Closing workbooks in excel on my Ipad

Lyndell Kidd 0 Reputation points
2026-08-31T21:29:13.7533333+00:00

How do I close a workbook on my iPad? The file is private information and every time I open Excel the workbooks are open. I need to figure out how to close them completely when I’m done working on them.

Thank you

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | iOS
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  1. Norah-L 10,490 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-01T03:52:26.57+00:00

    Hello Lyndell Kidd,

    Excel for iPad may keep the last workbook open if you leave the app without first closing the file.

    You can try the following:

    1. While viewing the workbook, tap the back arrow/Close file button in the upper-left corner. This closes the workbook and returns you to Excel’s Home screen.
    2. Wait briefly for AutoSave to finish before closing. Excel for iPad normally saves changes automatically.
    3. If the workbook still reopens, close Excel completely: swipe up from the bottom of the iPad screen and pause, find the Excel preview, then swipe it upward. On an iPad with a Home button, press Home twice and swipe the Excel preview upward.
    4. Reopen Excel and install any available Excel update from the App Store if the issue continues.

    Please let me know how it goes after trying these steps, and I'll be glad to continue looking into it with you.

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

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  2. Lyndell Kidd 0 Reputation points
    2026-09-08T16:55:43.5766667+00:00

    yes, thanks

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