Weekly Computer Tip # 110
30 April 2005

View multiple worksheets at the same time (Microsoft Excel)

First of all, Happy Birthday to Queen Beatrix. (It isn't really her birthday, but she celebrates it on 30 April.) Big deal? Yes, it is for the Dutch where this day - known as "Koninginnedag" - is a national holiday (and "normally" a day off). I can assure you that, for anyone who grew up in Holland, 30 April will be stuck in their brain for as long as they live! Anyway, on with this week's tip ...

If you have several workbooks open, some of them may almost certainly be hidden from view and can be displayed side-by-side by using the Window, Arrange command. This is particularly useful when you do calculations between those workbooks or when you want to use the drag and drop technique to move or copy, say, a worksheet to a different workbook. During my training sessions this often seems to be a familiar feature, but most people are pleasantly surprised to hear you can also display the contents of multiple worksheets, making it easier to do calculations between those worksheets. Or just making it easier to view your data!

Here's how:

1. Open the workbook you want to view multiple sheets of.
2. Select the Window, New Window command.
3. Switch to the new window, and then click the sheet you want to view.
4. Repeat step 2 and 3 for each sheet you want to view.
5. Select the Window, Arrange command and click the option you want. (I prefer "tiled".)
6. To view sheets of the active workbook only, select the Windows of active workbook check box. (Otherwise you'll display all open files on the screen and I doubt that's what you want.)

To restore a workbook window to full size, simply click the Maximize (the middle) button in the upper right corner of the workbook window.

Finally, in case you're reading this email over the weekend ... Enjoy the Bank Holiday! I'm off to Harwich to pick up my brother and his son, both escaping the celebrations in Holland. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it?

Until next week.

PS I’m committed to sharing the best of what I know with others so please don’t keep me a secret. If you enjoyed today’s tip, please forward it to anyone you feel may benefit. Alternatively, feel free to reprint it (with full copyright and subscription information) in your newsletters and message boards.

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