Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365. 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 September 18, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Excel in Microsoft 365


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.

  7. Using the Screen Size drop-down list, select the screen resolution you believe most of your users will have.
  8. Click on OK to close the Web Options dialog box.
  9. 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 Excel in Microsoft 365. 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

Editing AutoText Entries Directly

Editing AutoText entries, and particularly deleting them, can be cumbersome if you have a lot of changes to make. There ...

Discover More

Creating a Drawing Object

Creating simple drawing objects is easy in Excel. All you need to do is use the large number of drawing tools available ...

Discover More

Filtering to a Date Range in the Past

If you have a large number of data records, each with an associated date, you might want to filter that data so you see ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Pulling Apart a URL

Excel provides a good number of worksheet functions that can help you pick apart text strings in various ways. In this ...

Discover More

Using Drag-and-Drop to Create a Hyperlink

If you open workbooks in two instances of Excel, you can use drag-and-drop techniques to create hyperlinks from one ...

Discover More

Drop-Down List of Hyperlinks

Creating a drop-down list with Excel's data validation feature can be a nice touch for a worksheet. What if you want the ...

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.

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 5 - 5?

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.