Loading Profile...
Excel and Word for Mac windows resize themselves when working across two monitors
When I have documents open on both of my monitors, in either Excel or Word, switching between them causes windows to move around and resize by themselves.
My setup: Mac OS X.5.7 on a 13" widescreen MacBook (landscape format) with a 17" Dell external monitor in portrait format.
The steps below are probably not the only ways to repro this, but they replicate specific situations where I've encountered this behaviour.
Repro steps in Excel:
1) open a spreadsheet and maximise it to the portrait monitor
2) open a second spreadsheet and maximise it to the landscape monitor (i.e. the laptop's built in screen)
3) open a third spreadhseet, and watch one or both of the others become smaller windows and move
Repro steps in Word:
1) open a document, move it to the landscape monitor and expand the window to the full height of that monitor
2) open a second document, and watch the first one jump to the portrait monitor.
Clearly this is not the gravest problem a piece of software could possibly suffer from, but it does make it harder for me to take full advantage of the dual-monitor setup by seeing multiple documents side by side.
My setup: Mac OS X.5.7 on a 13" widescreen MacBook (landscape format) with a 17" Dell external monitor in portrait format.
The steps below are probably not the only ways to repro this, but they replicate specific situations where I've encountered this behaviour.
Repro steps in Excel:
1) open a spreadsheet and maximise it to the portrait monitor
2) open a second spreadsheet and maximise it to the landscape monitor (i.e. the laptop's built in screen)
3) open a third spreadhseet, and watch one or both of the others become smaller windows and move
Repro steps in Word:
1) open a document, move it to the landscape monitor and expand the window to the full height of that monitor
2) open a second document, and watch the first one jump to the portrait monitor.
Clearly this is not the gravest problem a piece of software could possibly suffer from, but it does make it harder for me to take full advantage of the dual-monitor setup by seeing multiple documents side by side.
I’m frustrated
6
people have this problem
I have this problem, too!
Tell me when someone solves it.
The more people who report this problem, the more it gets noticed.
The more people who report this problem, the more it gets noticed.
Create a customer community for your own organization
Plans starting at $19/month
-
Inappropriate?This is an issue that we already know about. Since it's an issue that only impacts a pretty small subset of users, it hasn't quite made the cut yet.4 Comments
Add a comment
This solves the problem
-
Pardon me, Nadyne, but this problem affects EVERY user, not a pretty small subset. What you really mean is that this is a problem that a pretty large subset of users can live with.
I think your system for addressing problems needs revision. If you determine that a window-sizing problem is very minor, fine, and go fix the major problems first. But the minor problems need to be assigned a time frame after which they will be fixed, not just an low importance level.
In other words, your words that "it hasn't quite made the cut YET" should be honored eventually. After many months I have come to believe that your word "yet" is gratuitous and dishonest.
Low priority problems become very frustrating to the user after being encountered on a daily basis. No commitment by the software provider to a DEFINED TIME FRAME when they will be fixed simply adds to the slow burn we feel. -
I understand your frustration, but I'm sorry to say that I can't commit to a timeframe in which this will be addressed.
-
Nice one, Nadyne. I am also one of the "subset", and my irritation at having to manually resize your product's buggy windows every couple of minutes is compounded by your attitude. I'll see whether Pages does what I need, in which case I will no longer have a problem (apart from the money I shelled out on a deficient product with off-hand support).
-
I'm very sorry. I understand your frustration. I use two monitors too when I'm in my office, so I experience this myself and understand how that little bit of annoyance can really weigh on you.
However, my goal here is to be honest with you. We have to prioritise what fixes we make. Our prioritisation is based on several factors, including the severity of the issue, the number of impacted users, and the difficulty of making the change.
In this case, this is an issue that doesn't impact many users. Most users only use a single monitor, and most users who do use two monitors don't use one monitor in portrait mode. Likewise, the impact of this issue isn't very large, it's a matter of resizing your window. I don't say this to minimise your frustration (as I said: I experience this issue myself!), but rather to say that an issue with window resizing isn't as impactful as an issue that causes a crash or that impacts application performance.
I'm sorry that I can't give you a better answer here, but I do want to give you an honest answer. -
Inappropriate?Thanks for the quick reply! While I would like to think the world revolves around my issue, I must admit you have a fair point.
-
Inappropriate?I have the same problem using a MacBook Unibody and a 24" landscape monitor. To be more specific, open MS office windows on my external monitor resize/reposition to the exact size/location on my MacBook as pop-up dialogs from a "Get Info" File menu selection in Finder do. Essentially all open Word or Excel documents on the external monitor resize to a tall, narrow window in an offset stack on the left side of my internal monitor every time a dialog box opens in Office (like Print). Very annoying when you have 4-5 documents open while editing across them.
I’m sad
-
Inappropriate?I have the very same problem, both with my MacBook Pro at work and my old white MacBook at home. Both get paired with different external monitors, so I don't think it has anything to do with the exact size/ model of the external screen or MacBook... I had somehow hoped that this problem would be solved with the last Office- update (Which btw in my opinion made at least Excel a lot faster, so thanks for that!), but obviously it didn't. Very annoying!
I’m frustrated
-
Inappropriate?Thanks Nadyne - your response has confirmed my decision to move to OpenOffice for the Mac was the right thing to do. In the short 2 months I've used their program I am as productive as I ever was with Office ... without the random resizing of windows.
-
Inappropriate?I have similar. I have unibody macbook that I plug into a the 24'' apple display. When working with the 24'' display I have not had any issues. When I am working with the laptop screen the document window opens really small and will not let me resize. I have tried multiple ways of trying to resize the window and nothing works. -
Inappropriate?I too have the same problem. When I use Word documents whilst connected to my external 24" screen, then work normally. Then, when I disconnect my 15" MacBook Pro and wake it from sleep elsewhere, all my windows in Word 2008 are very small and cannot be resized unless I restart Word. Thus, it is not just a problem affecting those who use external monitors AND use said monitors on portrait mode; it is an issue affecting all those who use Word 2008 on an external monitor and their regular monitor...
Since my understanding is that this has been an issue since initial release, I am wondering if "no timeframe" means "never."
I’m frustrated
1 Comment Add a comment
This solves the problem
-
This is exactly the problem I also encountered using Word 2008.
Its indeed a very annoying issue and the reason I switched to Pages.
I don't understand why Microsoft always has so many problems in solving such annoying issues. What a crap company. -
Inappropriate?Also experiencing this problem. If I could just leave a document open even extended onto the second screen, I'd be fine with it. It's ridiculous that no other piece of software I've used has a similar problem. Even PC ports and Java ports have no problem.
I’m frustrated
-
Inappropriate?Twin monitors on a G5, Leopard. Same problem. Navigation pane grows to huge size too. Hope it gets fixed soon -
Inappropriate?I thought my mind was going .... when it happened the first few times ... wow annoying .... time to switch to pages i guess.
I’m annoyed
EMPLOYEE
