In Windows 10 there seems to be a feature, still under development called Windows Sets. https://www.howtogeek.com/352109/how-to-use-sets-in-windows-10-to-organize-apps-into-tabs/
While MS pulled this feature from the latest public builds of Windows 10, it looks like it’s not dead, but sleeping, due to make a comeback once issues have been ironed out. https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3081852/windows-10-sets-coming-back-rumour

If this is the case then it would be the perfect way to bring make MDI like functionality to Excel for those users who miss it. Certainly from a Excel custom Application perspective MDI windows worked very well.

It would be great to have a setting in a future version of Excel such that by default Excel would tab all the Windows together that made up each process. This would nearly give the effect of an MDI application, as the key issue for some Excel Applications is determining which Excel Windows belong to which Excel process.

Like most professionals these days, I have a multi-monitor configuration for my computer which allows me to have two apps open and visible at the same time. This is handy when getting data from one source via an Excel spreadsheet while updating data in another Excel spreadsheet.

It allows me to keep both spreadsheets open, one on each monitor, as I walk the one to update the other.

The issue is: When I select a row in the source spreadsheet, it is highlighted. When I make the other spreadsheet the active window, the highlight disappears from the source spreadsheet.

It would be really helpful if the inactive instance of Excel continued to highlight the selected row so that visually it would be easy to view the data in the source spreadsheet while updating the data in the target spreadsheet.

A workaround is to manually format the row with a color, update the target spreadsheet, then remove the color from the selected source row and format the next row with the color. However, I am working with two spreadsheets that each has over 300 rows so that is a lot of manual effort. If the inactive spreadsheet would persist the selection highlight, no effort at all would have to be spent as I walked the source spreadsheet to update the target spreadsheet.

Feel free to contact me for clarity if it is needed. Thanks

Please bring back menus. The new UI where all of the buttons are just plopped down is an absolute mess. The idea of Windows is that everything is nested in folders so that everything isn't just plopped. We don't need cutesy pictures and icons in lieu of methodical filing systems. Alternatively, maybe give us the option to choose power user mode or beginner / old person modes (I'm old so I can say that.) One place this horrible new UI suffers is with older tutorials: I literally can not go to Tools > Options. There is no Tools menu in Excel?! Also, scanning a list of commands is SO much faster than perusing the entire screen looking for the icon of a page with a blue outlined clock in front of it.

Sometimes users need to create a workbook with multiple tas (i.e. 20 tabs). Most times users will simply rename the tabs. However, when discussing the workbook with others, it is not intuitive to direct a usersatotab X<YZ.>
ILet's take an example of a sales workbook.
f I have multiple tabs, I will label the tabs as:
"1. National Sales"
"2. Nast marketing summary"
"3. West marketing summary"
"4. Tales Offices RRevenue ankings"
"5. PThree Year lanned Project Launches"

etc, etc,.....
By adding a number to the tab label, I can tell users to just simply go to tab #3 wfor the "West Marketing Summary" hen wanting tusers to focus on that tab.

Otherwise, I need to tell users to go to the "West Marketing Summary" tab. If there are a lot of tabs inthe workbook, it is not intuitive as to where the "West Market Summary" tab might be.
Users spend unnecessary time looking for the tab name.
It would be great if Excel could allow you to automatically add numbers to tab names.

This feature is especially useful when discussing the workbook ocontent via conference call owhile reviewing the workbook r awhen one needs to provide instructions to users to go to specific tabs.

You can see my a sample of a workbook with numbered labeled tabs

We like to open the main Excel window in the same position on our desktop each time. The only way we can do this is to assure that the last closed window was in the desired location when closed. This is because new windows open in the same size and position as the last closed window.

The problem arises when you open multiple worksheets, which automatically arrange themselves or are moved by the user to other temporary locations. Closing any of these windows last sets a new undesired default for the next session of Excel.

Another problem is that t user cannot open Excel in the last saved size and position if the last resized window triggered the Windows snap feature. While the snap feature is wonderful for quickly organizing temporary windows at full, half, and quarter screen sizes, it interferes with other screen sizing operations.

The reason this happens is because the auto-size snap option triggers whenever any window border extends to the very bottom of the screen, which forces that window setting to be a temporary setting, not saved as the last size and position. While the auto features are great for half and quarter screen arrangements, it prevents centered windows from being save as a default.

For example, if you resize an Excel window to be full screen height, but narrower than the screen, then this window will not be saved at the last desired size and position. One reason for desiring such a configuration, would be to leave an exposed area of desktop on the left of a window for quickly accessing other frequently used icons or tools on the desktop.

Why not let the user save a preferred size and position for their primary Excel window? It might also include an option to apply this configuration to either to the first opened Excel window or even all new opened worksheets without auto-tiling. This would let the user customize a consistent behavior for opening Excel windows that would be more intuitive to their work environment and habits.

When I protect a worksheet, some cells I don't want the user to be able to select at all, or edit in any way. And some cells I want to lock against the user editing, but still need him/her to be able to select those cells, whether it be for highlighting, copying, etc. Additionally, some cells I want the user to select and enter data, but not be able to edit the formatting of the cell. This is currently easy to attain. However, many of my cells have hidden formulas which I don't want the user to edit but I do want the user to be able to drag those cells down to apply the formula(s) to cells in subsequent rows. But currently, if the formulas in cells are hidden from the user being able to edit them, those formulas also cannot be applied to cells in subsequent rows when the user drags them. Likewise, in some of my financial spreadsheets, I have certain columns of cells with auto-calculations/formulas locked against user edit. When I need to select an entire row to drag and apply the formatting and formulas for each of its cells to the next row, I can't do it because Excel throws an error when attempting to drag a row containing one or more locked cells.

Excel needs 2 or 3 levels of protecting each cell in a worksheet where you can:
a. specify particular cells are locked against any form of user selecting or editing (complete lock down of those cells).
b. specify other particular cells in the same worksheet are locked against user edit, but can still be selected in order to copy their values, and their format/formula can also be dragged and applied to other cells.
c. specify particular cells are unlocked for editing while their formulas ARE locked against editing, but those formulas can still be passed and applied to other cells when dragged.
d. specify particular cells in the same worksheet are unlocked for editing while their formulas are locked against editing and those formulas cannot be passed or applied to other cells when dragged.

Excel has the potential to become one of the greatest, most versatile and useful apps on the planet - if Microsoft would just put in functionality its users actually need instead of continually adding bloat with useless features.

Example:

A table of 5 columns is in "A to E".

A pivot table of these 5 columns is in columns "F and G".

I scroll up and down in the table and change certain entries. I like to refresh the pivot table, but I have scroll back up to see the pivot table before I can refresh it.

Alternatively, I may be filtering the table and making some changes to some entries. I have to un-filter the table, as the pivot table disappears when filters are applied to the table, before I can refresh the pivot table and see how it has changed with my changes to the table.

Than you