I want to open 2 excel files in separate windows to view them side by side... but each time I try, it opens them in the same window

Anonymous
2009-11-14T01:05:58+00:00

I want to open 2 excel files in separate windows to view them side by side... but each time I try, it opens them in the same window.  is there a way around this?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-03-15T22:03:50+00:00

I use Windows 7 and this is what works for me (just figured it out):

1.  Open your first Excel file and place it on the screen you want

2.  Open a new Excel file from the Excel icon

3.  The new file will open on top of the one you have already opened.  Drag it to the other screen

4.  Drag the icon for the second Excel file INTO the new (blank) Excel document

Voila!  Two separate screens.

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Anonymous
2010-04-30T19:36:49+00:00

ok, just because i don't have the petiance to wait for you to answer to my first question about which excel version you'r using i'll just give my solution for all the people who have w7 and office 2007:

the solution involves making little changes in the registry so i recommend making back up for just in case:

strart - run - regedit:

Left column

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Excel.Sheet.8/shell/Open/commend:

Right column {adding (space)"%1"}

Double Click on (Default) and write - "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" /e "%1"

Right Click on Command – choose "rename" and add something to the name 

  • for example 2 (commend2).

Left column

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Excel.Sheet.8/shell/Open/ddeexec:

Right Click on the folder ddeexec and choose "rename" and add something to the name 

  • for example 2 (ddeexec2)

Left column

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/Excel.Sheet.12/shell/Open/commend:

Right column {adding (space)"%1"}

Double Click on (Default) and write -****"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" /e "%1"

Right Click on Command – choose "rename" and add something to the name 

  • for example 2 (commend2).

no restart needed

Have Fun

hope i helped

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-09T14:36:42+00:00

    I want to open 2 excel files in separate windows to view them side by side... but each time I try, it opens them in the same window.  is there a way around this?

    I realize this is an old post but I hope my answer can be of some help.  I learned the answer from another forum.  Explaining how to do it appears to be difficult, but I will give it a try.  This has been driving me crazy trying to figure out how to do this and I just learned how today and it WORKS every time.

    1. Left click on your start menu (windows symbol, bottom left) -> All Programs -> Microsoft    office -> Excel
    2. Repeat step 1 you should have seen Excel pop up twice.
    3. Drag the blank excel document you see to another screen - You should now see 2 blank excel documents, one on each screen.
    4. From the blank Excel document on your left screen left click the Office icon (or shortcut if you have it), find the first document you want to open and select it by left clicking the document.
    5. From the blank Excel document on your right screen left click the Office icon (or shortcut if you have it), find the second document you want to open and select it by left clicking the document.

    Hopefully this helps.  It should.  The key is opening 2 blank documents in Excel first then opening the documents from each Excel window that you want to work with.  Opening the files by double-clicking the files in their home folder will not work.

    You can also open the 2 blank Excel documents from double clicking your desktop icon.  Another neat trick someone mentioned was opening the first document via the start menu or desk top than on the bottom task bar hover your mouse over the Excel icon and click your mouse wheel.  Again though, to view on 2 monitors you need to open the documents you are viewing FROM Excel, not from the file directly.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-08T15:35:06+00:00
    1. Open your first Excel file
    2. Right-click the Excel icon now in your taskbar and select "Microsoft Excel 2010"
    3. From the new, blank window go to "File -> Open" and browse for the second document.

    The second should open in a new window rather than the small side by side view. This is helpful when using two monitors.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-05T17:47:34+00:00

    Here it is in a simple way:

    Open Excel

    Click the Microsoft icon in the top left corner

    Go to Excel Options

    Click Advance

    Scroll to “General”

    Check “Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)

    This should work for the time being. If your file won’t open after these steps, go back and uncheck the box and repeat the steps. This is one solution I use until I find a more permanent one.

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