I don't have dual monitors.

But from what I've read, the best way is to start a second instance of excel,
then use File|open to open whatever workbooks you want in the second instance.

You may want to try this:

With tools|options|general tab|"Ignore other applications" checked, click on a
shortcut to excel. A second instance should start.

And be aware that turning this setting off sometimes gives errors with workbooks
that contain spaces in their path/name:

C:\my documents\excel\my book.xls

The error will look kind of like:
cannot find c:\my ..
then
cannot find documents\excel\my
then
cannot find book.xls

But you can always File|open within any instance of excel.

===
Sometimes, I'll just start a second instance by:
flying window R (to see the Windows start button|Run dialog
type in:
excel
and hit enter.

Bob B wrote:

I like to open Excel in two separate windows like it is two different
programs, that way i can see two different sheets on my dual monitor system.
I used to be able to do that , now for some reason it just opens the sheets
in windows of the program. What am I smissing?

--

Dave Peterson