Microsoft Excel – “Windows Cannnot Find … ” Error

Under Microsoft Excel 2007, sometimes you’ll click on a file within Windows Explorer, and when Excel opens, you’ll receive an error message “Windows cannot find <file>. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. You’ll be able to drag the file onto an empty Excel window or open the file from Excel directly. It’s quite annoying, but there’s a fix for it.

This can be resolved with the following procedure:

1. Open Microsoft Excel 2007.
2. Click on the Microsoft Office Button (top left hand corner).
3. Click “Excel Options” and then “Advanced”.
4. Find the “General” section and uncheck the box titled Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE).
5. Click “OK”.

If you happen to be using Microsoft Excel 2003, you can use the following procedure instead:

1. Open Microsoft Excel 2003.
2. Under the Tools menu, click Options.
3. Open the General tab.
4. Uncheck the box titled Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE).

Thanks to Porthale at http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-1790606.php for this tip!