Weird Excel quirks driving me crazy! Can anyone explain?

[zookeepertx]

Hello there,

Excel has been doing a couple of weird things and I can't figure out why. Hoping someone here can tell me what's up.

On my work computer, I have 2 screens. Technically, the left is my primary screen - as far as the computer thinks, LOL! I always have the "main" workbook that I'm working on over on the right screen and any other apps or "secondary" workbooks on the left. Historically, every workbook I open first appears on the right screen and then I either leave it there or, if I want it on the other, I move it over there. Starting a few months ago, sometimes every workbook I open opens up on the left screen and it drives me nuts! A lot of the workbooks I use are located on the "Common"/company-wide drive and it takes many of them FOREVER to open &/or save, so I frequently will click on an app on the left screen and just do some minor thing over there. (I've tried to get out IT dept to fix that slowness but they can't figure it out. SO frustrating!) But if the workbook is going to appear over on the left, I can't do that!
Every night, before shutting down, I make sure that each workbook I save 1 final time is on the right screen where I want them, but that doesn't seem to make any difference. In the morning, if the first workbook I open shows up on the left screen, I know that everything I open through the whole day is going to come up over there. Then, the next day, they'll probably be back to normal: opening on the right screen, where they belong!
I know it's not a huge thing but it's really annoying! I like things to stay where I put them and be where they belong!

Secondly, on Monday, I spent a couple of hours working on a spreadsheet - technically 2 of them; consolidating them into 1. I saved it that evening. Then, yesterday - Tuesday - I opened it back up and started where I left off and spent a good 5 hrs working on it. I saved it a few times throughout the day and again before shutting down. I opened it back up today and everything I did for both days is GONE! Completely gone! The thing is on Autosave; how can that happen? And this one is located on my desktop not the Common drive! I've tried to restore a previous version but it says there aren't any. It's bad enough to lose 5 hrs of yesterday's work but how can Monday's work disappear, when it was there when I opened the book yesterday?
I'm so frustrated and angry; I'd scream except it would scare my dogs.

If anyone can give my any insights I'd appreciate it.

Jenny

 

[Jeffrey Mahoney]

It appears that this is not an easy fix.

Jaafar seems to have a quite involved solution:
https://www.mrexcel.com/board/threads/new-window-move-to-second-screen-using-vba.1213373/#:~:text=Active%20Member&text=I%20was%20looking%20into%20a,looks%20like%20APIs%20are%20used.

Have you tried these keystrokes?:

• Windows + Shift + Left arrow: Opens the application on the monitor to the left
• Windows + Shift + Right arrow: Opens the application on the monitor to the right
• To change which monitor an app should open by default, you can:
  1. Close all instances of the app
  2. Open the program
  3. Move it to the monitor you want it to open on by default
  4. Press Windows key + Shift + Enter
  5. Close the application, and open it again
  
  

 

[zookeepertx]

It appears that this is not an easy fix.

Jaafar seems to have a quite involved solution:
https://www.mrexcel.com/board/threads/new-window-move-to-second-screen-using-vba.1213373/#:~:text=Active%20Member&text=I%20was%20looking%20into%20a,looks%20like%20APIs%20are%20used.

Have you tried these keystrokes?:

• Windows + Shift + Left arrow: Opens the application on the monitor to the left
• Windows + Shift + Right arrow: Opens the application on the monitor to the right
• To change which monitor an app should open by default, you can:
  1. Close all instances of the app
  2. Open the program
  3. Move it to the monitor you want it to open on by default
  4. Press Windows key + Shift + Enter
  5. Close the application, and open it again

Of course it's not an easy fix; "easy fix" is just crazy talk!
I just tried your 3 suggestion - Windows + Shift+ Enter - and it worked great! I'll have to remember that for when the silly machine has another temper tantrum, LOL!
Thanks for the help and sorry for the delayed reply. It's month end and I've been swamped!

Jenny

 

[zookeepertx]

Got another 2 part question:
First: You know how, when you insert a column it asks if you want to copy the formatting from the left or right? Well, on some of my reports it doesn't do that anymore; it just takes the formatting from the left, which isn't what I want. Those same reports USED TO do it correctly, they just quit all of a sudden. And other, similar reports still DO offer the choice between formatting from left or right. All of the reports were created at the same time, years ago. I've tried going to options and, for the life of me, can't find anything that looks like it's related to this.

Second: I have several reports that have a tab for each day of the month and I have the top row frozen. When I make a new one for the day - created from data from another source - I run a macro on it, part of which freezes the top row. So, then I have to compare today's data with yesterday's, so I open a second window letting me compare side by side. When they're both open, today's still has the top row frozen. But when I'm done comparing and close one of the windows, when I go to today's tab the row isn't frozen anymore! This happens every single day. AND, sometimes, once I've closed the 2nd window, the OTHER tabs' top rows aren't frozen anymore, either! (But not always, because consistency is just silly, apparently. ) Again, other similar report operate just like normal.

Do you happen to have any idea why Excel might have lost its mind? It's irritating me; I like things to be the same today as they were yesterday. And the day before that, and the day before that... (See my tag line; OCD, LOL!)

Thanks
Jenny

 

[Jeffrey Mahoney]

That's funny, I've never been asked which side of the inserted column I want to pull the formatting. By what means are you inserting columns? Right click on column header? You could always copy the column you want to mimic and then Insert Copied Cells.

When you say compare side by side, you mean using the "View Side By Side". I haven't used that in awhile, so I tried it just now. It didn't reset my frozen panes. Do you have macros running when close your files? Do you have a macro to setup the side by side view? If neither of those are true, you need to consider that one of your files is corrupt. I have macros that create Frozen Panes and they stay that way even after saving. Is your macro using this code: ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True. Are there any other macros that turn this off?

When these things happen, step through the process and find exactly when the negative change happens.

 

[zookeepertx]

That's funny, I've never been asked which side of the inserted column I want to pull the formatting. By what means are you inserting columns? Right click on column header? You could always copy the column you want to mimic and then Insert Copied Cells.

When you say compare side by side, you mean using the "View Side By Side". I haven't used that in awhile, so I tried it just now. It didn't reset my frozen panes. Do you have macros running when close your files? Do you have a macro to setup the side by side view? If neither of those are true, you need to consider that one of your files is corrupt. I have macros that create Frozen Panes and they stay that way even after saving. Is your macro using this code: ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True. Are there any other macros that turn this off?

When these things happen, step through the process and find exactly when the negative change happens.

It's always asked me where I want to get the formatting when I insert a column and it still does on most of my reports. It's just these 2. Yep - right click, insert column, then at the bottom of the excel window there's a little thing you can hover over and choose left or right. Usually. And still does on every other report except these 2.

Comparing reports: I go to View, New Window and it opens up a whole new window that looks just like the original one, then I click on the 2nd tab I need to look at and put them alongside each other. I just do that manually and have no macros running. All of mine just run once for a split second and then they're done. Yep, Range("A2").Select ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True is the code I have for that. I don't have any of my macros set to turn off freeze panes.

It never goes bad while the macro is actually running. All is well after it runs and during the time that I'm comparing the 2 sheets. It's after I close one of the windows and only have 1 open when the "unfreezing" happens all on its own. It's very strange!

Excel used to be my favorite toy, but Microsoft keeps ruining stuff!

 

[Jeffrey Mahoney]

It's always asked me where I want to get the formatting when I insert a column and it still does on most of my reports. It's just these 2. Yep - right click, insert column, then at the bottom of the excel window there's a little thing you can hover over and choose left or right. Usually. And still does on every other report except these 2.

Can you provide a screenshot where it gives you the choice to choose left or right column. Me thinks you have some sort of add-in

When I add a new window without any other workbooks open, The menu "View Side by Side" is greyed out; can't use it.

You must have the "Special" version of Excel

 

[zookeepertx]

Can you provide a screenshot where it gives you the choice to choose left or right column. Me thinks you have some sort of add-in

When I add a new window without any other workbooks open, The menu "View Side by Side" is greyed out; can't use it.

You must have the "Special" version of Excel

Definitely a "special" version.

I don't know about an add-in; it's always offered the choice on any spreadsheet I've ever worked on, even these 2... until it didn't. Here's how it looks on a cooperative sheet. (Sorry, I forgot that this one showed up at the top. I was thinking of the one that shows up at the bottom when you fill down a sequence and it asks if you want to fill down the formatting too or keep the formatting - such as cell color or font color - the way it originally was. )

Oddly, I just opened a brand new blank sheet, typed in some gibberish and went to insert a column and it did NOT ask where I wanted to copy the formatting from. This is just weird! Microsoft probably decided to take away another feature that people need like they did with the floating color palettes for cell color and font color. THAT one really p***** me off because I have to do a lot of that! I finally had to make a macro to pull up a color palette that would stay open till I closed it. Gotta admit, that was kind of a fun one to create, especially because it was my first Userform, LOL!
But I digress... (I need to have that put on a t-shirt. Anyone who knows me would totally get it. )