Arranging and Hiding/Unhiding Workbooks

If you are working with multiple workbooks you may want to change how they are arranged in the Excel window. You can arrange workbooks so they are arranged tiled, horizontally, vertically, or in cascading windows. If you do not want to include a workbook in the new arrangement, but want to keep it open, then you should hide the workbook. When you hide a workbook the data still remains, but it is no longer displayed onscreen. At any time, you can choose to "unhide" a workbook, which will redisplay it.

To change the arrangement of workbooks:

1. Click the Window menu and select Arrange...
2. In the Arrange Window dialog box, select an arrangement option—Tiled, Horizontal, Vertical, or Cascade.
3. Click OK.

To hide a workbook:

1. Click the workbook you want to hide.
2. Click the Window menu, and select Hide.

To unhide a workbook:

1. Click the Window menu, and select Unhide...
2. In the Unhide dialog box, click the name of the workbook you want to unhide.
3. Click OK.

If you hide a workbook and then save it and close it, the next time you open the workbook it will still be hidden. You will need to unhide the workbook to view it.

To open the Arrange Windows dialog box, you can also right-click the title bar of a workbook and select Arrange... from the shortcut menu. Note: In order to use this method, the workbook window cannot be maximized.