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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

800+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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

Was this answer helpful?

400+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

285 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-11T20:52:36+00:00

    Yes….That worked perfectly. Thanks.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-17T23:29:47+00:00

    The problem with opening 2 instances of Excel is that you can't copy formulas between the 2 spreadsheets. It turns them into text and the formula is lost. It is pretty easy to open another instance, right click on the Taskbar and choose it again, click the wheel, etc. But it doesn't solve my problem of being able to copy back and forth between 2 spreadsheets and not lose my formulas.

    I found that if I made Excel not maximized and then manually sized the program across 2 monitors, I could use the View/Arrange All and make one spreadsheet fit on one monitor and one fit on the other monitor. It's kind of annoying to have the ribbon only on the one monitor, but it does solve my major issues. Hope this is helpful to someone.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-30T15:48:07+00:00

    Hi this registry hack has a side-effect though

    If you'r excel files are "password-protected" the prompt appears twice and you got to enter the password twice

    I brought back the registry 'edits' back to default and the problem wasnt there

    Of course most ppl's excel files arent password protected so not an issue,

    But for those whose files are passworde'd it can get annoying having to key the password in 'twice'

    Just a FYI ;)

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments