Sheet view in excel

Now, you’ll see how easy it is to create a Temporary Sheet View in Excel.

But what if you’ve saved different custom views and want to switch between them? Here’s how to do it.

Hady is Content Lead at Layer.

Hady has a passion for tech, marketing, and spreadsheets. Besides his Computer Science degree, he has vast experience in developing, launching, and scaling content marketing processes at SaaS startups.

Originally published May 20 2022, Updated Mar 22 2023

Sheet views in excel

Now in Microsoft Excel, we can create customized views without being disturbed by others. These views are named Sheet Views. For example, we can create a filter that will only display the data that is important for us, without being affected by other users on the same Worksheet. We can even set up multiple Sheet Views on the same Worksheet. These Views that we create are temporary, so if we need to save them, we just select the View Name from the Sheet View drop-down menu, type a name, and finished. To find out more about Sheet View just keep on reading the post below.

In the image below, I have opened a Microsoft Excel Workbook which contains only one Worksheet. So, how do we add a Sheet View?

In the image below, I have selected the View tab, and then I have located from the left area of the ribbon the area named Sheet View.

Then from the Sheet View area, I select the command New as shown below, where a New Sheet View will be created. Then we can apply the sort/filter that we want or need. Don’t worry about the rest, Excel will automatically name our new View.

When a Sheet View is applied, at the bottom next to the Worksheets Name, will be an eye symbol as shown below. If we hover over it, it will display the active Sheet Views name.

When we create a New Sheet View, Excel will keep our initial View and display it in the Sheet View switcher as Default as shown in the image below.

When we create a Sheet View, from the left corner of the Sheet View area on the ribbon, we can select the command Options as shown below. Once selected, the Sheet View Options dialog box will appear where we can either Rename the Sheet View, Duplicate the Sheet View or even Delete the Sheet View. At the bottom of the dialog box, we can also use the Switch To button to switch to a different Sheet View.

When we select Temporary View from the Sheet View Switcher drop-down menu, our View is temporary, so if we want to keep it, we must select that View Name, type in our New Name and then press the Enter button.

All the Sheet Views that we have created, will be available for us to use just by selecting the Sheet View Switcher and from the drop-down menu we select the Sheet View that we want.

If we want to keep the Sheet View that we created, we can select the Keep button which is in the left corner area of the Sheet View area as shown below. The same way we can Exit the current Sheet View by selecting the Exit button of the Sheet View area.

Just keep in mind the following information:

• When we are ready to display a certain View, we just select it from the Sheet View switcher drop-down menu.

• If other people are working the same time on the same file, and we either sort or filter, we will be asked if we want to apply the sort of filter for just us, or everyone.

• The Sheet View switcher can only display Views for the Active Worksheet.

• If we select the Default Option our View will be restored from where we started.

Below you can check out the video describing How To Use Sheet View in Microsoft Excel?

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Excel Sheet View is Microsoft’s fix for a problem when sharing an Excel list or table among many people.  We’ll explain how it works and what’s happening behind the scenes.

A shared Excel list can be sorted or filtered in many different ways. It’s quite possible that two people can look at the same worksheet and filter it in conflicting ways at the same time.

Sheet Views are different views of the same worksheet or tab.  Collaborating users can select the a sheet view that suits them without affecting others.

Source: Microsoft

The concept is sold as a way for different users to view the same list but it’s also convenient for solo users to save and quickly switch between alternative views of the same list.

Sheet View is only available in Excel Online, the browser-based version of Excel and Excel 365 for Windows and Mac.

The worksheet has to be saved on Microsoft cloud storage – OneDrive, SharePoint or Teams.

Excel Sheet View is an excellent idea which appears to have been well thought out.  Like many other collaboration features, Sheet View is also useful for individual, not shared workbooks.

Your free and standby Microsoft Office alternative: Office Online

Viewing only

Sheet Views only isolate the way a list or table appears.

Any changes to cell contents appear to everyone, probably within seconds.

Starting with Sheet View

Sheet View is on the View tab and starts with a Default view.

Click on New to make a new Sheet View.   The worksheet borders change color to indicate you’re in a View.

Change the sorting and filtering of the worksheet list or table.

When a Sheet View is active, the worksheet tab gets a little ‘eye’ icon. Hover over that icon to see the Sheet View name.

Saving a Sheet View

All new Sheet Views are temporary but can be saved for future use.

Keep – saves the Sheet View but currently there’s no prompt for a name. All you get is ‘View1’ etc.

Name or Rename a Sheet View

To rename a Sheet View, click on Options then Rename,

Sheet View | Options is also where you can Duplicate a current Sheet View or Delete.

On the Filter pull-down

Sheet View options also appear on the Filter & Sort pull-down list for any Table heading.

Select a current Sheet View, a new View or the Options list.

Under the Hood

If you look inside the Excel .XLS file, there’s a new subfolder /xl/namedSheetViews with a namedSheetView1.xml file.

As you can see, there’s a new XML Schema for namedsheetviews .  The details of each SheetView are saved in the XML file.

How to share a single Excel worksheet
Link an Excel worksheet into a shared workbook

Now in Microsoft Excel, we can create customized views without being interrupted by others. Here’s how to use Sheet Views.

Do you sometimes share spreadsheets with colleagues and work on them simultaneously? During collaborations, the temporary view feature in Microsoft Excel can help prevent confusion.

Collaborating in Microsoft Office is the easiest and most convenient way to share documents, but it can also be distracting. The constant changes can be misleading when trying to concentrate.

You can solve this problem by creating a temporary view using the Sheet Views feature in Excel. In this way, you can concentrate on the data you wish to examine while collaborating.

The Basics of the Temporary View Feature and Its Availability

The feature is accessible and is hosted by Microsoft Excel 365. You can access it from Windows 10 and even older versions such as the 2007 model; Excel web access also offers access. Here’s an overview of how Sheet Views work in Excel:

• To access Sheet Views from the desktop application for Excel, you must first save the log to OneDrive, Sharepoint, or OneDrive for Business. Otherwise, it will not be accessible.
• You can make changes to any cell regardless of which view you are using.
• The feature is available only for an active spreadsheet.
• Even when not collaborating, the same feature can still be used to create custom views for you and other users.

How Can You Make Temporary Views?

Once you’ve understood the basics and accessibility of the feature, it’s time to learn how to create a temporary sheet view. To use this feature, you require a shared worksheet.

1. First, open your shared workbook on Excel and select the sheet in which you want to create a temporary view.
2. Look for the tab View on the top bar, and on the left side of this row, you’ll spot a section labeled Sheet View. Click on New.
3. Once you’ve clicked, you will instantly notice a difference in your sheet’s formation as the dropdown menu on the Sheet View section will indicate Temporary View.
   

How to Use Temporary Views During Collaborations

Once you have created a temporary view sheet, the functions and changes involved in the feature will include the following:

1. The background of the headers on the rows and columns of your sheet will turn black.
2. The drop-down ribbon on the sheet view bar will display Temporary View.
3. When you place the cursor over the eye icon next to your sheets, the name of the current sheet will be displayed.
   

When in temporary view mode, you can work on the sheet with no disruptions from the rest of the users and can make edits and evaluations as you would if you were the only one working on the sheet

What Can You Do with Sheet View?

Here are a number of actions featured in the Sheet View that are convenient for users:

Saving Your Temporary View

Sheet View allows you to save your temporary sheet; not only one sheet but multiple sheets. To save your temporary sheet, you need to:

1. Move your cursor to the ribbon and on the Sheet view section, click Keep.
2. The view will be saved as View1 for the first sheet, then click Exit to save the initial sheet view.
3. You can click New on the eye icon to create another temporary view, which you can again save by clicking Exit. This sheet will be saved as View2, and you can go on for as many as you want to save.
4. If you prefer to name your Sheet Views, you can click Options in the sheet view ribbon > Rename > View1 and replace its name.
   

Leave or Switch a Sheet View

You can use the Sheet View section to change the view format to a different view. You can also use the drop-down menu to change back to default by just clicking the Exit icon.

Other Users Viewing the Sheet View

You can save and use any view you want on the sheet, which anyone can view. They can also create their own views, which you can also access and use. On the Sheet View section of the ribbon, you can select the views you created.

The use of this feature can be both positive and negative depending on the users accessing the views. You are able to utilize the views saved by others, but it’s still risky as other users may alter a view willingly or by accident.

Management of Sheet Views

You can manage your views to your liking. You can delete, duplicate or rename a sheet view by simply moving to the Sheet View section and clicking Options. You can as well organize other users’ sheet views using the same window.

Using a temporary sheet view allows you to save your changes while others use the worksheet at the same time.

What Are the Benefits Presented by the Sheet View Feature in Excel

By using a temporary sheet view, you can create and manage your sheets faster and easier. There are also additional advantages to using it:

• You can make as many as 256 temporary sheets.
• Changes made to a single cell in the sheet view can be viewed by everyone the moment they are made.
• The dropdown menu for the sheet view only displays the sheet views opened on the active sheet.
• This feature also allows you to make custom views for yourself and others when not collaborating.
• You can move back and forth easily through the sheets once you save the custom view data.

This Is the Most Convenient Feature for Collaborations

With Sheet Views, you can customize your views during collaborations on a worksheet without interruptions from other users.

Further, the Sheet View feature allows you to filter out all the data you do not need and display only the important information. Others can do the same without affecting each other’s actions on the sheet.

When you are done with a view, you can choose to delete it under the Options tab. Alternatively, you can click Shift/Ctrl + left click in that order if you want to remove multiple views at once.

Bottom Line: Learn how to view and compare two worksheets in the same workbook with the New Window feature, split screen view, and synchronous scrolling.

Skill Level: Beginner

Video Tutorial



Make Comparisons Between Sheets Easier

Sometimes we need to flip back and forth between two worksheets in order to compare numbers, copy and paste entries, or create formulas. In these instances, it can be much easier to look at the two (or more) sheets side by side.

To accomplish this, we can use the New Window feature in Excel, as well as some desktop shortcuts to create a split screen view of the the sheets we want to look at simultaneously. It’s a fairly easy habit to pick up and will save you lots of time and frustration in the long run.

Creating a New Window

We can view two or more sheets from the same workbook by using the New Window feature.

To make a new window, go to the View tab on the Ribbon and press the New Window button. This will create a new window of the active workbook (the workbook you were viewing when you pressed New Window).

The keyboard shortcut to open a new window is Alt + W + N.

Once you’ve created a new window, you can differentiate between the new and the old by looking at the title bar at the top. The new window will have a dash and the number 2 (then 3, 4, 5 and so on as you continue to open new windows).

Changes are Synced Between Windows

Keep in mind that you are NOT creating a duplicate file, just a new window to look at the same file. Any change you make to the workbook in one window will be reflected in the other. It does NOT matter which window you make changes in. All windows will be updated immediately.

Toggling Between Windows

You can now select a different sheet in the new window to view and edit it.  You can then quickly flip between windows by using the Alt + Tab

keyboard shortcut. Hold Alt, then press and release Tab.

This is a very handy shortcut that makes it easy to flip between windows (sheets) when doing common actions like copy & paste.

Create a Split Screen View

To tile the windows side by side, you can simply click on the title bar and then drag the window to the right of the screen. If you have multiple windows open on your computer, you may have to select which window you want to view on the left.

I’ve written a whole post about tips for split screen usage for both Windows and Mac users. I encourage you to check it out and see how you can improve your productivity game with split screens.

Note: This behavior is slightly different in Excel 2010 and earlier. See the section below for details.

Synchronous Scrolling

One cool feature to employ while using a split screen is that you can scroll both sheets at the same time. This is especially helpful if you need to compare line by line, looking for differences in similar sets of data.

To turn on synchronous scrolling, just go to the View tab on the Ribbon and choose the Synchronous Scrolling button.

The Synchronous Scrolling Button may be grayed out. If so, you need to turn on View Side by Side. You can do this by clicking the button directly above Synchronous Scrolling. Keyboard shortcut: Alt+W+B

When you click on View Side by Side, it tends to reset any split screen setup you already had, so you may need to drag your window to the right again to see them side by side.

Once your windows are side by side and you’ve clicked the Synchronous Scrolling button, you will see how both sheets scroll simultaneously. This is the case whether you are using the up and down arrows on your keyboard, the scroll bar in either of the windows, or the roller wheel on your mouse.

See the video above for more details on this issue.

And just so you know, you can also use Synchronous Scrolling with two different workbooks as well.

Closing the New Window

Once you are finished, you can simply close either of the windows by pressing the red X in the top right of the application window. This will just close the additional window, and NOT close the file. The “-2” will disappear after the file name and you will be left with only one window open for the file.

You will NOT be prompted to save the file when you close the additional window. You will only be prompted to save when you close the last remaining window for the file.

Close the “-2” Window First!

Even though you can close either window, it’s best to close the “-2” window first. The new window does not retain the settings for gridlines or freeze panes. This is an unfortunate limitation of Excel.

If you close the “-1” window and then make changes to the workbook, you will lose the gridline and freeze pane settings that are applied to each sheet.

I posted a macro in the comment below that apples the gridline settings for each sheet to the new window. I’ll do a dedicated post on this in the future.

And a big thanks to Andre for pointing out the issue with closing window “-2” first.

Excel 2010 and Earlier

If you’re using Excel 2010 or earlier for Windows then the process for viewing multiple windows is slightly different.

These versions of Excel used the Multiple Document Interface (MDI). This means all Excel files/windows are opened in the same application window. Excel is able to display multiple documents.

You can view multiple windows within Excel by clicking the Restore button for the current window.

The Arrange All and View Side by Side buttons can still be used as well. That will be the same as the instructions above.

When you want to view a single window again you can click the Maximize button in any window.

Excel 2013 and beyond moved to a Single Document Interface (SDI), which is what I explained in the article above.

Conclusion

I hope this post has been helpful to you for learning how to create a new window and view two (or more) worksheets from the same workbook.

The full keyboard shortcut to setup the new window in split screen is:

Alt+W+N ,Alt+W+B

This view can save us a lot of time when comparing data and tying out numbers between sheets.

Please leave a comment below with any questions or suggestions. Thank you! 🙂