In this article, I will discuss how you can open two Excel files separately in different windows. People using updated versions of Excel won’t face difficulties opening Excel files in separate windows. However, earlier versions of Excel (e.g., Excel 2010/Excel 2007) use a Multiple Document Interface where all different workbook windows are opened under a master window. Thus, all the opened windows share a common ribbon, which seems inconvenient sometimes. So, if you want to open workbooks in separate windows, let’s review the article.
Open Two Excel Files Separately: 5 Methods
1. Use Shift Key and Taskbar to Open Two Files Separately in Excel
You can open two different Excel files separately from the taskbar using the Shift key. Suppose we have two Excel files named Data-1 and Data-2. Follow the steps below to open these two files in different windows.
Steps:
- Initially, you have to open the first file. Say, I have opened the file Data-1.
- Next, press the Shift key from the keyboard and click the Excel icon from the taskbar.
- As a result, you will see that a new workbook (Book1) is opened in a new window.
- Now, we will open another excel file (Data-1) from the newly opened workbook. To do that, from the Excel Ribbon, go to the File tab from Book 1.
- Then, go to Open > Browse to choose the second file.
- Upon clicking on the Browse option, the Open window will appear. Go to the file location select the second file (here Data-2), and press Open.
- Finally, we can see both Excel files (Data-1 and Data-2) are now open in separate windows.
Read More: How to Open Excel Files in Separate Windows by Default
2. Get Two Excel Files One by One by Using Right-Click
In this method, I will open two different files by simply right-clicking on the Excel icon from the taskbar.
Steps:
- Similar to the previous method, open an Excel file in advance (say Data-1).
- Then, right-click on the Excel icon located in the taskbar and press Excel.
- Consequently, a new Excel workbook will be created. Now, from the new workbook, go to File > Open > Browse to open the second Excel file.
- Finally, in Method 1, we can see two Excel files have been opened separately.
3. Open Two Separate Excel Files with the Help of Start Menu
Now, I will show how we can open two Excel files in separate windows using the Start menu from your PC. Follow the steps below to do the task.
Steps:
- Like previous methods, open an Excel file in advance.
- Then click on the Start menu and type ‘excel’ in the search box. When the Excel app appears upon search, click on it.
- As a consequence, a new Excel workbook will be created in a separate window.
- Finally, from the newly opened workbook window, go to File > Open > Browse to open another file separately.
4. Create Shortcut for Displaying Two Excel Files Separately
In this method, I will open two Excel files separately by creating an Excel shortcut icon. You can open two Excel files in separate windows by clicking on the Excel shortcut icon. Let’s follow the steps below to get the desired output.
Steps:
- To get the Excel shortcut, first, you have to locate the EXCEL.EXE file. You have to follow different paths for different versions of Excel to get the above-mentioned file. Such as:
For Excel 2010: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office 14
For Excel 2007: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
If you are using Windows 10, follow the path below to get the EXCEL.EXE file.
For Windows 10: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office12/14
- Next, when you locate the EXCEL.EXE file, right-click on it and select Create Shortcut.
- Then, the Shortcut window will appear. Press Yes.
- As a result, the below shortcut will be created on the desktop.
- Once the Excel shortcut is created, double-click on it to get workbooks in different windows and thus open two files separately.
5. Open Two Separate Excel Files Using ‘Send to’ Menu
You can open two files in Excel by right-clicking and selecting Send to menu. If you have to open new Excel files often, then you can use this technique.
Steps:
- First, create the Excel shortcut using Method 4 and copy it.
- Next, go to the below path:
C:/Users/UserName/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/SendTo
- Then, paste the shortcut icon in the SendTo folder.
- Now, right-click on any Excel file (here, Data-) that you want to open in a different window and go to Send to > EXCEL – Shortcut.
- As a consequence, the Excel file will open in a separate window. Now you can open another Excel file (say Data-2) by repeating the process.
Read More: How to Open Multiple Excel Files in One Workbook
Things to Remember
- You can view two Excel files side by side in separate windows by using the View tab in Microsoft Excel.
- The good news is, from Excel 2013, we can open Excel files separately in different windows by default.
Download Practice Workbook
You can download the practice workbook that we have used to prepare this article.
Conclusion
In the above article, I have tried to discuss several methods to open two Excel files separately elaborately. Hopefully, these methods and explanations will be enough to solve your problems. Please let me know if you have any queries.
