Microsoft 365 has unlocked powerful features for collaboration, making it even easier to share an Excel file or work on a spreadsheet simultaneously using the Excel Co-Authoring functionality. The downside to having multiple users editing a file at the same time is that it may interfere with your viewing of the data. For example, you might try to analyze a column that suddenly disappears because come else has filtered or sorted it.

Now you can create customized views, aka Sheet Views, in Excel so that others can’t interfere with your work. In this article, you’ll learn what Sheet View is and how to create a temporary Sheet View in Excel, remove it, and switch between your custom Sheet Views.

What is Sheet View in Excel?

Sheet Views are an Excel feature that allows you to create different views of the same data in a spreadsheet. It’s extremely useful for collaboration since it allows multiple users to view the same data in different ways at the same time.

If you find that the Excel Sheet View is missing or not working, you might not have the required version of Microsoft 365. If you do, you need to make sure it is saved to OneDrive or SharePoint. Let’s explore how you can enable Sheet View in Excel.

How do I enable Sheet View in Excel?

If you find ‌the Sheet View options disabled, then this is how you can check that your Excel is online.

Open your Excel workbook and click on the file name at the top. A “File Name” drop-down box will appear where you can select the online folder.

Now, you’ll see how easy it is to create a Temporary Sheet View in Excel.

How to create a Temporary Sheet View in Excel?

Sheet Views are temporary because you can easily remove them at any time. This is how you can create a Temporary Sheet View in your Excel.

1. 1. Open an Excel workbook and click on any sheet to make sure it’s active.

1. 2. Head to the “View” tab and click on “New” within the “Sheet View” group.

Notice how your column and row headers are now black, and Excel displays “Temporary View” as a drop-down option in the Sheet View group. Next to your sheet tab name at the bottom, an eye icon should also appear.

1. 3. To remove the “Temporary View”, click “Exit” within the “Sheet View” group.

You can now easily work on your data without being interrupted. In case another user applies a filter or tries to sort data, Excel will ask you whether you want to work on their view or continue to work on your own. Let’s explore how you can use Sheet View in Excel to have full control over how you can view your data.

How to Use Sheet View in Excel?

Excel first allows you to create a Temporary View, which you can easily exit, as shown before. However, if you would like to save the Temporary View, this is what you need to do.

How to save a Sheet View in Excel?

The great thing about Sheet View is that you can save more than one view per sheet.

1. 1. In the “Sheet View” group, click on “Keep”.

1. 2. You should now see the default name of your view has replaced “Temporary View” in the drop-down menu.

However, you can customize the Sheet View name so that it’s easier for you to switch between views. Let’s see how you can rename your custom view.

How to rename a Sheet View in Excel?

Renaming your custom views can be done in two simple steps.

1. 1. Click on “Options” next to the “New” button. Then, select the Sheet View to rename, and select “Rename”.

1. 2. Type in the new name and click “Save”.

But what if you’ve saved different custom views and want to switch between them? Here’s how to do it.

How to switch or leave a Sheet View?

You can switch between your saved custom views from the “Sheet View” drop-down box.

1. 1. To switch to a different Sheet View, click on the drop-down list and select the desired Sheet View. Here, I would like to switch to “Sorted A-Z” a view I saved earlier, which filters the last column and sorts the first column as A-Z.

1. 2. To leave a Sheet View, click “Exit”. You can see how the drop-down box now shows “Default” as the current view.

If you’re wondering whether you can access other views in the shared Excel, you’ll be happy to learn that it’s possible. However, this also means that there is no private view option. As a result, any other user can also see and accidentally change your custom view.

Conclusion

Although Excel Sheet Views might seem like a basic feature, this feature makes collaborative work easier than ever before. You can perform any task on your spreadsheet - basic or complex - and it won’t affect or interfere with your colleagues’ work.

In this article, you have seen how Sheet View makes collaboration in Excel even easier. You should now know to use the Sheet View functionality in Excel in full. You should also know how to create a Temporary View, how to remove it, and how to manage Sheet Views to go back to a specific Sheet View at any time.