You’re looking at an Excel spreadsheet workbook which has more than one individual sheet, accessible via clicking on tabs at the bottom of the workbook. This article shows you how to view two different sheets in the same workbook side by side on the page. This article is valid for Excel 2007, Excel 2010 and Excel 2013. It follows on from my article on different ways to view multiple spreadsheets at the same time, and you may wish to refer to that article for further details on the options.
How do I view multiple Excel workbook sheets side by side?
First of all, open up your workbook. You can view different sheets of the workbook by clicking on the tabs at the bottom:
However, when you do this, the new sheet is displayed in the window, and you can’t see Sheet1 any more. To be able to view both (or more) at the same time, you will need to create a new window containing the second sheet, and then display them next to each other.
How do I create a new duplicate window in Excel?
First, create a new window. Go into the View tab then click on the New Window button:
This will generate a new window, on top of the first one and identical to it (you can check that you have two open by clicking on the Excel button at the bottom of the screen:
Now, in the window you have just created, click on the tab for the second sheet that you wish to view (in this case, Sheet2):
This will display Sheet2 in the new window:
If you want to view more than two sheets, follow this process for each additional sheet that you wish to view.
What are my options for viewing multiple sheets of one workbook in Excel?
Once you’ve got two windows, one displaying the first sheet and one displaying the second, you can view them side by side, or in tiles, or however you choose. In the View tab, click on either View Side by Side or Arrange All to select your options (see this previous article for details on all of the options):
Note that if you choose Arrange All, you must make sure that you tick Windows of active workbook:
In this case, I’ve chosen Arrange All – Vertical, and here are my two sheets of my workbook, displayed next to each other:
For details of all of these options and what they do, please see my post on viewing multiple spreadsheets at the same time.
How do I get back to viewing only one sheet at a time?
If you want to return to a full-screen view of a particular spreadsheet, simply double-click on the title bar of your spreadsheet (by its name) and it will expand and be the only one visible:
In this article, we’ve learned how to view two or more sheets belonging to one Excel workbook on the screen at the same time, and how to return to a single sheet view.
If you’ve enjoyed this article and found it useful, please take a moment to share it using the buttons below!
Please note, these hints work with versions of Microsoft Excel currently in use – Excel 2007, Excel 2010 and Excel 2013, all for PC. Mac compatible versions of Excel should have similar options. Always save a copy of your document before manipulating it. I bear no responsibility for any pickles you might get yourself into!
Find all the short cuts here … and view the blog resource guide here.
Other useful posts on this blog:
How do I view two Excel spreadsheets at a time?
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vinod
January 23, 2015 at 2:25 pm
Thank you very much…. It is really helpful… Keep sharing….
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sarmistha nayak
September 2, 2015 at 10:49 am
thank u..:)
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Arfan
February 25, 2015 at 3:34 pm
i cant open two xl file in my pc.
once i try to do so the old file closed.
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Liz Dexter
February 25, 2015 at 3:40 pm
I have an article on how to open two separate spreadsheets here: https://libroediting.com/2014/09/17/how-do-i-view-two-excel-spreadsheets-at-a-time/ hopefully that will help you!
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James Burton
June 15, 2016 at 8:28 pm
Don’t open the same document twice. Just open a new window in the “View” Tab. Follow instructions above 🙂
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Liz Dexter
June 16, 2016 at 9:01 am
Thank you!
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Sami Odeh
June 29, 2017 at 12:07 pm
thank you
but
after i exit from the file it goes back to one sheet view
not both how can i save it in both views.
thank you & best regards
Sami Odeh
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Liz Dexter
June 29, 2017 at 2:43 pm
Thank you for your question – it won’t save this preference, you need to follow the process each time you open the files (sorry!).
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hiral
March 22, 2015 at 6:54 am
thanks, its works.
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Galang Ravenheart
April 15, 2015 at 11:37 pm
Really helpful, thank you!
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Pradeep Kumar
May 13, 2015 at 9:21 am
i have open excel sheet 1 but is not showing Two Other Window in Sheet 1
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Liz Dexter
May 13, 2015 at 9:49 am
Sorry, I’m not sure what you are asking here. Have you followed the steps in the blog post?
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Shahid
June 1, 2015 at 2:37 pm
Still this is not working
Is there something in the settings or options
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Liz Dexter
June 3, 2015 at 7:19 am
Have you followed all the instructions in the article? Are you trying to view two sheets of the same workbook, or do you need to view two different workbooks, as that’s in a different article? What version of Excel are you using, and on Mac or PC?
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Patrick
June 16, 2015 at 8:33 am
Brilliant! I’d been wondering for ages how to do this. I’d also like to compliment you on the clarity of the explanation; I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read instructions for achieving an objective in which the well-intentioned author leaves out vital information, either because they’re poor at communicating or have assumed knowledge on the part of the reader. Well done, and thank you!
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Liz Dexter
June 16, 2015 at 8:42 am
Thank you very much for your kind comment – I work very hard on these articles and it’s so good to have feedback and know that I’m doing it right. Thank you for taking the time to do that.
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CELIA SANTHOSH
July 23, 2015 at 9:37 am
it was self explanatory and i could do it. thank you.
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jhawkes2013
August 3, 2015 at 2:20 am
Fantastic website!!! Easy to follow and great layout 😀
I was able to google the specific term to work it out on my mac version
You make learning FUN
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Mickey Thurman
August 24, 2015 at 10:58 pm
thanks for the great super-easy instructions! Saved me time today.
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Nancy Fairchild
August 25, 2015 at 6:46 pm
Thanks, this was very helpful. Now I just installed Windows 10 on my Surface Pro, and when I hover over the Excel icon in the tray below, it no longer shows the multiple worksheets I have open, only the one I’m on. Any idea how to make it show all the spreadsheets that are open so I can switch between them?
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Liz Dexter
August 26, 2015 at 7:18 am
Thanks for your comment, Nancy – as to my question, I’m afraid I don’t have Windows 10 yet and have no experience with a Surface Pro, so I can’t help you on that one without Googling what you can Google yourself without having to wait for me to get round to doing it. Maybe you can pop the solution down here when you find it, in case that helps anyone else in future? Good luck!
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sam
September 14, 2015 at 12:35 am
Excellent it works for me !
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Wagner02
November 5, 2015 at 6:34 am
thanks it’s helpfull.
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Anilkumar
December 23, 2015 at 10:05 am
Thank you So much for posting this.. this helps a lot for me.
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Erin
January 5, 2016 at 7:52 pm
Hi – when I follow these instructions, each time I open up this file it now opens in 2 windows … how can I stop this from happening? I have double clicked the title as your article says, but still each time I open the file it opens twice …
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Liz Dexter
January 10, 2016 at 5:47 pm
You should then be able to put the windows side by side, does that not work?
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David Mohr
January 22, 2016 at 9:54 pm
Hello Erin. I had this same problem today. What I did was Arrange All Horizontally, then double-click on the title (which maximized one) then I pressed the little x (top right corner of window) which caused that window to close. I then double-clicked on the title bar again on the remaining window, clicked the x to close, SAVED the sheet and the extra hidden sheet no longer opened with the file. I hope this works for you as well.
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Colin Williams
January 16, 2016 at 8:42 am
Is there a wy to view multiple worksheets in Excel for Macs 2016?? This is such a useful feature on 2008 (my last vs) it is hard to understand why it has not been maintained as it was in later versions.
Hope someone can assist with this – very frustrating and disappointing having gone to the expense and trouble of downloading 2016 (Office Home and Student).
Colin
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Liz Dexter
January 16, 2016 at 11:31 am
I’m afraid I don’t deal with Excel for Mac here, but I’ll leave your question up in case anyone comes by and can answer it.
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John PIckering
January 28, 2016 at 4:20 pm
After displaying multiple worksheets in a single view, I left Excel for another application. When I come back to Excel, the sheets are no longer displayed in a single view. This did not happen in older versions of Excel. Is there any way to keep my multiple worksheets displayed a a single window in Excel 2013 and 2016?
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Colin Williams
January 30, 2016 at 2:14 pm
Deathly silence follows all my efforts to find a solution for Mac vs of Excel 2016. This includes from MS. Earlier versions were easily understood, so why the apparent road block with 2016??
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Liz Dexter
January 30, 2016 at 2:19 pm
I’m sorry – as I said in my original reply, I don’t work with Macs myself so can’t give you an answer. I left the question published in case anyone stopped by and had an answer, but I can’t force anyone to do this. I am an individual blogger, so I’m limited by my own resources to a large extent, I’m afraid.
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Colin Williams
January 31, 2016 at 12:10 am
Sorry Liz. I did read your response and appreciate your involvement in maintaining the exposure in this venue. I have tried other avenues, including MS help but no acknowledgements. It’s as if people do not want to know, which is a little puzzling in this new world of IT!
Thanks for your interest.
Regards
Colin
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JUNNU
March 8, 2016 at 6:32 am
thanq for use full information
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Amy
March 9, 2016 at 7:54 pm
Thank you! Instructions are so clear!
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Tony Degnen
March 15, 2016 at 9:19 am
Excellent. I’ve been wondering how I can do this. Very clearly explained – worked first time (in Windows 10). Thank you.
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ramez
June 27, 2016 at 7:50 am
thanks a lot, very helpful
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Thangamani
July 24, 2016 at 11:57 am
Dear all,
could you please assist for me, i am using for two different name excel files, now i will do enter the data to 1st file means parallel automatically upload 2st file. (expected some columns data only). How if can any possible.
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Liz Dexter
July 25, 2016 at 8:44 am
Thank you for your question. I’m not sure what you mean. Do you mean that every column on your 2nd spreadsheet is automatically filling with data from your first one? If so, I would clear the 2nd spreadsheet and start again, putting =[cell in spreadsheet 1] into just the cells in Spreadsheet 2 that you want to automatically fill.
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Scott Brennan
March 8, 2017 at 3:51 pm
I have been doing this for years, all of a sudden, the new excel window opens as blank, no matter what I do. This was working fine until yesterday, now it won’t. What is wierder is that I found a few files that this will work with, but most it won’t…
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Liz Dexter
March 8, 2017 at 4:32 pm
Hm, not sure what the reason would be for that. Do you have a subscription version or need to run an update?
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Carl
April 5, 2017 at 1:51 pm
Scott, This just started happening to me on a spreadsheet that I have used for years and viewed side by side. Now when I View, New Window, i get a blank page – sort of, header is there, grid is not there. When I close it, the original sheet closes, so they are connected,
Have you figured it out yet? thanks,
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Sahun
April 12, 2017 at 2:33 pm
I have Excel 2016. It doesnt work on 2016 version. If it does, please show me how it works for Excel 2016.
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Dee
July 7, 2017 at 7:50 pm
Thanks!! Found this SUPER helpful!! Been suffering at work clicking between sheets just to see and compare numbers. But God bless you. That is so OVER!!!!!!!! Thanks a mighty million!!!!!!!!
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Liz Dexter
July 10, 2017 at 6:54 am
You’re welcome, and thank you for your enthusiasm!
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Pauline
September 17, 2017 at 11:38 pm
Hello Liz I have recently discovered how to open 2 tabs (sheets) simultaneously which is great but the next time I open the workbook it assumes I want to view the 2 sheets simultaneously again and automatically opens both. Is there any way to stop this from happening? Thanks for your help.
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Liz Dexter
September 19, 2017 at 7:18 am
Unfortunately, you have to do the procedure all over again each time you open them, because it thinks it knows what you want and is being helpful!
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