How to Open Multiple Excel Files at Once in Windows 10 & 11

Microsoft Excel is undoubtedly one of the best spreadsheet applications for Windows. However, in earlier versions of Excel up to 2010 you can’t automatically open multiple Excel windows.

When you select File > New > Blank workbook in Excel 2010, worksheets open in the same window.

In addition, saved spreadsheets also open in the same window. This is not ideal as you can’t compare spreadsheets in two or more windows.

How to open multiple Excel windows at the same time?

There are a few workarounds that enable you to open multiple Excel windows at the same time and we will present all of them to you, in order.

1. Use Excel’s Jump List

1. First, you can open multiple windows from the software’s Jump List in Windows 10. To do so, open Excel and right-click its taskbar icon as below.
2. The Jump List includes a Microsoft Excel option on it. In the example above, it’s Microsoft Excel 2010 Starter.
3. Click Microsoft Excel to open a new, separate Excel spreadsheet window.
4. Now you have opened a second window, click File > Open to open a worksheet in it as shown below.
5. Alternatively, you can also hold the Shift key and left-click the taskbar icon to open multiple spreadsheet windows.

2. With the Middle Mouse Button

If you have a mouse with a middle button or scroll wheel, you can open multiple windows with that. Open Excel and then select its taskbar icon with the middle mouse button.

That will open a new window for you to open a spreadsheet.

3. With Snap Assist

Now you can open Excel spreadsheets in multiple windows at the same time, you can make the most of Windows 10 Snap Assist.

Snap Assist enables you to open two or more windows neatly on the left and right of the desktop.

1. Select one spreadsheet window and click its Restore Down button.
2. Then move it to the far right or left side of desktop. That snaps the window to one-half of the desktop as shown below.
3. Next, select one of the spreadsheet thumbnails to open another window on the other side of the desktop as in the snapshot below.
4. Or you could drag a spreadsheet window to the top left, right or bottom corners of the desktop to arrange up to four spreadsheets as below.

4. Through the Start menu

If you are using an older version of Excel and are looking for a way to open multiple files at the same time in different windows, you can do this through the Start menu.

Each time you open the Excel app from the Start menu, a separate application opens.

1. 1. Click on the Start button on your taskbar or press the Windows key. This will open the Start Menu.

2. 2. Type Excel in the search bar or scroll to the folder that includes Excel on your Start menu.

   

3. 3. Click on the app to open Excel from there.

4. 4. Repeat step 2 to open another Excel window.

5. 5. Create as many windows as you want. Every time you start Excel from the Start menu, a new window will be created. As such, you can now open multiple spreadsheets in separate windows.

So you can still open spreadsheets in two or more windows with earlier versions of Excel.

The separate windows are better for comparing and analyzing alternative spreadsheets and copying numerical values from one sheet to another.

We hope that you managed to open multiple files at once in Excel using our guide. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.