

(But I stand corrected: I think both 2016 & 2019 are CTR.)

>>> How to repair Office 2019:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/repair-an-office-application-7821d4b6-7c1d-4205-aa0e-a6b40c5bb88b#ID0EBF=Windows_11

If the problem only affects Excel, but not Word or PPT, then a repair *might* work.

>>> BUT If there are multiple versions of Office installed, I'll bet that might be the problem.
Each version is its own thing. But they can clash/conflict. Best practices with MS Office forever: You would have needed to uninstall the Trial version of 365 before installing 2019. You may need to uninstall them both and then cleanly reinstall 2019.

If you provide some basic diagnostic info, we might be able to determine if you have multiple Office programs installed.

FIRST:

1– Please download, install and run the Free version of Speccy from here: https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy.
2– Then, go to File > Publish Snapshot
3– Click YES > Copy to Clipboard
4– Then please post the LINK to the report by pasting it into your next reply.

NEXT:

1– Please download and install MiniToolBox from here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/minitoolbox/
2– Place a checkmark in the following boxes:

List Last 10 Event Viewer Errors
List Installed Programs
List Problematic Devices
List Users, Partitions and Memory size

3– Click “GO”
4– Please post the text results here by pasting them in your next reply in this thread.

Thanks

 

Actually the File-->Exit is the proper way to shut down any program not just Excel.

 

 

If you say so.

On Office 2021 Pro Plus, clicking on "File" brings up a menu that does NOT include "Exit".

The "Close" button at the bottom (red arrow) only closes the file itself, but leaves the application open.

One needs to click the "X" in the upper right corner to close the application.

As it's always been the case

 

 

 

So, I'm not sure where you're seeing this???

And, I suspect no one uses this procedure to close an application.

I've never used "File >> Exit" to close an application (if it even existed or exists) in decades of using Office on a daily basis.

 

 

It includes my time at Mozilla and Firefox (up to 57) and it is the proper way to shut it down as well at least what I was told then.

 

Firefox is currently on version 122.0.1. So.......... I'm not sure that Firefox v57 is relevant to the OP's issue?

 

I'm not trying to be argumentative.

I'm just trying to help the OP.

(I think he likely has at least elements of two different Office installations and/or something corrupted. I don't think clicking the "x" to close the program is the root cause of his problem. But I will stand corrected if I am wrong.

 

Respectfully submitted.

 

 

I was speaking in generalization that all programs since DOS has had a File-->Exit.   As mentioned there has been coding changes so that the X was not as brutal of a way to close a App.

Which is as much of a disaster as pulling the plug on a running OS or using the Power Button instade of the Menu to Shut Down.

 

Anyways........(I do not use Office, have used only when have had when have needed to because of something) so my knowledge of Office is not too par) but as far as I would suspect since it is a program that it would have something like that.

 

It was my intention that the it was to be tried to see if the issue continued or stopped.

 

As well the URL was what I found that was similar to the issue being supplied.    Getting tired of explaining myself regardless if respectfully submitted or not.

 

My suggestions can be taken or ignored it makes no difference to me as long as the end result is that OP's issue gets fixed by help from anyone.

 

As always am sure your good work will prevail :=}

Edited by Pkshadow, 07 February 2024 - 10:21 PM.

Since have been dragged back a couple times to this might as well show this as it relates to Excel below : https://superuser.com/questions/183724/what-is-the-difference-between-file-exit-and-the-x-button/183747#183747

"File -> Exit is provided by the software (and some software doesn't even have a file menu or exit option), and the software will handle it however it wants.

The X is attached to any standard window by the OS (which also provides the standard window itself). Clicking it effectively sends an external message to the window asking it to close. It's up to the software to check for this message, and respond correctly.

You would expect most software to use the same internal procedures for both types of requests, but this is not guaranteed, as said, because it's entirely up to the software developers to configure them.

Also, neither method is guaranteed to close the program - think about doing either in Excel with an edited file sat open, it will ask if you wish to save, but also gives you the option to cancel the request entirely."

 

How it is else where : https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=use+a+programs+exit+or+use+the+x+to+close+it

 

Edit to add quotation marks.

Edited by Pkshadow, 07 February 2024 - 10:41 PM.

@MoxieMomma

 

I did look in my programs and features, and there was a listing for Office 2019, and one for Office 365.

I have uninstalled the Office 365 (as this was time limited), and have given the details of the requested Speccy & Minitoolbox data. I have not run the repair yet, as I'm not sure if I need to now, but I await your reply.

Thanks

 

Here is the link to the Speccy result

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/RN8l1FOcm5ssxXXwiyqt1Ln

 

and here is the minitoolbox dump:

MiniToolBox by Farbar  Version: 13-05-2022

Hi, @davec1510:

 

Thanks for that information.

 

Short answer:

 

If the original problem has resolved, now that you have uninstalled MS 365, then it would seem nothing further needs to be done for this issue.

 

Longer answer:

 

If the problem persists or reoccurs, then it might be reasonable to repair your existing Office 2019 installation or to cleanly reinstall Office 2019.

 

Question: Did you just (re)install Windows 2 days ago (as the Speccy report suggests)?

Just curious as to the reason that prompted the reinstall?

 

There are several things going on with this system, in terms of errors (including with important Windows services, such as BITS), remnants of unhelpful/potentially damaging “tweaking” programs (Ultimate Windows Tweaker 5.0.exe), missing Windows updates, etc.

Having said all that , I’ll defer to the more expert “tech” helpers to advise you on these other possible issues.

 

Cheers

MoxieMomma,

Thank you for taking time to look at this.

Yes the original problem appears to be solved, but I am interested in the Long Answer too...

 

2 days ago I purchased the Laptop, so, although I didn't load or re-load Windows, because I set it up with my own account, I am assuming this is the reason it is telling us it was installed 2 days ago ?

 

Next - I did try and install/use Windows tweaker 5.0, BUT... nothing happened, so I found version 4.0.1.0 worked. Now I use this program solely to remove shotcut arrows, as I really don't like them, so my questions are:

 

1. Are these errors fixable?

2. I'm not sure what BITS does

3. If "tweaking" programs are causing issues, is there another way of removing shortcut arrows.

4. If the answer to 1. is Yes, do I need to do a total reinstall ?

 

Thanks

Suggest please to provide the actual Model Information of your Lenovo.  We only get your motherboard model info which does not help in figuring things out.

 

It would be best not to run the tweaking program As per the errors found in the MTB Report under Applications but to change the look of your Icon Shortcut by : https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/remove_shortcut_arrow_icon.html

and/or : https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/desktop-shortcut-icons/21d29c53-1b17-4f5d-8826-6b527d07b823

 

Though it seems the above Tweaker problem starts with a .NET Runtime issue so conduct a repair which is simple, just run and reboot :

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=30135  1 error while others would like to see once repair another MTB Report just showing the errors.

The above is a normal thing to do.

 

Continuing with Application Errors

Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller 0xc0000005     Please download and run : https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/intelligence/safety-scanner-download?view=o365-worldwide

It could be nothing but best to check due to info that can point to security error.

Though this error can also be caused by ram using or trying to use a non-canonical ram call. (other words more or less was not 1's and 0's)

 

So there are Tweaker 5.0 errors in the MTB Report from the Event Viewer on the 06.  This may or may not be left overs or will be a continuing error.

Always use Geek Uninstaller or Revo Uninstaller to get the most out of your system.  (Pro Ver of Revo allows monitor of a install to get even more)

 

System Errors

===========

- BITS = : Background Intelligent Transfer Service   Microsoft-Windows-Bits-Client) (EventID: 16392 (Fail to Start)

Note : Do not download anything : https://www.thewindowsclub.com/0x80004015-bits-service-failed-to-start-event-id-16392-in-windows-11

 

- Please go to your Lenovo Support Page and install all your Drivers including Chipset, SATA due to no idea what was done to your system before you received it as per :

Edited by Pkshadow, 08 February 2024 - 06:18 PM.

Pkshadow,

Model of Lenovo = https://www.currys.co.uk/products/lenovo-ideapad-slim-5-16-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-512-gb-ssd-cloud-grey-10250684.html

Tweaking errors.

i tried to run Tweaker 5 - Tweaker 5 would not run, and before I tried 4.0.1.0, I’d tried 5 two or 3 times, so that’s why there are loads of Tweaker 5 errors. There are no Tweaker 4errors that I can see.

 

i will look at the suggested solutions.

 

i will look at this first, but am not sure how to get rid of the Tweaker 5 detritus.

 

due to other commitments,I may not get round to this until next week though, so don’t think I have lost interest.