Issue with Excel 2010 invisible grid and default template not working

MikeYants · Monday at 5:33 PM

I recently bought a pc with windows 11 and I installed Excel 2010 on it
When I open a new spreadsheet by right clicking and select new spreadsheet it comes in as white with no grid lines by default
Not sure if it's supposed to be that way or maybe it got saved that way at some point

I understand the problem is that the grid lines are white and on a white background it's invisible
I can change the color of the grid in the options and it stays that way for that spreadsheet but if I open an new one I would have to change it for every new spreadsheet I open

I looked into setting up a template and I set up one in the XLSTART folder but for some reason when I open a new spreadsheet it's not using that spreadsheet It just opens the same one with the invisible grid
Is there a way to find out where is excel getting the new spreadsheet from ? Or somehow make it so it opens the template that I made instead of the one it opens by default ?

dacrone · Monday at 5:47 PM

MikeYants said:
I recently bought a pc with windows 11 and I installed Excel 2010 on it
When I open a new spreadsheet by right clicking and select new spreadsheet it comes in as white with no grid lines by default
Not sure if it's supposed to be that way or maybe it got saved that way at some point

I understand the problem is that the grid lines are white and on a white background it's invisible
I can change the color of the grid in the options and it stays that way for that spreadsheet but if I open an new one I would have to change it for every new spreadsheet I open

I looked into setting up a template and I set up one in the XLSTART folder but for some reason when I open a new spreadsheet it's not using that spreadsheet It just opens the same one with the invisible grid
Is there a way to find out where is excel getting the new spreadsheet from ? Or somehow make it so it opens the template that I made instead of the one it opens by default ?

you can try these steps to set your preferred style as the default template:

.https://exceljet.net/articles/how-to-set-a-default-template-in-excel

antspants · Monday at 6:11 PM

1. **Create Your Custom Template**:
- Open a new workbook in Excel.
- Customize it as needed (e.g., set fonts, styles, column widths, etc.).

2. **Save the Template**:
- Click `File > Save As`.
- In the "Save as type" dropdown, select **Excel Template (*.xltx)**.
- Name the file `Book.xltx` (for workbooks) or `Sheet.xltx` (for worksheets).
- Save the file in the **XLSTART** folder. The typical path is:
- `C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART`.

3. **Restart Excel**:
- Close and reopen Excel. Your custom template should now be applied to all new workbooks or worksheets.

MikeYants · Monday at 6:15 PM

Thanks By coincidence that's the exact website I looked at before posting
I created the book.xlt and Sheet.xlt and they are in the XLTSART folder but when I open a new spreadsheet for some reason Excel ignores it and opens a new one from somewhere else

antspants · Monday at 6:19 PM

Check your path

To change the default **XLSTART** folder for Excel 2010, you need to modify its settings using one of the following methods:

Change the XLSTART Path via Registry Editor
1. Open Registry Editor:
- Press `Win + R`, type `regedit`, and press Enter.

2. Navigate to the Key:
- Go to:
`HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel\Options`

3. Create or Modify the String Value:
- Right-click in the right pane and select `New > String Value`.
- Name the value `AltStartup`.
- Set the value to the path of the folder you want to use as the XLSTART folder (e.g., `C:\CustomXLSTART`).

4. Restart Excel:
- Close and reopen Excel to ensure the change takes effect.

---
Alternativly: Modify Excel Options Using VBA (Optional)
1. Open Excel and press `Alt + F11` to launch the **VBA Editor**.
2. Use VBA to set the alternative startup folder:
```vba
Sub ChangeXLSTARTPath()
Application.AltStartupPath = "C:\CustomXLSTART"
End Sub
```
3. Run the code and restart Excel.

MikeYants · Monday at 6:49 PM

I did all that but it made no difference
It still opens without any changes that are on the xltx spreadsheet

antspants · Monday at 6:56 PM

MikeYants said:
Is there a way to find out where is excel getting the new spreadsheet from

If you open a new spreadsheet and select save as, where is it wanting to save to?
The default template request and the default save to folder are useually different. But what ever folder it’s asking you to save to, inspect the folder, look for a template file or empty spreadsheet without the grid.
Not sure how the template request call could have changed.

You said the laptop came with Office? Or do you have Office that you can reinstall on the PC?

MikeYants · Monday at 7:15 PM

I was just going to mention that
When I click on the .xltx template to save it It jumps the the microsoft\template folder part of the appdata subfolder
But I have a copy of the .xltx file there also but still not using that one

It's a PC that came with windows 11 and I installed a copy of excel 2010
Does it matter if the product is not activated ?

antspants · Monday at 7:20 PM

MikeYants said:
Does it matter if the product is not activated ?

Well technically (and ethically) yes?
But that shouldn’t interfere with the calling of a template.
And you said you looked at the registry in post 5?

This is a response from CoPilot

To change the default templates in Excel 2010 via a registry edit, follow these steps carefully:

1. **Create Your Custom Template**:
- Open Excel and create a workbook with the desired settings.
- Save it as an `.xlsx` file.

2. **Open the Registry Editor**:
- Press `Win + R`, type `regedit`, and press Enter.
- Navigate to the following path:
```
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.xlsx\Excel.Sheet.12\ShellNew
```

3. **Locate the Default Template File**:
- In the `ShellNew` folder, look for the `FileName` entry.
- Note the path specified in the `FileName` value (e.g., `C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Root\VFS\Windows\ShellNew\excel12.xlsx`).

4. **Replace the Default Template**:
- Navigate to the folder specified in the `FileName` value.
- Replace the existing file with your custom `.xlsx` file. Ensure the file name matches exactly.

5. **Restart Excel**:
- Close and reopen Excel to apply the changes.

antspants · Monday at 7:25 PM

What happens if you don’t use a right click action and just open Excel? What template is used, does it have the gridlines, is it normal?

I’m just wondering what difference there might be between the default template opening and using right click on icon to open a worksheet/book.

I wonder if event viewer would show the path when the call was made? I don’t ever use event viewer so I wouldn’t know.

As weird or as useless as it seems, unpin Excel from the Taskbar and re-pin it.

dacrone · Monday at 7:25 PM

Try this registry solution, but 14 instead of 16.0 (you’ll understand what I’m referring to)

.https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/gridlines-disappear-by-default/6e217762-b648-459d-b70e-2df6eca42e68

MikeYants · Monday at 8:40 PM

antspants said:
What happens if you don’t use a right click action and just open Excel? What template is used, does it have the gridlines, is it normal?

I’m just wondering what difference there might be between the default template opening and using right click on icon to open a worksheet/book.

I wonder if event viewer would show the path when the call was made? I don’t ever use event viewer so I wouldn’t know.

As weird or as useless as it seems, unpin Excel from the Taskbar and re-pin it.

This may be a clue
I opened it by going to the start all programs and than clicked on the excel program and it opened Book1 so that is one of the templates that I saved I just have to look which one I saved where since I tried saving it different ways
But it does not have the normal grid lines just whatever I changed
I did not have it pinned to the taskbar so that's why I had to open it from the start box

MikeYants · Monday at 8:56 PM

dacrone said:
Try this registry solution, but 14 instead of 16.0 (you’ll understand what I’m referring to)

.https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/gridlines-disappear-by-default/6e217762-b648-459d-b70e-2df6eca42e68

I tried this one and now this one is using different template This is the one from the template folder So I renamed the customXLSTART folder I created earlier and now it only opens the one from the template but again this is with opening the excel.exe file from the programs If I right click to open it still not using the template

antspants · Monday at 8:57 PM

For what it’s worth, may not yield any result you need, but go in to Programs & Features in Control Panel.
Right click on the entry for Office 2010 and there should be an option to repair it. If not right click it could be actually double clicking the entry in Programs & Features for Office 2010 and then selecting repair.

Or doing it like they do for M365?

It’s been so long since 2010 that I can’t remember.

MikeYants · Monday at 9:06 PM

antspants said:
3. **Locate the Default Template File**:
- In the `ShellNew` folder, look for the `FileName` entry.
- Note the path specified in the `FileName` value (e.g., `C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Root\VFS\Windows\ShellNew\excel12.xlsx`).

4. **Replace the Default Template**:
- Navigate to the folder specified in the `FileName` value.
- Replace the existing file with your custom `.xlsx` file. Ensure the file name matches exactly.

5. **Restart Excel**:
- Close and reopen Excel to apply the changes.

I don't have a path for the filename I just have excel12.xlsx

antspants · Monday at 9:23 PM

Is it just that you can’t remember your license that you can’t remove Office with Revo and reinstall? Or are there other factors, Mike?

Office 2010 (Australian website, apparently) AU$9.90
I’ve never used that website.

Or you could upgrade?

Search "Microsoft Office" | StackSocial

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I have used this website

MikeYants · Monday at 9:26 PM

I tried the repair but it did not change anything

After the restart I wanted to make a shortcut to the excel.exe to make it easier to open rather than going to the start programs route so while I was going through the program files I saw another XLSTART folder in office 14 which was empty so I thought what happens if I put a template there but when I tried to do that it said I don't have permission so not sure what that was all about

MikeYants · Monday at 9:33 PM

I have a license on the old pc but that was with windows 7 installed so I did not want to remove it plus I did not know how anyway

I think this shortcut to excel.exe is a good workaround for now I just pinned it to the taskbar
So I just have to click on the taskbar instead of using the right click method

antspants · Monday at 9:34 PM

If you pin Excel onto your Taskbar and open a spreadsheet, you should be able to right click on the Excel icon on the Taskbar and pin the open excel doc to it.

Therefore, you could create a blank document somewhere, set it as read only in File Explorer, and pin that Excel document to the Taskbar icon via right click.

Not ideal but if Office 2010 Excel allows you to do this, it’s at least a work around.

antspants · Monday at 9:34 PM

MikeYants said:
I have a license on the old pc but that was with windows 7 installed so I did not want to remove it plus I did not know how anyway

I think this shortcut to excel.exe is a good workaround for now I just pinned it to the taskbar
So I just have to click on the taskbar instead of using the right click method

That’s another option for sure , Mike

Issue with Excel 2010 invisible grid and default template not working

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