In my previous post I mentioned that there was a way to create a bat file to force Excel to open each file in a new window. Opening Excel in multiple windows makes it easier to use Excel across multiple monitors and gives back the standard alt+tab to flip between Excel Spreadsheets. The problem with my previous solution was that the Excel files loose their icons. Unfortunately because the solution uses a bat file the icon cannot be changed. So I took the previous solution and enhanced it a little bit.

OpenOffice Icon

This solution uses the same principle but installs a program instead of using a bat file. This program has an icon so all the associated Excel files will also use that icon. I was originally hoping to use the Microsoft Icon for this program but after looking at their Terms of Use a decided to use the Open Office Icon.

Without further ado the directions to get Excel running on multiple monitors is below:

1. Download the following file and run the installer.

DOWNLOAD: Open Excel in Multiple Windows

If you cannot install this application because you need admin privileges you can download the following file. Then follow the directions below and make sure you browse to the location of where you stored this download (in the 2nd step).
DOWNLOAD: Standalone - Open Excel in Multiple Windows

2. Update the file association for each Excel File.

Right click the excel file and select “Open With…” and then in the window that opens click “Browse…”

Then select the program that you just installed. By default it will be installed at C:Program FilesBrett BatieExcel on Multiple MonitorsrunExcel.exe. Make sure that “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” is checked in the “Open With” dialog.

Now anytime you open an Excel file it will open a new copy of Excel.

changelog:

1.1 - Fixed a problem where filenames with spaces would not open.


When you open an Excel file in Windows Vista, it will only open 1 instance of Excel and force you to tile the windows in order to see both at the same time. I find this annoying especially when I want the Excel files to display on multiple monitors.

I looked around for some solutions and found the following:

• Open Excel two times from the start menu.
• Turn off DDE and modify shortcut (I couldn’t get this to work on Windows Vista)

I didn’t like using the start menu option as I like to use Windows Explorer to open my Excel files and I couldn’t get the DDE option to work. So, I took a minute and developed my own fairly simple solution.

1. Put the following line of text in a bat file and save it at as c:\Program Files\runExcel.bat

start "Excel" "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" /e %1

2. Modify the shortcut for the .xls extension

Right click the excel file and select “Open With…” and then in the window that opens click “Browse…”

Then select the bat file you created in the first step by browsing to c:\program files and selecting runExcel.bat. Make sure that “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” is checked in the “Open With” dialog.

Now anytime you double click on an Excel file it will always open it in a new window – the way I think it should be.