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
djc2002us I'm sorry but I'm going to repeat what mathetes said in a different way, what are you trying to do? I understand your frustration with the shared Find and shared Undo but not sure how exactly that is causing problems with your workflow/how you are using Excel. My only guess is that you are searching for all cases of term A in workbook A and term B in workbook B and each time you find an A you need to find the next/corresponding B. My point is if you give us those details we might be able to actually help you. There are pivot tables and power queries that might help (you mentioned you are using it like a database), or VBA.
Well, as I have said, the files are totally independent. Sometimes I search in one file and sometimes in the other but for totally different things. In one I search for a name and the next a number.
1. Search for Maria in file 1.
2. Search for 1900 in file 2.
3. Search for the next Maria in file 1. Oh, but I can't as the search field is now 1900 so I have to retype in Maria.
Clearer? Why is the search across files and not file by file, at least as an option? Excel seems to assume the files must be related to one another but they don't need to be. Sometimes people multi-task, hard to believe.
djc2002us That might be because they either don't allow or discourage marking your own response to a thread you started as the best solution. That said your point about using the /X option is a good one. Here is a "step more". Either create a new shortcut or modify the shortcut you already use to launch Excel (for example the short cut used by the start menu) to include that "/X" option. (Note you may need administrator permission). To create a new shortcut either copy and existing shortcut or right click and drag the application icon to the location you want it and select 'Create shortcut'. I then recommend you give it a new name like "Excel - New Window" to distinguish it from the original shortcut.
Then to modify the shortcut:
Right click the shortcut and click 'Properties'.
Then in the field that says "Target" add the /X after the end of the existing ""
It should look something like this but your path might be different: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE" /X
Finally move, add or copy that shortcut to where ever you want to easily open Excel in a new window.
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
And both @mtarler and I are trying to get underneath (or behind) the specific steps you're doing here--we get those--to what is the larger context. You've described that these are separate spreadsheets, but you've mentioned an intriguing fact-- 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) -- which is intriguing on a number of bases. To have created a relational database, in and of itself, reveals you as definitely not a neophyte.
It also would sound as if (given the reference to 1900 as a number you might search for) that you might be involved in some form of research in historical data. That's purely speculative on my part. My main point is that it really does sound as if you are using Excel in ways that are not typical. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that; it is capable of handling this kind of thing. But it does seem to be the case that you are doing far more searching than most users of Excel engage in.
So multi-tasking isn't the issue. It's the nature of the tasks themselves that seems to lead to your frustration.
Now, if it's really a relational database in spreadsheet form, and if it's the two files that together constitute that relational database, then it leads me to wonder--still not knowing the full nature of the task (i.e., the larger context, the content or nature of the data)--whether Access mightn't be a better solution.
Or Evernote
But anyway, all that we're suggesting is that your task itself is the thing (or appears to be, to be more tentative here) that's creating what is for you a fairly unusual--dare I say "unique"--frustration. And if you would be willing to describe that bigger context, it's possible we could either suggest ways that Excel could accommodate it as is, or suggest alternative software solutions.
