Instructions

Download and Run the Script

To download and execute the script with one command, follow these steps:

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator:

   • Right-click on the Start menu and select “Windows PowerShell (Admin)” or “Windows Terminal (Admin)”.

2. Execute the Following Command:

   Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ignatiosdev/Excel-Multiple-File-Opening-Fix/main/script.ps1" -OutFile "script.ps1"; .\script.ps1
   

How It Works

This PowerShell script fixes the delay experienced when opening multiple Excel files from Windows File Explorer while another Excel instance is already running.

How It Works:

1. Registry Paths: The script updates specific registry keys related to Excel's Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) settings:
   • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\Open\ddeexec (for Excel 2013 and newer)
   • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\Open\ddeexec (for Excel 97-2003)
2. Registry Updates: It sets the Default value of these keys to [open("%1" /ou "%u")], optimizing the way Excel handles file openings via DDE, leading to faster performance when opening multiple files.
3. Path Creation: If the specified registry paths do not exist, the script creates them to ensure that the necessary registry structure is in place.

Why the Bug Happens:

The issue arises due to outdated or incorrect DDE settings in the Windows Registry. DDE is a protocol used for inter-process communication and can sometimes become misconfigured, causing delays in opening files when multiple Excel instances are involved.

Acknowledgment:

A special shoutout to adamAmiga0 for discovering and sharing this solution. Their insights on Microsoft Answers were instrumental in identifying the root cause and providing a fix for this common issue.