Close All Open Workbooks

October 26, 2021 - by Bill Jelen

Problem: I have 22 Excel Workbooks open. I want to keep Excel open but close all the workbooks. Excel no longer has a Close All icon on the ribbon, and selecting File, Close 22 times can get monotonous.

Strategy: You can add a Close All button to your Quick Access toolbar. Follow these steps:

• 1. Right-click the Quick Access toolbar and choose Customize Quick Access Toolbar.

• 2. In the left dropdown, choose Commands Not in the Ribbon.

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  3. Find the Close All item in the left list. Select Close All. Click the Add button to add the icon to the Quick Access toolbar. Click OK to close the Excel Options dialog.

Results: The Close All icon will be available on the Quick Access toolbar. When you click this icon, Excel will still individually ask you about any unsaved documents. However, it is a faster way of closing all open workbooks than manually closing each one.

Gotcha: The Close and Close All icons look the same in the Quick Access toolbar. If you want to have both Close and Close All, add them to the Excel ribbon so that the label will appear for each icon.

Additional Details: If your workbooks are unsaved, Excel will ask you if you want to save each one. Here is a cool trick: hold down the Shift key while clicking Don’t Save. Excel will repeat that answer for all of the remaining workbooks.

This article is an excerpt from Power Excel With MrExcel

Title photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash