Taskbar Setting isn't Sticky

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 23, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Subscriber Raymond Kamanga wrote recently to describe a problem he was having with one of his Excel configuration settings. He likes to have different workbooks visible as tasks on the Taskbar, a configuration that is controlled on the View tab of the Options dialog box. When he sets the option, the next time he starts Excel, the option is cleared, and he has to set it all over again.

Many of the settings in Excel (even many of those in the Options dialog box) are stored on a workbook-by-workbook basis. Some of them change with every workbook you load; some of them change based on the first workbook you load each session.

There is a good chance that the Windows in Taskbar option (on the View tab) is one of these latter types. When you start Excel, it probably loads a workbook to display to you. This workbook could be a default workbook (from Excel's Startup folder), or it could be the Personal.xls workbook. If the Windows in Taskbar option is turned off in one of these (whichever is loading first), then each Excel session will start with the option off.

The solution is to figure out which workbook is being opened when you first start Excel. Then, load that workbook, change the setting, save it again, and restart Excel. The problem should not recur.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2549) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Turning Off Hyphenation for Individual Words

Word does a semi-decent job when it comes to automatically hyphenating your documents. It even lets you exclude certain ...

Discover More

Changing the Size of a Graphic

Adding a graphic to a worksheet is easy. Getting that graphic to just the right size may take a little bit of trial and ...

Discover More

Inserting the Document Revision Number

Need to know how many times your document has been saved? Word keeps track of this information, and makes it easily ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Grabbing a User's Name from Excel

One of the settings you can make in Excel is to specify a user's name. This name is accessible through macros, and can ...

Discover More

Ignoring Other Applications

Do you want Excel to ignore other applications that may be running on your computer? You can configure the program to do ...

Discover More

Starting in Safe Mode

By using a command-line switch, Excel can be started in safe mode. This means that the program is loaded with bare-bones ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 5 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.