my $excel = Win32::OLE->GetActiveObject('Excel.Application')||die "couldnt get active one"; $excel -> Windows("SummarySheet.xls") -> Activate; my $workbook = $excel -> Workbooks("EtfSummarySheet.xls"); $workbook->Activate; my $sheet = $workbook -> Sheets(2); $sheet -> Cells(1,1) -> {Value} = "This works great now.";