Open Excel file for reading with VBA without display

Question

I want to search through existing Excel files with a macro, but I don't want to display those files when they're opened by the code. Is there a way to have them open "in the background", so to speak?

Answer 1

In excel, hide the workbooks, and save them as hidden. When your app loads them they will not be shown.

Edit: upon re-reading, it became clear that these workbooks are not part of your application. Such a solution would be inappropriate for user workbooks.

Answer 2

Not sure if you can open them invisibly in the current excel instance

You can open a new instance of excel though, hide it and then open the workbooks

Dim app as New Excel.Application
app.Visible = False 'Visible is False by default, so this isn't necessary
Dim book As Excel.Workbook
Set book = app.Workbooks.Add(fileName)
'
' Do what you have to do
'
book.Close SaveChanges:=False
app.Quit
Set app = Nothing

As others have posted, make sure you clean up after you are finished with any opened workbooks

Answer 3

Open them from a new instance of Excel.

Sub Test()

    Dim xl As Excel.Application
    Set xl = CreateObject("Excel.Application")

    Dim w As Workbook
    Set w = xl.Workbooks.Add()

    MsgBox "Not visible yet..."
    xl.Visible = True

    w.Close False
    Set xl = Nothing

End Sub

You need to remember to clean up after you're done.

Answer 4

If that suits your needs, I would simply use

Application.ScreenUpdating = False

with the added benefit of accelerating your code, instead of slowing it down by using a second instance of Excel.

Answer 5

Even though you've got your answer, for those that find this question, it is also possible to open an Excel spreadsheet as a JET data store. Borrowing the connection string from a project I've used it on, it will look kinda like this:

strExcelConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & objFile.Path & ";Extended Properties=""Excel 8.0;HDR=Yes"""
strSQL = "SELECT * FROM [RegistrationList$] ORDER BY DateToRegister DESC"

Note that "RegistrationList" is the name of the tab in the workbook. There are a few tutorials floating around on the web with the particulars of what you can and can't do accessing a sheet this way.

Just thought I'd add. :)