Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Specifying Your Target Monitor.

Specifying Your Target Monitor

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 27, 2025)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

If you are developing Web pages in Excel, it is a good idea to have in mind who the user is. The user, obviously, is the person who will view your Web page. However, there are certain assumptions that must be made about the user, and those assumptions will affect how you put your Web page together.

One of the prime considerations is what resolution of monitor the user will be using. This affects the presentation of graphics and text on their page. For instance, a graphic that shows up nicely centered on your screen at a high resolution may not give the desired impact if the user is working at a lower resolution.

You can instruct Excel to make certain assumptions about the user's monitor resolution as you are developing Web pages. You set the target resolution by following these steps:

  1. Display the Excel Options dialog box. (In Excel 2007 click the Office button and then click Excel Options. In Excel 2010 or a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
  2. Click Advanced at the left side of the dialog box.
  3. Scroll through the list of available options until you see the General group.
  4. Click the Web Options button. Excel displays the Web Options dialog box.
  5. Make sure the Pictures tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    6. Figure 1. The Pictures tab of the Web Options dialog box.

  6. Using the Screen Size drop-down list, select the screen resolution you believe most of your users will have.
  7. Click on OK to close the Web Options dialog box.
  8. Click on OK to close the Excel Options dialog box.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6222) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Specifying Your Target Monitor.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Jumping to a Page within a Section

In long documents it is often helpful to jump directly to a particular page. Word provides several tools you can use to ...

Discover More

Aligning Decimal Numbers in Tables

Need to align numbers around their decimal point within a table? It's easy to do by using the three simple steps provided ...

Discover More

Can't Edit Org Charts in Word

Word cand other Office applications are often provided with special add-ins that expand what you can do with the ...

Discover More

Excel Smarts for Beginners! Featuring the friendly and trusted For Dummies style, this popular guide shows beginners how to get up and running with Excel while also helping more experienced users get comfortable with the newest features. Check out Excel 2019 For Dummies today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Dynamic Hyperlinks in Excel

Hyperlinks to many types of Web sites rely on passing parameters in the URL. Knowing this, you can construct a dynamic ...

Discover More

Opening an HTML Page in a Macro

Excel allows you to open HTML pages within the program, which is great for some purposes. What if you want to open a ...

Discover More

Extracting E-mail Addresses from Hyperlinks

If you have a list of hyperlinked e-mail addresses in a worksheet, you may want to extract the addresses from those ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five minus 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.