Hello,
I have several password protected workbooks and I can't get any of them to open maximized. Regardless of what size the window is when I close the wb, when I open it again it is full width, half height centered. I have set the shortcut to the workbook to run maximized, but it doesn't care. Un-pw protected wb's behave (i.e. open as they were when last closed).
Any idea why a pw protect wb won't obey the rules? Is there a vba script I can insert somewhere to make all wb's open maximized? I thought I had already done this in my personal workbook (is that the right name?) but can't find it anywhere. As you can see, I'm not up to speed on all this, so any detailed help is appreciated.

When you protected it. What options did you enable? window structure is one of them which may be the reason.

Well, to be honest, I don't recall *HOW* I even gave them passwords, so I just saved one and gave a PW to it. Here's what I did:
1)Opened file (before adding PW)
2)Clicked FILE tab on ribbon
3)Clicked SAVE AS
4)Clicked TOOLS drop down (next to SAVE button)
5)Clicked GENERAL OPTIONS
6)There are only 4 choices:
a) ALWAYS CREATE BACKUP check box (not checked)
b) PASSWORD TO OPEN (I entered a PW)
c) PASSWORD TO CLOSE (I entered a PW)
d) READ ONLY RECOMMENDED check box unchecked

I was asked to reenter both passwords, and that was it. I didn't see anyother options. I think there are a couple other ways to protect spreadsheets, but this is the method I used (I am NOT a power user).
Thanx,
Mike

Old thread now, but here is how I fixed this.
Note that this is not elegant! And purely based on my observations, not rigorous analysis.

Background:
There appears to be a bug in Excel 2010 (and likely later versions) when opening password protected files. Something about the on-open password popup box seems to result in Excel defaulting to a non-maximised size, regardless of whether you configure Run=Maximised in the Excel shortcut. Note that if Excel is already open and maximised prior to opening the password-ed file, then it stays maximised ok.

Solution.
Note: Please google concepts below (eg 'Personal.xlsb') if you don't know how they work.

I have seen posts stating the solution is to add VBA code to Personal.xlsb, executed when any workbook is opened. This code triggers off the 'Workbook_Open' event to force the window to maximised. Unfortunately I found this did not work for password protected files. The 'Workbook_Open' event appears to occur BEFORE the worksheet password popup, and it looks like the popup is somehow overriding any prior attempt to maximise the workbook.

After a little playing around, I found a workaround that works for me. The VBA 'Application.OnTime' function can be added to defer the above maximisation for a second, which seems to be enough to place it AFTER whatever the password popup box is doing. As a result Excel is maximised immediately after a password is entered. Yes, this doesnt 100% make sense, but worked when nothing else would!

Within Personal.xlsb:

1) Add the following VBA under "MicrosoftExcelObjects / ThisWorkbook"

Private Sub Workbook_Open()
Application.OnTime (Now() + TimeValue("00:00:01")), "MaximiseExcel"
'1 second delay seems to be enough. Try a little more if this doesnt work reliably.
End Sub

2) Create a new module under "Modules" with the following:

Sub MaximiseExcel()
Application.WindowState = xlMaximized
End Sub