Page 176 - Excel 2007 Bible

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Understanding Excel’s Files
Starting Excel Without an Empty Workbook
f you prefer to avoid the empty workbook displayed when Excel starts up, you can do so by editing the com-
Imand line that is used to start Excel. You need to create a new shortcut to excel.exe and then modify the
properties:
1. Use Windows Explorer and locate the excel.exe program. The default location is
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12\
2. Press the right mouse button, drag the excel.exe filename to your desktop, and release the mouse
button. When you release the right mouse button, you’ll see a shortcut menu.
3. Choose Create Shortcut Here. Windows creates a new shortcut icon on your desktop.
4. Right-click the shortcut icon and choose Properties.
5. In the Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab.
6. Edit the Target field by adding a space, followed by /e, to the end. For example:
“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12\EXCEL.EXE” /e
7. Specify a Shortcut Key, if desired. If you provide a shortcut key, you can use that keystroke com- 8
bination to start or active Excel.
8. Click OK.
After making that change, Excel doesn’t display an empty workbook when you start it by clicking that short-
cut icon. In addition, you won’t see the normal “splash” screen.
FIGURE 8.2
Use the Open dialog box to open any of your Excel workbook files.

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