Microsoft Excel is Office Suite’s database management tool wherein you can record data in its rows and columns and perform a myriad of analysis on it. If you’re someone who relies very heavily on Excel, for either your personal or professional use, you may feel the need to be able to access two Excel spreadsheets at the same time. While there is a way for you to open two Excel workbooks at the same time, you can also open separate files in separate windows. In this article, we will be discussing 4 ways in which you can do so.
How to open two Excel files in separate windows?
Each of the four ways is really simple once you find out about them, but they may not be apparent at a first glance.
- Open Excel files in separate windows using the Shift key and the Taskbar
- Open Excel files in separate windows with the Start menu
- Open Excel files in separate windows by creating a shortcut
- Open Excel files in separate windows with the Office Tab
1] Open Excel files in separate windows using the Shift key and the Taskbar
- Have your first Excel workbook already open on your computer
- Now, press the Shift key and click on the Excel file icon from the taskbar
- This will open a new, blank Excel workbook. You can use this blank workbook as a prompt to open any other workbook you’ve previously worked on and want to access simultaneously with the file opened initially
- Click on File > select the workbook of your choice
As you can see, we now have two Excel files running simultaneously in two separate windows
2] Open Excel files in separate windows with the Start menu
This method is just as easy as the first one. Do as follows:
- Search for Excel from the search option of your Taskbar and open Microsoft Excel
- Click on File and open the workbook you want to work on
- If you want to open another file in a separate window, simply repeat the first two steps
This way, you can open as many files in separate windows as you want.
3] Open Excel files in separate windows by creating a shortcut
Thirdly, you can take the help of a manually created shortcut. You can make one by following the steps below:
- Open File Explorer and visit the Office folder by visiting the following location. You can straight away copy and paste the address below, based on your Office version
- Once you’re there, locate the Excel application, right-click on it and select ‘Create a shortcut’
- Confirm this action and you’ll find an Excel shortcut on your desktop. Every time you click on it, a new Excel window opens
4] Open Excel files in separate windows with the Office Tab
The fourth method requires you to install an application/add-in called the Office Tab. This utility presents you with an option called ‘Open in a new window,’ making it the easiest and quickest way to do so. If you’re someone who finds himself working on multiple spreadsheets regularly, this tool can come in very handy for you.
- Once you’ve installed Office Tab, open the workbooks you want to use in separate windows
- These workbooks will, by default, all be opened in one window and tabbed at the top
- Right-click on the workbook you want to take to a separate tab and click on ‘Open In New Window’
- This will do the job. Your workbooks will now appear in separate tabs.
Why can I not open multiple Excel files?
You can open multiple Excel files by making some changes in the way you start Excel. Don’t double-click on the workbook to open it, instead right-click on one of the files you want to open. Similarly, you can open multiple excel files while keeping the selection set intact.
Can I open multiple Excel files at once?
Yes, you can. Instead of double-clicking to open a file, you can create a “selection set.” To open multiple files, click on the first file, hold the Shift key and click on the last file in the sequence.
