Excel 2008 problem with secondary external monitor

[b.c.]

I've found what appears to be an annoying bug in Excel 2008 for Mac.

Can anybody here using Excel 2008 with an external monitor check if you have the same problem?

setup: MacBook Pro Core2Duo, OS X 10.5.1, Excel 2008, plus external monitor (1680x1050 resolution)

problem: when you drag a document window in Excel 2008 from the main screen to the secondary screen, that window CANNOT be positioned on the 2nd monitor towards the top of the 2nd monitor, if the 2 displays are staggered vertically (using the System Preferences/Displays/Arrangement settings)

because my 2 displays are different size and have different vertical height on my desktop, I use the System Preferences->Displays->Arrangement setting to arrange the virtual workspaces vertically so that horizontal lines/windows etc spanning both displays are contiguous/level. i.e. if I drag a window across, it doesn't suddenly "jump" up or down in vertical position, instead it seems just like one large display (albeit, a non rectangular one)

in this case, the menubar height on the main LCD is partway up the side of the adjacent external monitor.

the problem with Excel is that the virtual height of the menubar CONSTRAINS the document windows EVEN ON THE EXTERNAL MONITOR! the top part of the screen is blocked off to the window, as if the menubar extended straight across both displays (therefore in the middle of the ext display)

Neither Word 2008, Powerpoint 2008, nor Entourage 2008 have this problem. I can (as expected) drag their windows over to the other display and then up anywhere including the top of the displays. Similarly, every previous version of MS Office I've used on the Mac (from v.X and prior) has worked correctly on a dual monitor setup. And of course it goes without saying that every other application on the Mac behaves correctly with dual monitor - it's only Excel 2008 that has this problem.

one other observation - if I drag an Excel window across to the external monitor, it's "stuck" in the lower half of the screen as described above. but if I then zoom out the window - either by the Window->Zoom Window menubar command, or by clicking on the green zoom button in top left of the window - the window correctly expands to full screen on the external display. But when you then try to drag the window anywhere, it immediately jumps back down to the the constrained space "below" the imaginary height of the menubar back on the main LCD.

I'm not sure where to report this bug to Microsoft, the first attempt simply got back a reply to contact their Pay-Per-Incident technical support, which is no use to me in this case as it's most certainly just a bug. so I have zero expectation that this problem can be solved by tech support, but rather I guess I have to wait for some future update to Excel....

anyhow, if anyone else here could confirm they see the same problem, that would help.

thanks!

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

I've found what appears to be an annoying bug in Excel 2008 for Mac.

Can anybody here using Excel 2008 with an external monitor check if you have
the same problem?

setup: MacBook Pro Core2Duo, OS X 10.5.1, Excel 2008, plus external monitor
(1680x1050 resolution)

problem: when you drag a document window in Excel 2008 from the main screen to
the secondary screen, that window CANNOT be positioned on the 2nd monitor
towards the top of the 2nd monitor, if the 2 displays are staggered vertically
(using the System Preferences/Displays/Arrangement settings)

because my 2 displays are different size and have different vertical height on
my desktop, I use the System Preferences->Displays->Arrangement setting to
arrange the virtual workspaces vertically so that horizontal lines/windows etc
spanning both displays are contiguous/level. i.e. if I drag a window across,
it doesn't suddenly "jump" up or down in vertical position, instead it seems
just like one large display (albeit, a non rectangular one)

in this case, the menubar height on the main LCD is partway up the side of the
adjacent external monitor.

the problem with Excel is that the virtual height of the menubar CONSTRAINS
the document windows EVEN ON THE EXTERNAL MONITOR! the top part of the screen
is blocked off to the window, as if the menubar extended straight across both
displays (therefore in the middle of the ext display)

Neither Word 2008, Powerpoint 2008, nor Entourage 2008 have this problem. I
can (as expected) drag their windows over to the other display and then up
anywhere including the top of the displays. Similarly, every previous version
of MS Office I've used on the Mac (from v.X and prior) has worked correctly on
a dual monitor setup. And of course it goes without saying that every other
application on the Mac behaves correctly with dual monitor - it's only Excel
2008 that has this problem.

one other observation - if I drag an Excel window across to the external
monitor, it's "stuck" in the lower half of the screen as described above. but
if I then zoom out the window - either by the Window->Zoom Window menubar
command, or by clicking on the green zoom button in top left of the window -
the window correctly expands to full screen on the external display. But when
you then try to drag the window anywhere, it immediately jumps back down to
the the constrained space "below" the imaginary height of the menubar back on
the main LCD.

I'm not sure where to report this bug to Microsoft, the first attempt simply
got back a reply to contact their Pay-Per-Incident technical support, which is
no use to me in this case as it's most certainly just a bug. so I have zero
expectation that this problem can be solved by tech support, but rather I
guess I have to wait for some future update to Excel....

anyhow, if anyone else here could confirm they see the same problem, that
would help.

thanks!

I can confirm this with OS 10.1.44 also. The vertical movement is
constrained to go no higher than it would go on the main monitor. I¹ll
report it for you.

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

I can confirm this with OS 10.1.44 also. The vertical movement is constrained
to go no higher than it would go on the main monitor. I¹ll report it for you.

OOPS, I don¹t really have that version. I meant 10.4.11

 

[b.c.]

Hi Bob

thanks for confirming the problem and offering to report it.

hopefully there'll be a solution soon - Excel is actually the main reason I use a 2nd monitor, so right now it's pretty useless...

thanks again

 

[Jonathan]

I have the same problem using Leopard on a 15 inch MacBook Pro and a 23 inch external cinema display. When I use spaces to zoom out I can reposition the Excel window but then the minute I drag it at all it jumps back down such that it never goes above the level of the menubar.

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

I have the same problem using Leopard on a 15 inch MacBook Pro and a 23 inch
external cinema display. When I use spaces to zoom out I can reposition the
Excel window but then the minute I drag it at all it jumps back down such that
it never goes above the level of the menubar.

Yes, this is a recognized problem. Microsoft is aware of the issue. However,
there is no telling when (or if) it will be fixed.

 

[b.c.]

hello Bob

does it help if additional people report this problem to Microsoft?
(if so, where to report it)

or is it best just to sit and wait (and hope) for a fix?

I notice there is a list of known issues on this site, but this bug isn't on the list...

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

hello Bob

does it help if additional people report this problem to Microsoft?
(if so, where to report it)

or is it best just to sit and wait (and hope) for a fix?

I notice there is a list of known issues on this site, but this bug isn't on
the list...

It¹s just like voting, of course it helps if additional people report the
problem. Go to Send Feedback in the help menu. We are all waiting for a
fix. The more people that report the issue, the more prevalent the problem
will appear to Microsoft, and the greater the likelihood that it will get a
higher priority to fix.

 

[harlo16]

Bob,

I can't even move an '08 excel document from my laptop to the external monitor at all. Any help with this one? Would Leopard help?

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Bob,

I can't even move an '08 excel document from my laptop to the external monitor
at all. Any help with this one? Would Leopard help?

Please post to only one thread. I answered you in your other post.

 

[Jason Schwanz]

Same issue here. I've got my external above my laptop screen, and I can't move the Excel file to the top monitor. The "workaround" that I don't know if I like yet was to make the external monitor my default monitor. I can now look at Excel files on both screens, but it should work the other way regardless of this workaround.

 

[Bob Greenblatt]

Same issue here. I've got my external above my laptop screen, and I can't move
the Excel file to the top monitor. The "workaround" that I don't know if I
like yet was to make the external monitor my default monitor. I can now look
at Excel files on both screens, but it should work the other way regardless of
this workaround.

Yes it should, but it doesn¹t! Microsoft is aware of the problem. You should
also send feedback via the Help menu.

 

[Melissa Tucker]

Same problem! I'm on a PowerBook G4 running OS 10.4.11. Excel is the main application I use the external monitor for, so this is very very irritating.

 

[b.c.]

I just installed the Office 2008 12.0.1 Update, released today 3/11/08

- I confirm that the original problem is now fixed with the update. hurray, I can now use my 2nd monitor with Excel!

thanks again Bob for your help.