I really love this new feature from the Excel team. Do you know those big task panes that take up space on the right side of your Excel screen? You can now collapse (most of) them into a single tab strip on the far right side. Show one pane at a time, or no panes.
The only pain point is getting trapped with focus on the tab strip. If you regularly use the arrow keys to navigate, you might find your keystrokes directed to the task pane instead of the grid.
The only pain point is getting trapped with focus on the tab strip. If you regularly use the arrow keys to navigate, you might find your keystrokes directed to the task pane instead of the grid.
Transcript of the video:
Learn Excel from MrExcel Podcast Episode 2320. Collapsing task panes into tabs.
Hey! welcome back to MrExcel Netcast.
I'm Bill Jelen. Great new feature today.
This is coming to Insiders Fast builds 12210 or later.
So if you're on Office 365 this will come to you eventually.
You know the task pane that appears over here, like for example if I go to help and display Excel help, that's called a task pane.
Takes up a lot of lot of your screen real estate there and it's possible.
To get multiple task pains to appear right, for example, if I come here and choose this word and on the review tab ask for them to translate that, that creates a second task pane.
It used to be until yesterday that these would be side by side taking up more than half my screen.
But check out what they've done over here.
They've given me a little tab and they've collapsed the task panes into the tab. Very, very cool.
Let me keep displaying more items here.
I'm going to click on this chart, right click.
Format data series. Now I have three over there.
Here's a power query. Data, queries and connections.
Now I have four over there and if you want to collapse it even further, take the little tab that's currently selected. Click it again.
The whole thing gets collapsed, which is beautiful.
Now brand new feature. They haven't solved them all.
The pivot table fields list.
If I click inside the pivot table it does not get collapsed, it's not.
Is not able to play the game yet.
Another one is back on the review tab.
The smart look up.
Does not get collapse, so the search task pane, the pivot table task pane aren't playing yet.
Unfortunately, now what if you need to see 2 task pane side-by-side?
No problem what you can do is go to the task pane, drag it, and tear it off the side, and now you can see this task pane, and that task pane to get it back.
Just take it and drag it over to the right and it becomes part of the tab strip again.
Beautiful, but there's a problem and I'll show you the problem here.
In just one second, if you like these tips, hearing what's new in Excel and all the other things, please subscribe and ring that Bell.
Feel free to post any questions or comments in the comments below, and this is the point in the podcast where I usually ask you to buy a book. So let me.
Reduce this right. See I don't like this.
My OCD - I don't like that that active cell there and so I want to press the left arrow key to move it over behind the picture.
I can't just click on on K because it will select the picture instead.
see I don't want that.
I want to take that active cell and move it without having to use the go to box. So left arrow key, right but?
[ presses left arrow key and nothing happens ] Wow.
The emotional rollercoaster of loving this new feature and now hating this feature.
Because of this little problem right now, this tab strip has focus, and when I use the Arrow Keys, the up arrow key moves to the next item.
If I press the left arrow key, it brings the task pane back, right arrow key moves the the task main back to where it is, but I don't want that.
I'm done with the task pane.
Go away, I want to use my arrow keys to move an I can't.
Oh OK, so way back episode 2230.
Which is the same digits...
Wow we should play that in the lottery. Box 2320 and 2230 same digits.
I talked about something called the F6 Loop.
This was an Accessibility feature and we could move from the open task pane, Press F6 to the status bar, then the ribbon hotkeys, and then the grid in Excel, right?
So from here I press F6 and control moves to the task Pane.
Press F6, I get the Hot keys and then Press F6.
Now my left and right arrow keys work.
There's gotta be something better than pressing F6 three times.
Checked out in the YouTube comments, once I learn it, I will let you know. I want to thank you for stopping by.
We'll see you next time for another netcast from MrExcel.
Hey! welcome back to MrExcel Netcast.
I'm Bill Jelen. Great new feature today.
This is coming to Insiders Fast builds 12210 or later.
So if you're on Office 365 this will come to you eventually.
You know the task pane that appears over here, like for example if I go to help and display Excel help, that's called a task pane.
Takes up a lot of lot of your screen real estate there and it's possible.
To get multiple task pains to appear right, for example, if I come here and choose this word and on the review tab ask for them to translate that, that creates a second task pane.
It used to be until yesterday that these would be side by side taking up more than half my screen.
But check out what they've done over here.
They've given me a little tab and they've collapsed the task panes into the tab. Very, very cool.
Let me keep displaying more items here.
I'm going to click on this chart, right click.
Format data series. Now I have three over there.
Here's a power query. Data, queries and connections.
Now I have four over there and if you want to collapse it even further, take the little tab that's currently selected. Click it again.
The whole thing gets collapsed, which is beautiful.
Now brand new feature. They haven't solved them all.
The pivot table fields list.
If I click inside the pivot table it does not get collapsed, it's not.
Is not able to play the game yet.
Another one is back on the review tab.
The smart look up.
Does not get collapse, so the search task pane, the pivot table task pane aren't playing yet.
Unfortunately, now what if you need to see 2 task pane side-by-side?
No problem what you can do is go to the task pane, drag it, and tear it off the side, and now you can see this task pane, and that task pane to get it back.
Just take it and drag it over to the right and it becomes part of the tab strip again.
Beautiful, but there's a problem and I'll show you the problem here.
In just one second, if you like these tips, hearing what's new in Excel and all the other things, please subscribe and ring that Bell.
Feel free to post any questions or comments in the comments below, and this is the point in the podcast where I usually ask you to buy a book. So let me.
Reduce this right. See I don't like this.
My OCD - I don't like that that active cell there and so I want to press the left arrow key to move it over behind the picture.
I can't just click on on K because it will select the picture instead.
see I don't want that.
I want to take that active cell and move it without having to use the go to box. So left arrow key, right but?
[ presses left arrow key and nothing happens ] Wow.
The emotional rollercoaster of loving this new feature and now hating this feature.
Because of this little problem right now, this tab strip has focus, and when I use the Arrow Keys, the up arrow key moves to the next item.
If I press the left arrow key, it brings the task pane back, right arrow key moves the the task main back to where it is, but I don't want that.
I'm done with the task pane.
Go away, I want to use my arrow keys to move an I can't.
Oh OK, so way back episode 2230.
Which is the same digits...
Wow we should play that in the lottery. Box 2320 and 2230 same digits.
I talked about something called the F6 Loop.
This was an Accessibility feature and we could move from the open task pane, Press F6 to the status bar, then the ribbon hotkeys, and then the grid in Excel, right?
So from here I press F6 and control moves to the task Pane.
Press F6, I get the Hot keys and then Press F6.
Now my left and right arrow keys work.
There's gotta be something better than pressing F6 three times.
Checked out in the YouTube comments, once I learn it, I will let you know. I want to thank you for stopping by.
We'll see you next time for another netcast from MrExcel.
