{"id":2134,"date":"2026-06-19T16:26:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T08:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/?p=2134"},"modified":"2026-03-28T07:40:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T07:40:24","slug":"how-to-use-applicationleft-in-the-xlwings-api-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/how-to-use-applicationleft-in-the-xlwings-api-way\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Application.Left in the xlwings API way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <code>Application.Left<\/code> property in the xlwings API is a read-write attribute that allows you to get or set the distance, in points, from the left edge of the screen to the left edge of the main Excel application window. This property is part of the Excel object model and is accessible through xlwings, enabling you to programmatically control the positioning of the Excel window on the user&#8217;s display. This can be particularly useful for automating the layout of multiple applications or ensuring Excel opens in a specific location for consistency across sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Functionality:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Get:<\/strong> Retrieve the current left position of the Excel application window relative to the screen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Set:<\/strong> Adjust the left position of the Excel application window to a new coordinate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Syntax:<\/strong><br>In xlwings, you access this property via the <code>app<\/code> object, which represents the Excel application instance. The syntax is straightforward:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code># To get the current left position\nleft_position = app.api.Left\n\n# To set a new left position\napp.api.Left = new_value<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Parameters:<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>new_value<\/code>: A numeric value (float or integer) representing the new left position in points. One point is 1\/72 of an inch. The value is relative to the screen&#8217;s left edge; setting it to 0 aligns the window&#8217;s left edge with the screen&#8217;s left edge. Negative values can move the window partially off-screen, while positive values shift it to the right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Example Usage:<\/strong><br>Here are practical code instances demonstrating how to use the <code>Application.Left<\/code> property with xlwings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Getting the Current Left Position:<\/strong><br>This example retrieves the current left position of the Excel window and prints it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\n# Connect to the active Excel instance\napp = xw.apps.active\n# Get the left position\ncurrent_left = app.api.Left\nprint(f\"The Excel window is {current_left} points from the left edge of the screen.\")<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Setting the Left Position to a Specific Value:<\/strong><br>This example moves the Excel window to a new left position, such as 100 points from the left edge.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\n# Connect to the active Excel instance\napp = xw.apps.active\n# Set the left position to 100 points\napp.api.Left = 100\nprint(\"Excel window has been moved to 100 points from the left edge.\")<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Centering the Excel Window Horizontally:<\/strong><br>This example calculates the screen width (using the <code>Width<\/code> property of the application window) and sets the left position to center the window horizontally. Note that this requires knowing the screen&#8217;s width or using additional properties; here, we assume a screen width of 1440 points for demonstration.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\napp = xw.apps.active\nscreen_width = 1440 # Example screen width in points\nwindow_width = app.api.Width # Get the current width of the Excel window\n# Calculate centered left position\ncentered_left = (screen_width - window_width) \/ 2\napp.api.Left = centered_left\nprint(f\"Excel window centered at {centered_left} points from the left.\")<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"4\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Adjusting Position Based on User Input or Conditions:<\/strong><br>This example shows how to dynamically adjust the left position, such as moving the window further right if it&#8217;s currently too close to the left edge.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\napp = xw.apps.active\nif app.api.Left &lt; 50:\n    app.api.Left = 200 # Move to 200 points if too far left\n    print(\"Window moved to a more rightward position.\")\nelse:\n    print(\"Window position is acceptable.\")<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The `Application.Left` property in the xlwings API is a read-write attribute that allows you to get &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-xlwings-api-reference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3261,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2134\/revisions\/3261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}