Losing my list of recently opened Excel 2004 documents

[Roger]

Excel 2004 is no longer keeping a list of recently opened worksheets.
I think this started after the latest Office update a few weeks ago.
As far as I can tell, it keeps the list as usual until I restart my
computer (Mac mini with Tiger 10.4.5). After a restart, the list is
empty again. It rebuilds the list as it normally would until the next
restart, and then it's empty again. (I only restart when an update
requires it.)

Is this a new bug or does some paramter have to be reset? (My
Preferences > General > Show recently used files is set to 9.)

Thanks for any help.

Roger

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Roger -

I've seen this issue come up several times - going back as far as Sept.
'04. In fact, I once responded to a post by saying that I had never
witnessed the behavior... then it started happening to me!

It appears to be a transient bug. For weeks the list of recently used
files will work as it should, then one day you launch XL & there aren't
any files listed. Next thing you know it starts tracking the MRUs again
as though it had never hiccupped at all.

Best guess I've seen relates it to corrupted prefs, but I still don't
understand how a corrupted prefs file can heal itself. Unfortunately I
doubt that it is high on the MBU's priority list, but if you can supply
any related factors - such as other pref settings affected at the time
- perhaps it will give someone more to work with.

Regards |:>)

 

[Joe]

Roger & CyberTaz,

I asked this question way back and no one seemed to be aware of the
problem or know what to do about it. I still don't know what to do
about it but I just accidently found out how to reproduce the problem 2
days ago. I have intentionally caused the list of recently opened
documents to disappear at least 6 times.

If I open Excel 2004 and immediately choose Quit from the File menu
without performing any other actions the list of recently opened
documents is not there the next time I open Excel. The list does begin
rebuilding as I open documents again.

-Joe

 

[Joe]

Roger & CyberTaz,

I asked this question way back in July 2005 and no one seemed to be aware of the
problem or know what to do about it. I still don't know what to do
about it but I just accidently found out how to reproduce the problem 2
days ago. I have intentionally caused the list of recently opened
documents to disappear at least 6 times.

If I open Excel 2004 and immediately choose Quit from the Excel menu
without performing any other actions the list of recently opened
documents is not there the next time I open Excel. The list does begin
rebuilding as I open documents again.

-Joe

 

[Joe]

Two corrections to my last post:

Quit is under the Excel menu, not the File menu.

I first asked this question July 13, 2005.

-Joe

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Joe,

Can you provide some details about your computer and operating system?

If you go to the Apple menu and choose About This Mac, what version of
Mac OSX does it say you are using?

If you use Finder and then Get Info on the Excel icon, what version of
Excel does it say you are using?

What model of computer are you using?

Thanks.

-Jim

 

[Joe]

Jim,

Here is the data:

Mac G4, 466Mhz, AGP Graphics, 1.25 G RAM

OSX 10.3.9

Excel 2004, v. 11.2, p/o Office 2004

I know that I saw the problem with OSX 10.3.4, 10.3.8 and 10.3.9. I
believe I saw the problem as far back as OS 9.1 but I can't swear to
it.

FYI: I have owned and used Macs since 1985 and I have used MS Word
since version 1.

-Joe

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi Joe,

I followed your step-by-step but could not get the recent items to
disappear.

Can anyone else reading this thread reproduce the problem?

-Jim

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Hi Joe,

I followed your step-by-step but could not get the recent items to
disappear.

Can anyone else reading this thread reproduce the problem?

-Jim

No, but I have seen the recent items disappear frequently. I'm still trying
to figure out what causes it.

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Jim -

As per my prior post this thread I have experienced the behavior,
myself, but just as Bob says, I *cannot* force it to happen.

I thought Joe might be on to something, so I tried opening & closing a
few files without making/saving any changes (in fact, I do so quite a
bit already testing things in existing workbooks without saving the
changes made). I also tried just launching XL, then exiting witout even
opening a file. MRUs were still there every time. I have no doubt,
however, that sooner or later I'll launch XL & there will be nothing in
the MRU list.

Regards |:>)

 

[Joe]

Hi Guys,

I just rechecked what causes loss of MRU's on my machine. Since my last
test of this problem I had opened 3 of my regularly used files. It is
2:46 PM CDT, 04/05/2006.

1. I launched XL from my dock which is set to auto hide and open on the
right edge of my screen. Via MRU I verified that 3 docs were still
listed. I opened one doc, made and erased a change in an empty cell,
closed the doc and saved when prompted. I clicked Excel on the menu bar
and selected Quit Excel.

2. I launched XL from my dock. I clicked Excel on the menu bar and
selected Quit Excel. I relaunched XL from my dock. I clicked File and
found the MRU list empty.

Hmmmm? . . . Maybe one of my regular docs is damaged.

3. With XL still open from step 2 and the MRU list empty I created a
new doc. I typed "Test" in cell A1, saved as Test1.xls. I created 2
more identical docs named Test2 and Test3. With all 3 new docs now
closed I clicked File and all 3 were correctly listed. I clicked Excel
on the menu bar and selected Quit Excel.

4. I launched XL from my dock. I clicked File and all 3 test docs were
still listed. I clicked Excel on the menu bar and selected Quit Excel.

5. I launched XL from my dock. I clicked Excel on the menu bar and
selected Quit Excel. I relaunched XL from my dock. I clicked File and
found the MRU list empty.

It seems to be critical that there be absolutely no activity of any
kind between launch and quit, don't even check the MRU list between
launch and quit (see number 4, above).

I stumbled onto this one afternoon about 3 or 4 days ago when I was
rushing through some things. I opened XL, remembered something else I
needed to do first and immediately quit. When I came back to XL the MRU
was empty so I started checking and testing.

-Joe

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Hi Guys,

I just rechecked what causes loss of MRU's on my machine. Since my last
test of this problem I had opened 3 of my regularly used files. It is
2:46 PM CDT, 04/05/2006.

1. I launched XL from my dock which is set to auto hide and open on the
right edge of my screen. Via MRU I verified that 3 docs were still
listed. I opened one doc, made and erased a change in an empty cell,
closed the doc and saved when prompted. I clicked Excel on the menu bar
and selected Quit Excel.

2. I launched XL from my dock. I clicked Excel on the menu bar and
selected Quit Excel. I relaunched XL from my dock. I clicked File and
found the MRU list empty.

Hmmmm? . . . Maybe one of my regular docs is damaged.

3. With XL still open from step 2 and the MRU list empty I created a
new doc. I typed "Test" in cell A1, saved as Test1.xls. I created 2
more identical docs named Test2 and Test3. With all 3 new docs now
closed I clicked File and all 3 were correctly listed. I clicked Excel
on the menu bar and selected Quit Excel.

4. I launched XL from my dock. I clicked File and all 3 test docs were
still listed. I clicked Excel on the menu bar and selected Quit Excel.

5. I launched XL from my dock. I clicked Excel on the menu bar and
selected Quit Excel. I relaunched XL from my dock. I clicked File and
found the MRU list empty.

It seems to be critical that there be absolutely no activity of any
kind between launch and quit, don't even check the MRU list between
launch and quit (see number 4, above).

I stumbled onto this one afternoon about 3 or 4 days ago when I was
rushing through some things. I opened XL, remembered something else I
needed to do first and immediately quit. When I came back to XL the MRU
was empty so I started checking and testing.

-Joe

Bingo. I concur!!

I quit Excel. Then launched from the menu bar. Quit Excel via the Excel
menu. Launched Excel from the menu bar checked the file menu and the MRU is
gone. Nice catch Joe. (The location of the menu bar seems to make no
difference. Mine is on the left side of the screen and does not auto hide.)

I'll report it.

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Bob made sure that the right folks now know about the problem.

-Jim