In this post I will show with you how to display multiple Excel files on one screen. Say you have one screen and you want to see 2 files at once for whatever reason (copy, compare, review, etc.). As always there are a number of scenarios within one setup: 1 screen 2 workbooks.
Windows 7:
This works for every window. Grab a window by the title bar (click with your mouse and do not release). Snap it to the side edge of the screen (do not release the mouse button yet). As soon as you reach to the edge of the screen you’ll notice a translucent frame. This frame shows the area that current/active window will occupy. Un-click or release the mouse button to have half of your screen covered. For the second half choose a second window and snap it to the opposite side. You can find online posts explaining how to achieve same thing with keyboard combination Start+Left/Right arrow to snap it to right or left half of the screen.
Windows 10:
As in the case above, grab a window by the title bar with your mouse and snap it left or right. Next, Win10 will automatically offer you mini icons of the remaining windows to choose from. As you click on one of them, it will cover the second half of the screen. Try snapping the window into a corner and cover a quarter of the screen. Now you can view 3 or 4 workbooks at a time.
Excel 2013 and later or Office 365:
In this case each workbook has it’s own window. So everything described above for a “window”, will apply to each file/workbook. You have more freedom to arrange your workbooks over your screen than in the next scenario.
Excel 2010 or earlier:
In this case Excel has only one application window. The 2 workbooks you are working with are confined within Excel window. It is still possible to display 2 workbooks side by side in this case.
Option 1: Display 2 workbooks inside Excel app window. There was a feature in the old versions Arrange Windows. You can find this feature in the View tab: View -> Window -> Arrange All. In the dialog box (pop-up window) you can choose from a variety of options: Tiled, Horizontal, Vertical or Cascade. Choose Vertical to arrange the workbooks on the left and on the right, Horizontal for up and down. Use Ctrl+Tab to switch between workbooks.
Advantage: Copying between workbooks you will benefit from the entire spectrum of options from Paste Special.
Disadvantage: In case of 2 screens, there is no way to display each workbook on each screen without some “gymnastics” – stretch the Excel app for both screens and then arrange vertically.
Option 2: Open a second instance of Excel (second app window). Right click on the Excel app icon in the Windows taskbar then, simultaneously hold Alt key and click on the “Excel (2)” from the menu. Keep holding Alt key until you get a question whether “you want to start a new instance of Excel”. Click ‘Yes’. Now you can open each workbook in each Excel instance and use Windows feature of arranging apps on the screen. Use Alt+Tab to switch between 2 Excel windows.
Advantages and disadvantages in the second option are exact opposite of option 1: Advantage – using 2 screens, Disadvantage – Paste Special behaves as if it was copied from another non-Excel app.
Thank you for reading it all.
If you have other solutions for this setup – 1 screen 2 workbooks or if anything above was not clear and you have questions, please share in the comment section below.
