Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Starting in Safe Mode.

Starting in Safe Mode

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 2, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you are having problems with Excel, it could be because of the files and add-ins that are loaded whenever you start Excel. To test this theory, you can start Excel in "safe mode." How you do it depends on the version of Windows you are using. If you are using Windows 7 or Vista, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Start button at the lower-left of your screen. Windows displays the Start menu.
  2. Within the Search Programs and Files box (Windows 7) or the Start Search box (Vista)—at the bottom of the Start menu—enter the following:
    3.      excel.exe /s
  3. Press Enter.

If you are using Windows XP, you can follow these steps:

  1. Choose the Run option from the Start menu. Windows displays the Run dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

    2. Figure 1. The Run dialog box.

  2. In the Open box, type the path to the Excel program, and add the /s switch at the end. For instance, the command line you enter might look like this:
    3.      "c:\program files\microsoft office\office\excel.exe" /s
  3. Click OK.

Excel starts, but in doing so, it bypasses all the files in the various startup folders (such as XLStart) and skips loading the toolbar file (Excel.xlb). You know you are in safe mode because the words "Safe Mode" appears in the title bar. You can use Excel as you normally would, and then exit the program. The next time you start the program—without the safe mode switch—it runs as it normally does.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3365) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Starting in Safe Mode.

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

Editing Wrap Points

If you have a graphic that has text wrapping around it, you might want a way to modify the wrapping path used by Word. ...

Discover More

Adding a Little Animation to Your Life

Tired of the same old boring Excel look? You can add some life to your worksheets by introducing some animation. Here's ...

Discover More

Automatically Hiding the Personal Workbook

If you leave your Personal.xlsb workbook visible from one Excel session to another, you may find that you unwittingly ...

Discover More

Best-Selling VBA Tutorial for Beginners Take your Excel knowledge to the next level. With a little background in VBA programming, you can go well beyond basic spreadsheets and functions. Use macros to reduce errors, save time, and integrate with other Microsoft applications. Fully updated for the latest version of Office 365. Check out Microsoft 365 Excel VBA Programming For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Counting the Times a Worksheet is Used

Do you need to know how many times a worksheet has been used? Excel doesn't track that information, but you can develop ...

Discover More

Always Open at 100% Zoom

Tired of shared workbooks opening at some strange zoom factor that makes viewing your data difficult? Here's how to make ...

Discover More

Status Bar Summing No Longer Available

When you select a range of cells, Excel normally displays the sum of those selected cells on the status bar. If the sum ...

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.

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

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 8 - 4?

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.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.