How-to-Open-Multiple-Excel-Files-at-Once

How to Open Multiple Excel Files at Once?

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Excel users all over the world work with data frequently. They have to make graphs and charts and analyze different data sets in excel.

Sometimes they also might need to work with multiple excel files to compare between data sets or create two different workbooks for project-specific purposes.

So, today let’s see how to open multiple excel files at once.

How to Open a New Workbook or Excel File?

If you have already opened an excel file, you don’t need to minimize it and search on your desktop or any other destination folder to open a new or another excel file or workbook.

If you want to open a new blank workbook, just press CTRL+N to open a new workbook.

If you want to open a specific workbook, go to the File ribbon.

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From here, you can also open a new blank workbook by selecting Blank Workbook.

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Note: You can also find some preset templates and tutorials.

You can search for a specific workbook or excel you want to open in the search bar and open it.

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You can also go to the Open menu and search for destination folders on your desktop or laptop to open a specific workbook.

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How to Open Multiple Excel Files at Once?

Now, suppose you have 2 or more files that you want to open, work, and look at at the same time.

To do that from any one of the files, go to the View ribbon, and from the Window tools select Arrange All.

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You will get a pop-up box that has 4 options- Tiled, Vertical, Horizontal, and Cascade. You can choose any one of them, there is no hard and fast rule of which to choose.

Let me show you which option gives you what type of view to work with.

Tiled–

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This is the Tiled view with three different Excel files.

Horizontal–

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This is the Horizontal view with four different Excel files.

Vertical–

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This is the Vertical view with four different Excel files.

Cascade–

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This is the Cascade view with two different Excel files. This option is not frequently used as you can see you can’t work with multiple files here.

There is also a New Workbook option in the View ribbon. It will open a new workbook, but it will be linked with the current workbook you have opened.

That means it will copy all the contents from the current workbook. And if you edit in one of the workbooks, the other will also be edited simultaneously without you having to do anything.

This can be useful in situations when you need to build two variants of a file. Perhaps, you have the primary data and want to do two different analyses, you can use this New Window feature in excel.

Note: You have to keep the Excel files open and not minimized, otherwise the Arrange All feature won’t work. There is no hard and fast rule of arranging. Usually, I use the Tile and Vertical method the most. If there are more than 4 files opened at once, it can get difficult to keep track and arrange them in an order so that you can work comfortably.

Conclusion

Opening multiple excel files at once and working on them is a regular task for many. That’s why the Arrange All function is a great tool to have.

So, there you go, as now you know how to open multiple excel files at once you can work on them comfortably.

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