Excel 2007 (and now PowerPoint 2007) does not close cleanly

L

Lorne Oliver

I have searched for a solution to this annoyance but to no avail. Here
is what happens. I open a file in Excel (it makes no difference what
the file is, it happens to any of them). It does not matter if I edit
the file or simply view it and close it, when I close the last open
Excel file, the program does not close down properly. It leaves me
with the program shell open. All options on the ribbon are greyed out,
there is no active spreadsheet or any indication of an open document.
I have to close this down manually.

In the greater scheme of things this is not a serious problem, simply
an annoyance, an extra click to close the program fully. Why won't
Excel close when I finish with the final document and close it? Now,
to add to my frustration, PowerPoint has suddenly started to do the
same thing. I am not a "power user"; I do not use macros or any fancy
effects. I am running Office 2007 Professional on Vista Home and my
computer is running fine otherwise. This has been going on (with
Excel) for several months and the PowerPoint version of this problem
just started a couple of days ago.

I suspect it is something do with a temporary file remaining open or
something like that but I am not tech-savvy enough to know what do
about it without further guidance. Any help would be appreciated.

Lorne
 
E

Echo S

That is weird.

Excel 2007 has two Xs in the upper right corner. The little one is for the
document. The big red one is for Excel itself.

If you have more than one document open and use the big red X, it will close
the document.

If you hit the big red X on the last document, it will close Excel
completely.

If you hit the little X on the last document, it will do what you describe.
That is, Excel will still be open, but the ribbon is greyed out.


PowerPoint 2007 doesn't have the little X, so your only option is to hit the
big red X.

If you hit the big red X on the last open presentation, PowerPoint closes.

To get PowerPoint open with just its shell and the ribbon greyed out, you'd
have to use Office Button | Close to close the last file. (As an aside, I
actually prefer this behavior, so I put that button on the QAT.)


So I guess my initial question is, how are you closing the files?


The only other way I know for this to happen is if you've minimized a
presentation. For example, with 2 presentations open, you go to View |
Arrange All, then you minimize one file and close the other. Because there's
then no "active" presentation, everything's greyed out.

If you go to the View tab then, is "switch windows" available? What's listed
there if you click it?


Oh, I think Office Button | PPT Options | Advanced | "Show all windows in
Taskbar" can also have an effect on how files open. What do you have set
there? If you change it, does it change the close behavior to what you
expect? How about in Excel?
 
B

Beth Melton

The short answer is "that's the way it is" and while I also think it's
annoying there's really nothing you can do about it. What I'd prefer is when
you click the X to close the application the application and all open
workbooks close too but that's not the behavior they opted to implement. :-(

The long answer is Excel 2007 still uses a MDI (Multiple Document Interface)
in which all of the open workbook windows share the same interface, such as
the Ribbon. Word and PPT are SDI (Single Document Interface) in which all
open documents/presentations each have their own interface. The Ribbon is
duplicated for each open window. That's why there is a single X in the upper
right corner for Word/PPT and two for Excel: one is for the application and
the other is for the workbook window. Although, as noted, the X for the
application doesn't close the application.*

You can get a better idea of what I'm referring to if you open two files in
Excel and two in either Word or PPT and make sure everything is maximized.
Then restore one of the workbook/document/presentation windows. In Excel
both windows restore (also note you can't move the restored workbook windows
outside of the application window) but in Word/PPT only the window you
restored is affected and the other retains its maximized state since each
have their own interface. So with MDI you have a "parent window" which is
the application and a "child window" which is the workbook window. You can
close the children but the parent will remain. In Word/PPT there are no
"child windows" they are all "parent windows". So since there aren't any
"children" when you close the last "parent" the application will close (this
drives me nuts too!) BUT if in Word/PPT you use the Close command found
under the Office Button (or added to your Quick Access Toolbar) instead of
the X in the upper right corner, you can close the open files but still
leave the application running.

*Note that the "Show all windows in the Taskbar" option changes this
behavior. If you elect to not show all windows in the taskbar (in Excel
Options as Echo described) then the behavior is as expected: when you click
the close (X) for the application all open workbooks and the application
will close. .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx

Lorne Oliver said:
I have searched for a solution to this annoyance but to no avail. Here
is what happens. I open a file in Excel (it makes no difference what
the file is, it happens to any of them). It does not matter if I edit
the file or simply view it and close it, when I close the last open
Excel file, the program does not close down properly. It leaves me
with the program shell open. All options on the ribbon are greyed out,
there is no active spreadsheet or any indication of an open document.
I have to close this down manually.

In the greater scheme of things this is not a serious problem, simply
an annoyance, an extra click to close the program fully. Why won't
Excel close when I finish with the final document and close it? Now,
to add to my frustration, PowerPoint has suddenly started to do the
same thing. I am not a "power user"; I do not use macros or any fancy
effects. I am running Office 2007 Professional on Vista Home and my
computer is running fine otherwise. This has been going on (with
Excel) for several months and the PowerPoint version of this problem
just started a couple of days ago.

I suspect it is something do with a temporary file remaining open or
something like that but I am not tech-savvy enough to know what do
about it without further guidance. Any help would be appreciated.

Lorne
Click to expand...


--
 
L

Lorne Oliver

The short answer is "that's the way it is" and while I also think it's
annoying there's really nothing you can do about it. What I'd prefer is when
you click the X to close the application the application and all open
workbooks close too but that's not the behavior they opted to implement. :-(

The long answer is Excel 2007 still uses a MDI (Multiple Document Interface)
in which all of the open workbook windows share the same interface, such as
the Ribbon. Word and PPT are SDI (Single Document Interface) in which all
open documents/presentations each have their own interface. The Ribbon is
duplicated for each open window. That's why there is a single X in the upper
right corner for Word/PPT and two for Excel: one is for the application and
the other is for the workbook window. Although, as noted, the X for the
application doesn't close the application.*

*Note that the "Show all windows in the Taskbar" option changes this
behavior. If you elect to not show all windows in the taskbar (in Excel
Options as Echo described) then the behavior is as expected: when you click
the close (X) for the application all open workbooks and the application
will close. .
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I understand the MDI vs SDI system. I was
looking for an option to change "Show all windows" in the taskbar
properties but it alludes me. The issue I have with Excel and closing
though is that it *used to close* cleanly, as did PowerPoint.
PowerPoint BTW is doing this about 50% of the time: sometimes it
closes cleanly sometimes it doesn't. Excel, when first installed
closed cleanly but then *something* changed and now I am stuck with
this situation. Is there anything you can suggest for a fix?

Lorne
 
B

Beth Melton

I don't know about PPT, as Echo noted, that's weird, but I do know that
Excel 2007 has been this way. As a matter of fact, this was a big complaint
during the beta.

Although, what do you have set for Show All Windows in the Taskbar? Is it
selected or not? If it's not selected then Excel should "close cleanly".
That is, when you click the Close (X) for the application all open workbooks
and the application should close. If it is selected then it's as I
described. That is, clicking the Close (X) for the application will close
the active workbook and a second click (once all workbooks have been closed)
will close the application.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Melton
What is a Microsoft MVP? http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/gp/mvpfaqs

Guides for the Office 2007 Interface:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/HA102295841033.aspx
 
E

Echo S

And in PowerPoint, if you have "show windows in taskpane" selected, clicking
the redX closes each document. When you do that on the last document,
PowerPoint also closes.

I don't know what would cause it to behave differently other than the
various things I noted in my previous post. I suppose it could be an add-in
or something causing weirdness, though.

To repeat my previous questions:
So I guess my initial question is, how are you closing the files?
and

If you go to the View tab then, is "switch windows" available? What's
listed there if you click it?
Click to expand...
 
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