Separate Execution? (2000)

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Is there a way to have Excel 2000 behave the way that Word does when opening an existing spreadsheet? Word always opens a separate instance of the program for each document, whereas Excel will open a new window within an existing instance. The problem I have with this approach is that I often (like, always) close Excel when I’m done with a worksheet, and the other Excel windows I’m still working on close also.

I have found that if I start up Excel from the program menu, I create a separate instance, but this means I would need to remember to do something different than I do with Word.

Thanks.

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Select Options from the Tools menu. Click on the View tab. Put a check mark next to “Windows in Taskbar.”

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Select Options from the Tools menu. Click on the View tab. Put a check mark next to “Windows in Taskbar.”

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Even if Word seems to open a separate instance of the application for each document that you open, this is just an illusion. There is but a single instance of winword.exe in memory. This is true even if you “start” Word several times from the Start | Programs menu (or from the Quick Launch toolbar, or from a desktop shortcut). You can verify this in the Processes tab of the Task Manager. But to the outside world, Word behaves as if each document runs in a separate instance: clicking the Close button in the upper right corner of the application window closes only one document. But if you select File | Quit, ALL open documents will be closed, and in the Window menu, you will see all open documents.

Excel does not pretend that each workbook is opened in a separate instance of the application. All open workbooks are displayed in a single application window. On the other hand, it IS possible to start multiple instances from the Start | Programs menu (or from the Quick Launch toolbar etc.). If you do so, the Window menu of each instance will only list the workbooks open in that instance, and selecting File | Quit will only close the workbooks open in that instance. You can verify that multiple instances are running in the Processes tab of the Task Manager.

Running multiple instances of Excel is a drain on resources, so it it not advisable. Moreover, you will run into problems with add-ins and startup files such as Personal.xls. It’s best to learn to use the close button of the workbook instead of the close button of the Excel application. You can do the same in Word.

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Good to know – thanks.

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Good to know – thanks.

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Even if Word seems to open a separate instance of the application for each document that you open, this is just an illusion. There is but a single instance of winword.exe in memory. This is true even if you “start” Word several times from the Start | Programs menu (or from the Quick Launch toolbar, or from a desktop shortcut). You can verify this in the Processes tab of the Task Manager. But to the outside world, Word behaves as if each document runs in a separate instance: clicking the Close button in the upper right corner of the application window closes only one document. But if you select File | Quit, ALL open documents will be closed, and in the Window menu, you will see all open documents.

Excel does not pretend that each workbook is opened in a separate instance of the application. All open workbooks are displayed in a single application window. On the other hand, it IS possible to start multiple instances from the Start | Programs menu (or from the Quick Launch toolbar etc.). If you do so, the Window menu of each instance will only list the workbooks open in that instance, and selecting File | Quit will only close the workbooks open in that instance. You can verify that multiple instances are running in the Processes tab of the Task Manager.

Running multiple instances of Excel is a drain on resources, so it it not advisable. Moreover, you will run into problems with add-ins and startup files such as Personal.xls. It’s best to learn to use the close button of the workbook instead of the close button of the Excel application. You can do the same in Word.

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