How can I stop Excel from opening a second blank window when opening a file from Explorer?

Question

When I open an Excel file from Windows Explorer, I always get a second Excel window as well. Annoyingly, when I close it, it doesn't close, but the other window does!This seems to be a common issue:* [Excel 2013 starts up with blank screen when opened from explorer](http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2013_release-excel/excel-2013-starts-up-with-blank-screen-when-opened/af0649d0-0cb7-481e-99fd-2b1e93f73bc1)* [Excel 2013 opens blank grey screen along with original workbook.](http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/347445-excel-2013-opens-blank-grey-screen-along-with-original-workbook)* [Excel Opens Two Instances of File - One Blank?](http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/205890-excel-opens-two-instances-of-file-one-blank)* [Excel 2013 Issue - Opening a worksheet, opens a new blank worksheet too](http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/excel-questions/686018-excel-2013-issue-opening-worksheet-opens-new-blank-worksheet-too.html)How can I stop this second window appearing?

Answer 1

My extra window turned out to be a problem with add-ins. In Excel 2016, here's how to fix that:

1. Open Excel.
2. Go to File > Options.
3. Click on Add-ins.
4. Look at the Active Application Add-ins (so alliterative!)
5. At the bottom of the dialog, in Manage, set the dropdown to COM Add-ins and click Go...
6. Uncheck the things you don't need.