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Open Excel in Different Window

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by ctmidnite 2 views

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I have two monitors. It's very handy to be able to look at different sheets on different monitors. I can do this if I open two instances of Excel and then open different sheets but I haven't been able to get Excel to open in a seperate Window if I open another sheet from within the Excel window that I'm already viewing a sheet in.
Can I force Excel to always open in a new Window?

52 replies

by tink!

you didn't specify which version you are using but try looking under "Tools", "Options" and click the "View" tab.

Look for "Windows in Taskbar" and CHECK the checkbox.

by ctmidnite

That puts two enteries in the taskbar but they are both located in the same window of Excel. If you try to drag one of two books you have open your bounderies are the Excel widow. You can't drag one of the books out onto the desk top. You can view them side by side but only in the same window.
If you open another book by first opening another instance of Excel then you have two Excel programs running and you can drag each program where ever you like.
I do this and it works fine, it's just that often I will have two books open before I realize I would like to view them at the same time.

by tink!

I gotcha now. What you want is to have Excel open up another instance of itself when you open another sheet within Excel.

This is beyond my expertise. You will probably need to have one the of programmers here on TR see if they can work up a script for you.

by dcrandell

I too have 200+ users that are annoyed by this so Today I tested and tested until i found a solid solution. The option in excel to ?Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)? does not work, but the following does.

Step 1: Open my computer and click on Tools/ Folder Options.

Step 2: Select File Types and find XLS as well as XLSX (you will edit one at a time with same info below).

Step 3: highlight .XLS Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet & Click the Advanced button and select the Open action followed by clicking Edit.

Step 4: Delete whatever is in the ?DDE Message box?.

Step 5: Add the syntax ?%1? (with preceding space and include the quotes!) to the end of any existing string in the ?Application used to perform action:? box. (if you skip this, file names that contain spaces will not open properly)

Step 6: Save and close all and give it a try!

by smitty21

Hey ctmidnite,

I also have dual monitors & use different spreadsheets on different screens. You can force Excel to open each file in a new window by editing the "Target" in the shortcut. Just put the path to the Excel.exe in front of the path to the .xls file. Here's what all mine look like. (I'm using Excel 2003) C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\excel.exe "c:\Documents & Settings\msmith\My Documents\test.xls". (Make sure the path to the actual .xls file is in parenthesis) They might open on top of each other the first time but if you move one of the windows to another screen, it'll open on that screen when you reopen it.

by ctmidnite

This isn't exactly what I asked to do but since Excel doesn't seem to be able to be forced to open a new sheet in a new instance from inside Excel this is a good work around. Pretty slick.
I did have to but quotes around the "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\excel.exe" to get it to work for me.
I'll spend tonight changing my shortcuts. :)

Thanks.

by frankmd

You have to tell Excel not to use DDE to open the worksheet.
Open Windows Explorer, Tools, Options, File Types
Scroll down to XLS
Select Advance Button
Click on OPEN in the Actions window, Then Edit
On the 2nd line for application used add "%1".
Make sure to put the quotes around %1.
Example ...\Excel.exe" /e "%1"
Write down what you see in the DDE Section.
You will need this information if you want to return to the original settings.
Now DeSelect Use DDE
When you double click on any XLS file a separate instance of excel will run. Another advantage is that you can open more than one XLS file with the same name.

by jjoshya-contact

One thing that I noticed while using multiple instances of Excel is "lack of communication" between the two separate Excel windows. A couple of issues I faced were not being able to reference one another, and when things are copied between them the enclosed formula information is left out.

Any solution to this?

by frankmd

You can have Excel open in 2 different instances, but you loose the copy between worksheet options. The workaround when you know you need to features is to open the first spreadsheet, then use the File, Open to open the 2nd spreadsheet. This puts them both in the same instance and you get the full features of having them in one instance.

by twrodke

I think you should not use multiple Excel windows if you are going to refer to a cell in one in the calculations in another. Only open separate windows if you just need to view or cut and paste from one to the other.

by fischerkris

I am running excel 2002. the method you mention worked great until today when I had an automatic update. now when I reset the "%1" and turned of the dde, I get a error message when double clicking on the excel file actually its about 10 error messages. I now have to open excel and then open the file I want, then open excel again and ope the next file to use them on multiple monitors...thanks for your help with this.

by gregw

Go back into the file association tab, find the .xls extension and click on the advanced tab. There is a button called "Set Default". As I recall, this is what I did after trying all of this stuff that didn't work.

The easiest and most effective to open in multiple windows is to create a shortcut to Excel in the "Send To" folder, which is one of the right-click context menu options. This works for both Office 2003/2007.

The procedure for doing this is in a previous post of mine. Good luck.

by chip

understand what you're looking for, I have the same issue.

When I first dbl-click on an .xls it opens the first instance of Excel. When I dbl-click on another .xls it opens that file in the SAME instance of Excel, although a separate workbook.

I want the 2nd file to always open in a new instance of Excel. That way I can move them around to where I want them at will. They don't need to be in the same Excel instance window.

On a separate topic mentioned above in this thread... I have dual monitors also (very kewl, how did I ever get along w/o them!). Did you know that you can stretch the Excel window across both screens, when it's not maximized?

by susie

I wanted to share this because the previously posted tips did not work for me and it was making me insane. I searched all over the internet for the fix and finally figured it out.

My Computer
Tools
Folder Options
File Types
Choose XLS
Go to Advanced

Uncheck "browse in same window" in advanced window.

Then highlight Open
Edit

Make sure in the Action box it says &Open

Make sure in the application used to perform action it says:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE" "%1"

Check the box next to use DDE

Remove anything that is in DDE Message box and DDE Application Not Running box.

Make sure the application box says: EXCEL

And in the Topic box it says: System

Hope it works for you too!

by chaitu.musical

Hiiii susie,
thank u so much for ur help. Recently I had updated
Office 2003 to 2007 (free update) ...... but due to this
problem (not opening in different windows)... I was
thinking to return to 2003.
But thanks to u the solution u posted, its working
fine for me. I hope this helps for all those suffering form
the same window problem.

- Chaitu

by wb5vrd

One of my users wanted to use excel on multiple monitors. They took matters into their own hands and not can only open excel documents through the File/Open option, not by double clicking on the document. They said whatever they did was within excel itself. Its got me scratching my head. Any suggestions? Thanks

by alvin_huff

Hi this works great for opening an excel file via double clicking file or short cut, but is there a way to get an excel file to open in a new instance when selecting it from the "recent documents" under the office button within Excel. I am working with office 2007. I pin alot of excel files there and would like to be able to open and compare them across the dual screen easily.

by brianlamo

Three years after you posted your fix to view Excel worksheets in different windows and it STILL works. Just used your suggestion and presto: excel worksheets in different windows. THANK YOU.

by twrodke

This solution works good but is fragile. I don't know exactly what is happening but when I do everything you say it works good but then when I either logout out or shut down excel or even just lock my PC (via the Windows Lock function) from unauthorized accss to my work PC account Excel reverts back to opening from the same window. Why?
Is there a problem with the number of Excel/Office licenses available to our work site such that IT is running a macro or some other bot that detects these settings and resets them back to a default state?
Thanks for any information on this.

by ferozekhan267oa

Open up a new blank excel document, go to TOOLS >> OPTIONS
Under the VIEW tab put a check mark against WINDOWS IN TASKBAR >> OK
close Excel and try to open multiple excel sheets. Success is relative and sure. Wish you luck. Take care. Let me know if it works.

by jackofalltech

Open first book, click on the restore button for the sheet, click on the restore button for Excel, drag Excel bottom-right corner to resize to cover both monitor, resize book to cover one screen, open other book, restore/resize to other screen.

Ralph

by sree_cr

Enable checkbox in Tools> Options> View> Under Show/ "Windows in Taskbar" option to have seperate Excel windows in MS office 2000.

by gregw

I have tried all of these suggestions and with the exception of opening two instances of Excel, then opening the files, they just don't do the trick. And everything takes too many clicks to get it to work.

Instead try adding the shortcut to Excel in your "Send To" so that when you right-click an Excel file, Excel is an option. It opened in separate instances of Excel, was (and is) easy to use and worked like a charm for me.

Good Luck!

by chip

Not to appear too Win challenged, but how do you add a shortcut to "Send to"?

by gregw

'Send To' exists as a folder in individual user profiles (speaking of Wn2K and XP here), and is part of the "context menu" that you sometimes hear about. To get there easily, right click on your Start button and select Explore. This will bring up an eplorer window with the Start folder highlighted. The Send To folder is just above that. Create a shortcut in there to Excel. Next time you right click on an excel document and select Sent To --> Excel, it will open in a window of its own.

by jjoshya-contact

Thanks for the suggestion but I was trying to not work with multiple window screens within one instance of Excel running...

by kramsey

Since Windows Explorer using Vista does not have Tools, Options, File Types, how do we change the settings?

Thanks

by jiaailun

It looks like this solution does not work in Windows 7. I'm still learning my way around the new interface, but I don't think you can get to the File Types dialog through Tools / Folder Options (now called Organize / Folder and Search Options). I've tried Control Panel / Programs / Default Programs / Set Associations, but there are no options for adding syntax or changing DDE messages.

I've also tried the solution posted elsewhere of checking the "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" in Excel Office Button / Excel Options / Advanced / General. In this case double clicking a file causes Excel to start a new instance, followed by an error message, and no file is loaded.

For now I'm living with the workaround of starting a new instance manually, and then opening the file manually in that new instance. I'd like to have a simpler way though. What good are multiple monitors when all your files open in one window?!

by klecon

This code change worked as expected - except when trying to edit excel sheets from Sharepoint the excel workbook gets thrown to MS Word!

So, I tried to undo the code change and at the end of the Application used to peform action, I keep getting "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" /e %1

No matter what - it keeps coming back. Now when I try to open Exel sheets, I get a lot of different errors.

Any help?

by kentonj123

I was searching for a similar solution and the fix for prior version of office

did not work for Win7. I made some changes and found a way to make it work.

Please read entire post before attempting.

Works for
Excel 2010 & Win7 (could work for 07 not tested)

Open Registry Editor ver6.1

-Go to Branch:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\Open\command

(Note: it doesn't matter what is listed under default)

-Change the value command and under data remove /dde and add below

/p "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE" /e "%1"

(Note: /p switch will ignore the (default) open settings)

-Go to Branch:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\Open\ddeexec

-Rename ddeexec2

-Closing: Repeat for Excel.Sheet.8 with a similar change and make sure your

file locations are properly linked if installed in a different directory. I

found that windows updates undo this change in prior versions. It may be

necessary to have a registry update to keep the change in place.

Hope you are successful and always backup your registry before changing.
Kentonj123

by dpaq

that works perfectly - thanks. as Kentonj123 take care where the path is to the exe i.e. my path file is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE as i am running win7 32 bit.

by spleek

This is the only solution that works in Windows 7 -thanks! But another way to get to the "Send To" folder is simply to open a window of any folder, and in the address bar, type "shell:sendto" (without quotes) - once there, add a shortcut to Excel.

I couldnt get to the send to folder from your instructions, possibly because I've reverted back to the XP/Classic visual style.

by jammin49

I followed all of the instructions, and the shortcut to excel is in the "sent to" folder. The issue is that it is not showing up as a selectable item when I right click an excel file and go to send to. Any suggestions?

by acetangent

Go to Run, then type C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11

Copy EXCEL.EXE

Go to Run again, then type sendto

at sendto folder, paste the copied EXCEL.EXE

I hope this will do the trick coz i had the same problem as yours just a while back...

by jakitron

I came here earlier to find a solution to this same problem. My job consists of a stupid number of spreadsheets and I have two monitors so I figured I ought to make use of them. I still couldn't find a solution for Windows 7, so I finally gave in and called my institution's HelpDesk.

"Why don't you just open another instant of Excel?"

Oh.. Duh.
Anyway, this solution worked. Just click on the Excel icon again. Open your document from within. Problem solved, bah.

by tom4349

I stumbled onto this about 10 minutes ago while trying to find a solution like everyone else here. No scripts or other tweaking necessary!

As someone else already stated, using separate instances of excel is a bad idea, because you cannot then copy and paste between the documents or refer to the other document in a formula.

There is a solution, however!!
1)Open 2 documents in Excel, let them open in the same instance
2)Un-maximize one of the documents so that it can be moved or resized
3) Right click the title bar of that document
4)select "Arrange..."
5) select "vertical"
6) Un-maximize Excel's window, and drag it across to cover both monitors. The documents will remain side by side!

To return Excel to normal without "losing" a document in the other monitor when you resize Excel's window back to only one monitor:
1) Right click one of the document's title bars
2) Select "Arrange..."
3) Select "cascade"
4) Resize Excel to cover only one monitor
That's it. Now everything is back to normal, and documents will open inside the Excel window without being "lost" on the other monitor.

by dmatlof

I've tried this and I can't get it to work. You also say include the quotes there aren't any shown above? What am I doing wrong?

by juan pacativa

On Windows 7, Open the first worksheet and then go to the 'Start', hold the cursor on Excel to open the sheet list and then move it over and open the second worksheet from there!

Voila!

You have two separate sheets.

Can keep on opening this way.

by cptjacks

Wow.. why has no one before me came with this solution?
It aint that hard.. just:

have your first sheet opened. hold the Shift button on your keyboard and click the excel icon in your taskbar.

another instance will open. you can drag your excel file in there or use ctrl+o to get the excel sheet in there you need.

by cluster84

The main idea is that the Excel Sheet opening policy is controlled under the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ among various other software. Since the format generally stayed the same since Excel 2007, the registry information on the settings remained the same since then too; the key Excel.Sheet.12 controls the opening of .xlsx files and the Excel.Sheet.8 the Excel 97-2003 format (.xls).
As the manual describes for Excel 2007(http://blog.whitesites.com/Force-Windows-7-to-open-excel-documents-in-separate-windows__634014706378053750_blog.htm), it is possible to configure for 2010, as well; see the steps below:

- Under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\Open\command\ modify the value of (Default) from "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE" /dde to "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE" /dde ???%1???.
Do not modify what is already there just add the ???%1??? to the end!
- Rename the key command to command2
- Rename the key ddeexec to ddeexec2
This will cause Excel to open the .xlsx files in a new window every time. Perform the same modification in the Excel.Sheet.8 key (the structure and the procedure is the same) and you???ll have Excel to open .xls files in separate windows as well.

by mondlemm

susie@'s post worked for me. Dcrandell's post suggested the same; however, on Dcrandell's post "?" confused me and susie@'s post cleared that out. Thanks to both of you for the great solution without touching the reg key

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