Excel Workbook Gallery - Can't delete files

[bpo1]

I have a handful of excel files that are empty and appear in the Excel Workbook Gallery that I am trying to delete. A few of them are "Copy of a file" that was downloaded. I tried right clicking, but that didn't work. I tried logging out, but that didn't work. I tried to find them in Finder, but can't seem to locate them. I tried to drag them to the Trash can, but they don't move. The orange box around them is empty and when i click on them, the panel to the right, shows that they are empty. Trying to clean things up, but this is frustrating.

Thanks!

 

[chscag]

First, have you tried to "Clear Recent" from within Excel, "File", "Open Recent", "Clear Recent"? If that doesn't work, post back and we'll try something else.

 

[bpo1]

That worked! You would think this would automatically occur.....

 

[chscag]

Nope, the "Clear Recent" is not automatic in MS Office for either the Mac or PC. Microsoft leaves it up to us. Anyway, glad that resolved it. Have fun.

 

[Shnoodle]

Deleting files in the Excel Workbook Gallery

Hi, I have the same issue described by bpo1 in the thread below (I cannot delete files in the Excel Workbook Gallery). I tried to follow the recommendations of chscag but unfortunately, I could not click on "Clear Recent" (in Excel -> File -> Open Recent) because it was disabled (ie. the font was light and there was no response when I clicked on it). Can anyone shed some light on (a) how to enable "Clear Recent" and/or how to delete files in the Excel Workbook Gallery? Thanks !

 

[chscag]

If the "Clear Recent" button is grayed out, that means you have no recent files to clear or at least none that Excel considers to be recent. However, in order to further assist, we need to know which version of Office you're running and version of OS X. Also give us some info about your Mac.

 

[Shnoodle]

Thanks for your prompt reply. You're right. The files in question are not recent, though I'd still like to delete them. I'm running OS X 10.9.5 on a MacBook Pro. I'm running Microsoft Excel for Mac 2011. Let me know whether you need more info.

 

[chscag]

If the files you're trying to delete are ones that you created they will be here:

Macintosh HD/Users/your user name/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Excel/

Your user library is hidden by default in Mavericks. Follow the directions given here to unhide your library folder. It's very easy and does not require a terminal command.

 

[Shnoodle]

I succeeded to unhide my library folder. I was not sure how to find Macintosh HD so I got some instruction from Mac Forums that didn't work for me. I did Desktop/Go/Computer/MacIntosh HD/Library/Application Support/Microsoft but there was no Office/Excel there.

Please advise how to find MacIntosh HD/Users/your user name/Application Support/Microsoft.Office/Excel

 

[chscag]

I did Desktop/Go/Computer/MacIntosh HD/Library/Application Support/Microsoft but there was no Office/Excel there.

That's the wrong path. You have to use the path that's for your user name otherwise you will not find the Excel folder. See below:

Macintosh HD/Users/your user name/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/Excel/

Open Finder and highlight your user name and go from there. You need to pay close attention to the exact path above otherwise you will not find it. Remember to unhide your user library folder. In case you're confused, "your user name" is the name you gave to your personal user account.

 

[Shnoodle]

Thanks ! Problem solved. I appreciate your help.

 

[balmli]

delete unneeded workbooks in Excel 2008

First, have you tried to "Clear Recent" from within Excel, "File", "Open Recent", "Clear Recent"? If that doesn't work, post back and we'll try something else.

I read where you can delete unneeded workbooks in Excel by "clearing recent", but in the recent, there are some files I need . How do I pick and choose, or protect the files I still need