I've been directed here from the MS forums as the question relates to Excel on Windows 2012 R2.

We have an issue with Excel 2010 (SP2 with updates - 14.0.7147.5001 (32-bit) ) and not showing ALL open Excel workbooks on the taskbar, compared to is actually open on Windows Server 2012 R2.

The issue appears very random. Sometimes it will open all Excel documents, other times it won't. Doesn't matter if its a combination of old .XLS or .XLSX files.

This issue is very similar to http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-customize/windows-81-not-showing-actual-open-files-at/4b5d51f0-a4b3-47f3-98f8-1de4001e4fd6 for windows 8.1

Setting the Taskbar properties to Never Combine does not fix the issue.

Can someone from Microsoft please confirm this is a bug or otherwise recommend a solution ? As it doesn't appear to be resolved in the forums. Only option appears to be upgrading to Office 2013.

Hi Naasif,

I feel like if you can open each Workbook in a separate Window this would solve the case.

Test this, Goto->Start->Excel, several times, this generates new Process. If you close and reopen a saved file there is only single process in TaskManager.

Temporary Fix:

Instead of opening the file from Windows Explorer Launch it from Excel.

Open Excel->File>Open->Select the file

Open Excel again->File>Open->Select the file2

This will generate new instance of the EXCEL.EXE process.

How to open Excel 2010 files in separate windows

As a permanent fix have you tried below registry fix:

How to force Microsoft Excel to open files in new window

Let us know if it works or not.

Hi,

I agree with the solution of Satyajit. This issue is normally in excel 2007 and 2010. With excel 2013, each workbook opens create an excel.exe process, so this issue dont appear in excel 2013. With these similar issues, the workaround is to upgrade to excel 2013.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-excel/how-do-i-get-a-separate-icon-in-the-windows-7/cce15de7-da7f-4444-b2cc-363789139cd5

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/office_2010-customize/windows-81-not-showing-actual-open-files-at/4b5d51f0-a4b3-47f3-98f8-1de4001e4fd6

And the solution of Satyajit is to create new instance of the EXCEL.EXE process for each workbook, I agree with it and it suits for OPs problem.

Regards,

Sorry my profile account messed up. So I had to create a new profile account.

Are you saying this is normal behavior for Office 2007 and Office 2010 on Windows Server 2012 R2

I've not experienced this on Windows 2008 R2, where we have many Office 2007 and Office 2010 installations.

The registry fix, I have tried and the issue I've come across is that the registry change gets undone when an MS Office updates gets applied to the server, so this is not acceptable.

Why has Microsoft not released a fix for this ? It seems strange to me that the only option is to upgrade to Office 2013 ?

Hi Naasif,

We can't say this is a normal behavior as its random in your case itself.

Let me know, if the workaround worked atleast, to isolate the possibilities\issues.

The registry fix if works can be part of a user\computer GPO, which would not be affected by new Office install. As it will update\check the settings on every login\reboot. 

Why has Microsoft not released a fix for this ?

Report a Bug:

How can one submit a bug report to Microsoft on Excel 2010?

Hi,

we have the same problem. Sometimes not all Excel documents are shown in the taskbar.

Do you use Citrix XenApp or Remote Desktop Services to access your Windows Server 2012 R2?

I'll open a ticket, but i don't know if it is a Microsoft or a Citrix problem.

Thanks!

Bye,

Andreas