Forum Discussion
Issue with starting a new EXCEL spreadsheet
I have Office 365 with EXCEL and I am having a problem with making a new spreadsheet. My configuration is Windows 11 Pro on a MSI Steelseries.
There is two ways that I have tried to make a new spreadsheet and one of them results with a backwards spreadsheet that is just plain wonky.
Method 1 results in a correctly oriented spreadsheet:
From an open spreadsheet click on: File > New > Blank workbook and I get a new workbook with spreadsheets that are correctly oriented from Left to Right and the tab named "Sheet1". I can add more sheets and do what ever I need and then click the "Save" icon and find a folder and name the file to save it. Everything works as it has for me for the last 20 years of using EXCEL.
Method 2, the first Spreadsheet is backwards and wonky:
Go to folder where I want a new workbook, click on the "+ New" to create a new item in the current location and select "EXCEL Spreadsheet". Label the new Spreadsheet with a name then open the Spreadsheet. What I get is a Spreadsheet that is backwards (goes from right to left) as shown below with some wonky sheet name instead of "Sheet1".
I have checked my Advanced options in EXCEL and the default direction is Left to Right and yet, here it is Right to Left. When I look at the advanced option "Display options for this worksheet" it is set to "Show sheet right-to-left" (not what I want). If I uncheck that option then the sheet switches around to the correct orientation. But it still has the wonky sheet name.
Then when I Click the "+" to add a new sheet I get this:
where the new sheets are correctly oriented, and so is the rest of the window. Really weird behavior.
I would prefer to use Method 2 and get correctly oriented Spreadsheets and not have to go into the Advanced options or go about deleting sheets etc. Otherwise I have to launch an existing workbook, generate a new workbook then find the folder to save that in.
Does anybody know what is going on here and how to correct it?
When you create a new Excel workbook via right-click in a folder, Windows Explorer uses a default workbook named Excel12.xlsx from the SHELLNEW folder. This default file may be in a language different from your display language.
Workaround:
- Create a workbook in your desired language.
- Replace the existing Excel12.xlsx in the SHELLNEW folder with your new workbook.
SHELLNEW folder locations:
- Office 365 32-bit on 64-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\SHELLNEW - Office 365 64-bit on 64-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\SHELLNEW - Office MSI:
C:\Windows\SHELLNEW
After replacing the file, new workbooks will use your customized Excel12.xlsx.
9 Replies
When you create a new Excel workbook via right-click in a folder, Windows Explorer uses a default workbook named Excel12.xlsx from the SHELLNEW folder. This default file may be in a language different from your display language.
Workaround:
- Create a workbook in your desired language.
- Replace the existing Excel12.xlsx in the SHELLNEW folder with your new workbook.
SHELLNEW folder locations:
- Office 365 32-bit on 64-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\SHELLNEW - Office 365 64-bit on 64-bit Windows:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\vfs\Windows\SHELLNEW - Office MSI:
C:\Windows\SHELLNEW
After replacing the file, new workbooks will use your customized Excel12.xlsx.
That worked. Thanks for your suggestion.
I'd start with a Quick Repair first and if that's unsuccessful then try the Online Repair (Essentially a re-installation).
Repair an Office application - Microsoft Support
If both those fail, it might be registry-related and you'd want to report back first before proceeding. Good luck!
Well, that didn't work. I thought I saw a similar issue when I was browsing with my mobile but I didn't bookmark it and now I can't find it.
The post stated something about EXCEL being installed as Arabic and there was a solution provided, but again I can't find that post.
- At this point you could default the registry key at:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Excel
Close Excel. Export the reg key above first to have a backup, if needed. Delete the key then open Excel again.
