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1. Open multiple files with the same file name

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   3 comments  ·  Excel for Windows (Desktop Application) » Opening and Saving Files  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Delete…  ·  Admin →
   not at this time  ·  AdminExcel Team [MSFT] (Product Owner, Office.com) responded

   Thanks for your suggestion! Unfortunately we will not be able to address this in the near future. We’ll keep tracking the voting.

   The reason you can’t have 2 workbooks open with the same name is due to the way that linked workbooks are managed. If you have multiple workbooks open and you create a link between them, Excel shows the filename of the linked file. If there are 2 workbooks with the same name, then the formula would be ambiguous. You can read more about how Excel manages external links here – https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/328440/description-of-link-management-and-storage-in-excel.

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   Anonymous commented  ·  Jul 15, 2019  ·  Edit…  ·  Delete…

   Agree; I have been opening same-filenames in Lotus for almost 30 years. Example: A:\ floppy and C:\ hard drive was the original task. Why do you think/guess Excel disallows? To keep users from confusing themselves about where they are? Or a legit programming reason?

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