Microsoft brings the ability to edit multiple worksheets side by side to Excel for Mac

Last month, Microsoft started rolling out a helpful new feature for Excel for Windows called "value tokens", designed to make formula editing easier. Now, the company is focusing on boosting productivity for Excel for Mac users with a long-awaited capability: viewing multiple worksheets side by side. Mac users on the Microsoft 365 Insider program can now see two or more sheets from the same or even different workbooks at once, right on their screen.

This new feature directly addresses the frustration of constantly having to switch between tabs when you need to compare data or reference information in one sheet while working in another. The Microsoft 365 Insider blog post announcing the change explains the key benefits:

• Enhanced productivity: Viewing worksheets simultaneously allows for seamless comparison and data analysis without the need to constantly switch tabs.
• Efficient workflow: This feature can speed up and streamline tasks like tracking changes, verifying data across different sheets, and consolidating information.
• Improved accuracy: By having multiple sheets open side by side, you can ensure consistency and minimize errors when transferring or referencing data.

Getting started with the side-by-side view is straightforward. You first open the worksheet you want to see, go to the View tab on the ribbon, and select "New Window." This action pops that sheet out into its separate window. If you need to view a sheet from a different workbook alongside it, you just open that second workbook and select "New Window" there, too. Once you have the sheets you want in separate windows, you go back to the View tab and click the "View Side by Side" icon.

Adding side-by-side viewing to Excel for Mac is a small but meaningful step toward closing the feature gap between the Mac and Windows versions. Excel itself only recently introduced a proper dark mode, but the Mac version still trails behind in areas like Power Pivot and full VBA support.

The feature includes a couple of useful options. If you happen to move the sheet windows around, you can easily click "Reset Window Position" to snap them back neatly next to each other.

There is also a "Synchronous Scrolling" option available when "View Side by Side" is turned on, which makes both sheets scroll simultaneously as you move through your data. Microsoft notes one current limitation: you cannot find the "View Side by Side" option by using the Search bar within Excel yet.

This update is rolling out to Excel for Mac users in the Microsoft 365 Insider Beta Channel who are using Version 16.97 Build 25041535 or later.

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