much cleaner and more logical - thanks borislav.
problem now: It gets rid of the furthest two sheets (of a 4 sheet file) then gets stuck in a loop at which point I still have 2 sheets remaining.
I can't seem to solve it even adding if clauses - strange behavior - seems to defy your logic.
k

>>I have set this up to remove all multiple sheets except the first sheet.
>>It's not working - any help would be appreciated. thanks
>>k
>>
>>

>>lcFile='myfile.xlsx'
>>Erase (Forceext(lcFile,'xxx'))
>>ox=Createobject('excel.application')
>>owb=ox.Workbooks.Open(lcFile)
>>
>>If owb.Sheets.Count > 1
>>	Nu= owb.Sheets.Count
>>	ms=1
>>	Do While ms < Nu+1
>>		mname=owb.Sheets(m1).Name
>>		If ms>1
>>			Wait Window 'removing '+ mname timeout 2
>>			owb.Sheets(mname).Delete
>>		Endif
>>		ms=ms+1
>>	Enddo
>>Endif
>>ox.Visible=.T.
>>

>
>

>lcFile='myfile.xlsx'
>ox=Createobject('excel.application')
>owb=ox.Workbooks.Open(lcFile)
>
>If owb.Sheets.Count > 1
>    Nu= owb.Sheets.Count
>    Do While Nu > 1
>        mname=owb.Sheets(Nu).Name
>        Wait Window 'removing '+ mname timeout 2
>        owb.Sheets(mname).Delete
>        Nu= owb.Sheets.Count
>    Enddo
>Endif
>ox.Visible=.T.
>