Part I: Getting Started with Excel
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Switching among windows ..............................................................................
At any given time, one (and only one) workbook window is the active window. The active window
accepts your input and is the window on which your commands work. The active window’s title
bar is a different color, and the window appears at the top of the stack of windows. To work in a
different window, you need to make that window active. You can make a different window the
active workbook in several ways:l Click another window, if it’s visible. The window you click moves to the top and becomes
the active window. This method isn’t possible if the current window is maximized.
l Press Ctrl+Tab (or Ctrl+F6) to cycle through all open windows until the window
that you want to work with appears on top as the active window. Pressing
Shift+Ctrl+Tab (or Shift+Ctrl+F6) cycles through the windows in the opposite direction.l (^) Choose View ➪ Window ➪ Switch Windows and select the window that you want
from the drop-down list (the active window has a check mark next to it). This menu
can display as many as nine windows. If you have more than nine workbook windows
open, choose More Windows (which appears below the nine window names).
l (^) Click the icon for the window in the Windows taskbar. This technique is available
only if the Show All Windows in the Taskbar option is turned on. You can control this
setting from the Advanced tab of the Excel Options dialog box (in the Display section).
Tip
Most people prefer to do most of their work with maximized workbook windows, which enables you to see
more cells and eliminates the distraction of other workbook windows getting in the way. At times, however,
viewing multiple windows is preferred. For example, displaying two windows is more efficient if you need to
compare information in two workbooks or if you need to copy data from one workbook to another. n
When you maximize one window, all the other windows are maximized, too (even though you
don’t see them). Therefore, if the active window is maximized and you activate a different window,
the new active window is also maximized.
Tip
You also can display a single workbook in more than one window. For example, if you have a workbook with
two worksheets, you may want to display each worksheet in a separate window to compare the two sheets. All
the window-manipulation procedures described previously still apply. Choose View ➪ Window ➪ New
Window to open an additional window in the active workbook. n
Closing windows .............................................................................................
If you have multiple windows open, you may want to close those windows that you no longer
need. Excel offers several ways to close the active window: