opening multiple windows at once?

Sorry -- I'm a happy Excel user on a Mac who's temporarily using a PC and
obviously not fit for prime time. I cannot for the life of me get Excel to
let me open two windows at the same time with two different spreadsheets, so
that I can see them both and copy freely from one to the other. When
clicking on a new file on the desktop, Excel replaces my presently open
window with the window to the new file, thereby denying me the opportunity to
see the old one. When clicking on the old one in the task bar, you guessed
it -- the new one now disappears and the old one returns. Yes, I checked
Help, which told me to add a new window under the Window menu and then, when
it's live, click on the file I want to open. Only one problem: when I add a
new window, again, the old one disappears. Maybe there's a setting in the
Windows XP operating system causing this weird behavior and it's not Excel at
all? Helpl -- it would be nice to start being productive in the PC
environment and stop missing the familiar Mac quite so much...

Check your options under Window > Arrange. (It may be important to open one
file then use File > Open to open the second in order to have both files open
with a single instance of the application).

"Chris" wrote:

> Sorry -- I'm a happy Excel user on a Mac who's temporarily using a PC and
> obviously not fit for prime time. I cannot for the life of me get Excel to
> let me open two windows at the same time with two different spreadsheets, so
> that I can see them both and copy freely from one to the other. When
> clicking on a new file on the desktop, Excel replaces my presently open
> window with the window to the new file, thereby denying me the opportunity to
> see the old one. When clicking on the old one in the task bar, you guessed
> it -- the new one now disappears and the old one returns. Yes, I checked
> Help, which told me to add a new window under the Window menu and then, when
> it's live, click on the file I want to open. Only one problem: when I add a
> new window, again, the old one disappears. Maybe there's a setting in the
> Windows XP operating system causing this weird behavior and it's not Excel at
> all? Helpl -- it would be nice to start being productive in the PC
> environment and stop missing the familiar Mac quite so much...

Ahh! arrange didn't even show under windows, but using the arrow to bring up
other options below the present list uncovered it. Now either tiled or
cascaded helps at least give a prism into multiple sheets at a time.
thanks...

BUT...

the multiple windows are now still imprisoned in a sort of mini-desktop that
Excel constrains them inside...

I want to be able to have one Excel window next to one Word document and
another Excel window next to the window for my email account, all four being
equal windows that I can move anywhere on my desktop...

Any way to get individual spreadsheet windows outside the Excel mini-desktop
prison??

"bpeltzer" wrote:

> Check your options under Window > Arrange. (It may be important to open one
> file then use File > Open to open the second in order to have both files open
> with a single instance of the application).
>
> "Chris" wrote:
>
> > Sorry -- I'm a happy Excel user on a Mac who's temporarily using a PC and
> > obviously not fit for prime time. I cannot for the life of me get Excel to
> > let me open two windows at the same time with two different spreadsheets, so
> > that I can see them both and copy freely from one to the other. When
> > clicking on a new file on the desktop, Excel replaces my presently open
> > window with the window to the new file, thereby denying me the opportunity to
> > see the old one. When clicking on the old one in the task bar, you guessed
> > it -- the new one now disappears and the old one returns. Yes, I checked
> > Help, which told me to add a new window under the Window menu and then, when
> > it's live, click on the file I want to open. Only one problem: when I add a
> > new window, again, the old one disappears. Maybe there's a setting in the
> > Windows XP operating system causing this weird behavior and it's not Excel at
> > all? Helpl -- it would be nice to start being productive in the PC
> > environment and stop missing the familiar Mac quite so much...