I would like to create a new invisible document, show a progress bar userform while the document is being processed, then show the finished document only once it is finished.

Everything works properly to create the content, but looks a little clunky: when the document is created, I get an empty document window (I would like this to not show up at all until finished), and my progressbar userform shows up blank while the process is running (the title is visible, but the progressbar and text labels within are not displayed).

I have tried setting 'Application.ScreenUpdating = False' at various points during the process (i.e. moving it before/after the document is created, or the userform is shown), but I still end up with a blank window while the document is processing. I have tried altering the sequence, but if I show the progressbar form before the document is created, it gets hidden by the document window.

Does anyone know how I can get the new document to be hidden while the rest of the processing is occurring? I can lose the progressbar if necessary, but I would prefer to let the user know that something is still going on.