Force Byte - Splitting Excel sheet into panes

0 Photo

Suppose you have a worksheet, in which columns B through O and rows 3 through 37 contain data, and column P and row 38 contain totals. Without doubt, you can only see a portion of this worksheet at once (say columns A through M and rows 1 through 27) since it is too large to fit in the default display window. In Excel, there is a windowpane feature offering you with synchronized scrolling capacity to view different areas of your worksheet simultaneously. You can split any sheet in a workbook vertically, horizontally, or both vertically and horizontally.

To split a sheet into panes, you only need to drag either split box (Note*) with the mouse to split the window vertically or horizontally.

For example, in the above worksheet, in order to keep an eye on the totals in column P as you work with the figures in columns B through O, you can split the window into two panes: one 12 columns wide and the other 1 column wide.

To create a vertical pane, simply click the vertical split box just to the right of the right scroll arrow and drag the split bar between columns L and M. When your mouse pointer is over the vertical split box, it will change to a double-headed arrow ().

Now the window displays two horizontal scroll bars - one for each pane. We then use the horizontal scroll bar below the right pane to scroll column P into view. Next you can use the horizontal scroll bar below the left pane to scroll between columns A and O without losing sight of the totals in column P. In addition, when you scroll vertically between rows 1 and 38, you will always see the corresponding totals in column P. For instance, if you scroll down to view rows 8 through 34 in the left pane, those same rows are visible in the right pane.

If you want to keep an eye on the monthly totals in row 38, you can create a horizontal pane. Simply select any cell in row 38 and click the horizontal split box just at the top of the top scroll arrow and drag the split bar between rows 37 and 38.

You can also reposition the split bars as you like simply by dragging them with the mouse. To remove a split, i.e. to return one or both split bars to their default "unsplit" position, you just need to drag the split bar back to the right or top side of the window.

To move from pane to pane using the keyboard, simply press <F6>. Each time you do so, the active cell moves to the next pane in a clockwise direction, activating the upper right cell in each pane unless you specifically select a cell in each pane. Alternatively, if you select a specific cell, pressing <F6> moves to the last cell you select in each pane. However, if you press <Shift> and <F6> keys simultaneously, the active cell will move counter-clockwise to the next pane instead.

Next time I will introduce you two more ways to split a sheet into panes.

Note*:

The split box is the narrow box at the right end of the horizontal scroll bar (just to the right of the right scroll arrow, ) or at the top of the vertical scroll bar (just at the top of the top scroll arrow, )

"Sharing IT as it applies to your daily life"