Excel window running in the background

Question

Hi,

Every time I work in excel there is always another workbook running in the background that I cannot access. When I'm toggling between tabs with the alt + tab feature, it shows up but you can't click it. When you do click it, it just takes me to the excel that I am working in. Does anyone else have this problem? How do I fix this so that it doesn't pop up in the background?

Answer 1

Hi GarrettVdV,

Sorry for the inconvenience the problem caused for you.

Based on your description, when you try to open Excel, another workbook will run in the background.

You can try OssieMac's method first. And if it doesn't help, you can also try the following suggestions:

1. You can try Office safe mode to determine if the third party add-ins affect the office program.
2. Try to fix Office client, by performing a repair. Try a quick repair first, and if that doesn't work, try the online repair.
3. You can perform a clean boot in Windows to determine whether a background program is interfering with Office program.

If the problem persists, please provide some information for me:

1. A screenshot of your Office Product Information(open Excel>File>Account>capture a screenshot of the Product Information column)
2. Does the problem happen on other Office applications, such as: Word, PowerPoint?

Best regards,

Jazlyn

Answer 2

Not sure if following will help but worth a try. If it does not help then I am afraid that I do not know the solution.

Save any work you have open and then close all documents and open apps that you can access.

Open Task Manager (Ctrl Alt Del keys together) and from the options select Task Manager.

In the "Task Manager" dialog, click the column header "Name" to ensure that the apps are at the top. (Clicking Name toggles between sorting Ascending/Descending. Doesn't matter which way they are sorted).

If an Excel app is displayed then select it and click "End task" button (bottom right of dialog).

Close Task Manager and test and if probem persists then try a Restart of the computer. Not just Shut down and startup but actually select the Restart option.

Answer 3

Hi GarrettVdV,

If you still need further support, please do not hesitate to reply to me.

Best regards,

Jazlyn