Administrator Rights

Running Excel in Isolation

To open a new instance of Excel, hold the 'ALT' button when you launch the program, either by double-clicking on the icon or right-clicking on the taskbar (you many have to hold the 'ALT' key until you get a confirmation prompt).

Alternatively, you can create this shortcut: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office15\EXCEL.EXE" /x

Adjust to your particular path & version: e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE" /x

But be warned, loading the second instance will make Excel a lot slower (especially with macros running on PERSONAL.XLSB, including events like SheetBeforeRightClick). Mysteriously, creating the second instance also slows the first one too (i.e. the one that was already open and running fine). However, opening another instance proves invaluable when one document makes all the other documents in Excel crash, because it localizes the application error within that instance. Sandboxing your Excel documents also pays dividends when running lengthy macros or when the autosave takes a long time on a particularly large document. Lastly, the undo stack is confined to the current instance, so you can't end up going to far and screwing up another document. Unfortunately, you can't use the document in another instance as an input in a formula (at least not in the point-and-click way) and you lose some of the rich text formatting when copying & pasting from the clipboard (including comments). So it's not for everybody!

Useful Excel Locations

Besides the excel.exe root used above, some noteworthy ones include:

Templates go here: C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates

Or type ?Application.TemplatesPath in VBA

Default startup folder: C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART

Or type ?Application.StartupPath in VBA (note that this folder isn't: ?Application.Path & "\STARTUP")

Default addin folder: C:\Users\%UserName%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\AddIns

Other Locations of Interest

  • Application.LibraryPath

  • Application.DefaultFilePath

Chrome Fun

To open an incognito browser, create this shortcut: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” –incognito

To open without plugins (Chrome must be completely closed beforehand): “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” --disable-extensions

Scripting For Excel

To create a script (*.vbs) to go to a specific cell in a spreadsheet, type this code (assuming 'workbook_name.xlsx' is located on the desktop):

Set objXl = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

Set ObjWB = objXl.Workbooks.Open("C:\Users\%UserName%\Desktop\workbook_name.xlsx")

objXl.Goto ObjWB.Sheets("WORKSHEET_NAME").Range("A1")

objXl.Visible = True

Special Windows Locations

You may have noticed the '%UserName%' shorthand above. It's a nifty trick to keep your links dynamic.

There are other examples. For instance, to link to the program files folder without knowing where it is, use: %programfiles% or %programfiles(x86)%

%AppData%, %HomeDrive%, %SystemRoot%, %Temp%, %UserProfile%, %windir% also work

More: https://superuser.com/questions/217504/is-there-a-list-of-windows-special-directories-shortcuts-like-temp

Note: You can also use shell shortcuts e.g. shell:startup, shell:desktop, shell:downloads, shell:MyComputerFolder (i.e. This PC), shell:ProgramFiles or shell:ProgramFilesX86, shell:recent, shell:RecycleBinFolder, shell:Start Menu, shell:System or shell:Systemx86, shell:Windows, shell:ControlPanelFolder, shell:AppsFolder

New Window In Windows Explorer

To open a folder in a new window (hold the CTRL button).

You can also create a shortcut to do the same: C:\Windows\explorer.exe /n, "C:\Users\%UserName%\Downloads"

Restarting

To create a restart shortcut, use: C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe -r -t 00

By the way, you can control your startup programs from here: %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Special Applications In Windows

Some useful run commands:

  • appwiz.cpl - Add/Remove Programs

  • desk.cpl - Display Properties

  • powercfg.cpl - Power Management

  • devmgmt.msc - Device Manager

  • eventvwr.msc - Event Viewer

  • services.msc - Services

  • compmgmt.msc - Computer Management

  • perfmon.msc - Performance Manager

Some useful programs (to run from WIN+R command run prompt):

  • Cmd

  • Control

  • Explorer

  • Msconfig

  • Regedit

  • msinfo32

  • Sndvol32 or "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\SndVol.exe"

  • Taskmgr

Resource Monitor shortcut: %windir%\system32\perfmon.exe /res

Final Tips

  • When using a UDF in Excel, press CTRL+SHIFT+A to get a list of variables

  • ALT+F11 to make the VBE appear