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Function Arguments dialog box loses focus during vlookup on a different workbook - Excel 2016

Anonymous
2018-01-12T18:52:59+00:00

Upgraded today to Office 2016.  When conducting vlookup between tabs within the same workbook, focus remains on the function arguments dialog box.  When conducting vlookup against a different workbook, lose focus on the box and since the box is "before" the last location, must [Alt]+[Shift]+[Tab] to get focus back on the dialog box, else Alt+Tab through all open programs or switch to mouse.  I did not have this issue in Office 2010 and suspect it's not the intended UX.  Could not locate an "option" that would change this experience.  Suggestions?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-01-13T00:50:58+00:00

    Hi Marian,

    The challenges that you are having when you try to use the VLOOKUP function in Excel 2016 may be related to some settings that you need to configure first to have the formula work as expected. However, since you mentioned that you just upgraded to the latest version of Excel, it is also possible that the Excel application itself is having issues. At this point, we have a few options.

    First, we may run the online Office repair tool to make sure that there are no underlying issues with Excel. To do this, check this article for the procedures. If it turns out that there are no issues within the application, we can then conclude the first possible cause of the issue which is the settings of the application. If that would be the case, we highly suggest that you visit our Excel Community forum.

    Should you have any other concerns, don’t hesitate to let us know.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-01-16T18:55:53+00:00

    After further comparison in functions from Office 2010 to Office 2016, within my team, we found that the Excel Function Arguments box is not a separate window in 2010, though it is in 2016.  Of note, when that window is created now, it is placed in order before the active window, and has focus.  This is what necessitates some additional keystrokes for those of us who actively avoid using a mouse.

    While we preferred function when it was integrated with the sheet on which the vlookup started (so it never actually lost focus), I believe we have discovered a few ways to retrain ourselves to make more effective use of the new functionality.  I will take consolation in that emailing a spreadsheet no longer holds both Excel and Outlook hostage...while perhaps not directly related, makes up for the small loss.

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