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I have to do work between two spreadsheets and I need to view them side by side. I can't just open the workbooks in separate instances because I need to make use of features like paste formatting, and all of that goes away when the workbooks aren't in the same instance.

Is there anything I can do to get two windows open, each with a separate workbook, each maximized on a different monitor, and still have access to the advanced cut/paste features?

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What, you don't like the single-multi-document-interface? Or is it the multi-single-document-interface? I can never remember. – Luke Apr 21 '11 at 15:56
I found this (open excel files as new window) as a duplicate, but I tried the accepted answer from that problem and it didn't work for me, so I'm going to leave this open for the time being. – nhinkle♦ Apr 22 '11 at 3:21
It's a different question, he doesn't want them to be in the same instance, I do. Big difference. I'm surprised that question doesn't have a solution like this: experts-exchange.com/Software/Office_Productivity/Office_Suites/… – Alain Apr 22 '11 at 3:47
Copy/cut/paste works across instances in Excel 2007; and then you can cut -> paste special in the second instance to get all of the subset/transpose/etc. features. I do that all the time. What specifically doesn't work for you? – Ken Paul Apr 26 '11 at 22:44
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When you copy across instances, you lose the formulae. – Alain Apr 26 '11 at 22:58
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5 Answers

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I'm assuming you're extending your desktop onto both monitors?

Once you've done that, make sure Excel is NOT maximized and manually resize the Excel program window using the corner resizing anchors to cover both screens.

Then you can open both spreadsheets and go to View>>View Side by Side.

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I was really hoping this wouldn't be the only suggestion. This one is painfully annoying because of the different monitor sizes, and the taskbar taking up real-estate on one monitor but not the other. It means I have to make the overall size shorter on both sides, and then I have to manually size each window within excel to try and take up as much room as is left. Is there really no way to get two separate windows launched? – Alain Apr 21 '11 at 14:30
To address your taskbar issue, you could auto-hide the taskbar or perhaps locate it on the side of your monitor to prevent any vertical differences it would otherwise cause. Right-click on the start menu and go to Properties to change these settings. – J Rose Apr 21 '11 at 14:41
I'm only willing to go to so much trouble ;) – Alain Apr 21 '11 at 17:45
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up vote 1 down vote

Are you running Windows 7? If you open your first Excel file, then go to Start (Windows Orb)->All Programs->Microsoft Office->Microsoft Excel, a separate window will open. Weird that it works that way, but...

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This works on all operating systems, but it's opening a separate instance, which means normal cut/paste commands and similar features no longer work between workbooks. – Alain Apr 21 '11 at 17:44
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up vote 1 down vote

A coworker of mine accomplished this by using a piece of software called UltraMon ( http://www.realtimesoft.com/ultramon/ ). Instead of dragging the Excel application window across both desktops (which I agree, is annoying), you can right click the application in your taskbar and click "Maximize to Desktop."

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To open 2 blank Excel windows side-by-side is easy. You just go to Start / All Programs / Excel two different times and you will have 2 seperate empty/blank Excel spreadsheet windows.

This fix, however, is to open 2 or more Excel Spreadsheets that you already have data in, in completely separate windows so you can move them around independently (NOT in the same instance):

  1. First you have to open the 2 or 3 sheets you want to be in separate windows like you normally would. (if the sheets have been open recently, skip step 1 and 2)
  2. Close those same windows.
  3. Open a new/blank Excel window with Start / All Programs / Excel
  4. Click on the "Office Button" (the circle in the very top left corner of the Excel spreadsheet window). A little window opens.
  5. On the right side of that little window you should see "Recent Documents" and below that you should see the names of the 2 or 3 spreadsheets you just got thru opening and closing. click on one. (1 down and 1 (or however many more) to go)
  6. (Rinse and Repeat) open another new/blank Excel spreadsheet, click Office Button, click the next spreadsheet you want open
  7. You now have 2 spreadsheets in 2 completely separate windows that you can shuffle around until your heart is content.
  8. Repeat again for the remaining sheets you want open... but I think you already figured that out. ;-)
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Maybe I'm misunderstanding your instructions but this doesn't seem to be working for me. The separate windows open, but you can't copy things or interact between them, which is the whole problem here. – nhinkle♦ Aug 11 '11 at 23:05
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up vote -1 down vote

If you want to put the same Excel file on two separate PCs' monitors, you can accomplish that by first sharing the workbook and opening it on the first PC, then open it again on the second PC (shared).

The advantage of this method is that you don't need to have two monitors hooked up to the same machine.

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The OP wants to run the two Excel windows inside the same instance so this won't work. – Gareth Apr 24 '11 at 16:53
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