Forum Discussion
How do I have Excel treat each file separately - for search, undo, etc.
I thought I had wrapped this up by saying that the option to start independent instances of Excel by using the /X startup option is my solution. This makes each file independent with separate undo and find/replace boxes. But, I did not see that this morning when MS asked me to indicate the best solution. mathetes
Let me clarify. I have (for simplicity) opened two files. I perform a search in the first file. I then click on the
other file and the same search box (and search term) appears. It fact, when I flip from one file to the other, the search box stays in focus and is on top of the file I select. But, the files (and tabs within each file) are unrelated so the search box should be unique for each file not shared between them (and all other files). When I use Word, the search window is unique for each file, but not in Excel. How do I make it unique for each file?
OK, I think I see what you're referring to. It's NOT the little magnifying glass "search" tool. What you're referring to is the Edit....Find.... tool. And, yes, it does come up with the same term if I open it first in one spreadsheet and then another. My guess as to the "Why" is that this is a capability that operates at the more abstract "Excel as a whole" level; it's NOT spreadsheet specific, whereas the search window is.
(In fact, I can see why some users might find it convenient---since Find & Replace also operates the same way, if the occasion were to arise where every occasion of Mary had to be changed to Merry, it would be useful not to be required to enter those instructions repeatedly.)
If it doesn't work that way in Word, I can see why the inconsistency would raise the question in your mind. But I certainly hope it's not something that is keeping you awake at night. If it is, look around for the following connection and submit a suggestion.
Thanks, I will make a suggestion but it is very annoying and I wonder why no one else has complained. While it might make some sense to replace all across files, although I have never tried it. Even worse is when you undo and it does it across files. That is very bad.
djc2002us Oh it gets better!!! Here is a bug I reported a while ago and still exists.
Open 2 workbooks
in workbook 1 do a search for something in it (anything that exists or type something and then use ctrl-f to find it)
then click directly into the formula bar of workbook 2
type something in and press enter
and watch it go into workbook 1
It is a little confusing to follow but do the above steps exactly and you will see how bizarre it is.
Basically I was working in a workbook needing to make updates from another workbook. I would search and find the cell/information I needed and when I would go to type the new info into the new workbook it was going into the wrong workbook. This seems like a pretty normal thing I can't believe more people haven't had this issue. In any case, discovered and reported this bug years ago and still hasn't been fixed.
You wrote: Thanks, I will make a suggestion but it is very annoying and I wonder why no one else has complained.
From the way you have described your situation, it very much sounds as if you may be doing something that is in itself quite unusual. I am a relatively heavy user of Excel, and I do use Find on occasion, Find and Replace more frequently but still only occasionally. I use Undo on occasion as well, but only to undo one or two operations.
Illustrating the fact that there are often multiple ways within Excel to accomplish any given task, NikolinoDE has supplied you with a possible VBA solution for the Find/Search activity. He himself acknowledges, in an understated kind of way, that it might be "a bit more cumbersome."
I've already pointed you to the actual Search function, accessed via the magnifying glass icon in the upper right hand corner of your Excel window.
But would you be willing to describe what it is you're searching for when you do these searches. I ask because I wonder if there might be yet another way to accomplish the task. I wonder, for example, if you're generally searching for text or formulas or functions, or numbers? Are you working in Excel files that consist of lots of numerical data, is it predominately text, an even mix? Etc.
No obligation on your part to divulge anything, but seriously, thin about the possibility that you are doing somethings that most users of Excel don't do; that could be why others haven't complained about it. And also, there may be other ways to accomplish your objectives....
I am not sure the VBA helps in this situation. I basically have two totally different files made up of a mix of text and numbers (almost no formulas as they are really just relational databases in spreadsheet form). But, I need to find text and numbers in each but even though they are separate files, Microsoft Excel in its infinite wisdom says that if you click on Find and Replace in either spreadsheet, you are doing it for every spreadsheet you have open (ditto for undo). So, every time I move between spreadsheets the last thing I searched for is what I searched in the other spreadsheet. And, when I want to undo it does it across spreadsheets as though they were one even though they are separate files! I guess I could try to put these into an Access database but I am less familiar with that than Excel and it seems like overkill for my applications.
