[VBA] How to Open External Excel Files in the Background Using ScreenUpdating

2025年12月30日

When you implement a process to open an external Excel file using Excel VBA, the target file often fills the screen and gets in the way. In this article, I learned how to open files in the background and suppress screen updates, so I will introduce the steps and code.

What I Want to Achieve

I want to open external Excel files without showing them to the user.
I want to quietly process files opened temporarily for automation in the background.

Method: Suppress Screen Rendering with ScreenUpdating Property

VBA has a property called Application.ScreenUpdating. By setting this to False, you can suppress screen flickering and display updates during processing. By using this feature, it becomes possible to open external files without displaying them to the user.

VBA Code Used

Below is the basic code to open an external Excel file in the background.

Sub OpenWorkbookSilently()
    Dim ExternalWorkbook As Workbook

    ' Turn off screen updating
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False

    ' Open the external Excel file
    Set ExternalWorkbook = Workbooks.Open("C:\Users\s_mori\OneDrive - MACCS.cloud\デスクトップ\ショートカット\01_SKY関係\SKY_ED.xlsx")

    ' Perform necessary processing (reading, copying, etc.) here

    ' Turn screen updating back on
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

Key Points of the Code

Application.ScreenUpdating = False Stops screen updates before opening the file. This ensures the file is not displayed on the Excel screen.
Workbooks.Open(…) Opens the external Excel file as usual. It becomes accessible from the VBA side.
Application.ScreenUpdating = True Restores the original state by resuming screen updates after the process is finished.

Notes

ScreenUpdating controls the display; it does not open the file in a strictly “invisible” mode. In some environments, you might briefly see window switching.
If an error occurs during processing, ScreenUpdating = True might not be called, leaving the screen frozen. In such cases, it is safer to add On Error handling.