In this lesson you will learn how to save, close, and open workbook files, and how to create new workbooks. You also learn how to locate misplaced files.
Whatever you type into a workbook is stored only in your computer's temporary memory. If you exit Excel, that data will be lost, so it is important to save your workbook files to disk regularly. The first time you save a workbook to disk, you have to name it. Here's how you do it:
Windows 95: File Extension Excel for Windows 95 automatically adds .XLS to the file name as an extension. The full file name in the example in Step 2 above is then C:\MY DOCUMENTS\1996 BUDGET.XLS. By default, extensions are hidden, but you can display them. Choose View Options in the Windows Explorer, click the View tab, and select the Hide MS-DOS file extensions for file types that are registered option to remove the check mark. This turns off the option and will display the extensions for file names. In Excel 5, the extensions display by default and you cannot hide them.
Figure 6.1
The Save As dialog box.
Timesaver Tip: Default Directory You can set up a default directory where Excel will save all your workbook files. Open the Tools menu, and select Options. Click on the General tab. Click inside the Default File Location text box, and type a complete path to the drive and directory you want to use (the directory must be an existing one). Select OK.
To save a file you have already saved (and named), simply click on the Save button, or press Ctrl+S. Or open the File menu, and select Save. Excel automatically saves the workbook (including any changes you entered) without displaying the Save As dialog box.
Windows 95: Control Menu Shortcut In Excel for Windows 95, you can right-click on the Control Menu and display a shortcut menu. This menu contains the following commands: Save, Save As, Print, Page Setup, Spelling, New Window, Arrange, and Zoom. These are some of the commands you'll use most frequently with your workbook files. The Control Menu shortcut menu is not available in Excel 5.
Sometimes, you may want to change a workbook but keep a copy of the original workbook, or you may want to create a new workbook by modifying an existing one. You can do this by saving the workbook under another name or in another folder. Here's how you do it:
Timesaver Tip: Backup Files You can have Excel create a backup copy of each workbook file you save. That way, if anything happens to the original file, you can use the backup copy. To turn the backup feature on, click on the Options button in the Save As dialog box, select Always Create Backup, and click on OK. To use the backup file, choose File Open to display the Open dialog box, and select Backup Files from the Files of Type list. Double-click on the backup file in the files and folders list to open the file.
You can create a new workbook by modifying an existing one or by opening a blank workbook and starting from scratch. Here's how you open a blank workbook:
Timesaver Tip: Instant Workbook You can bypass the New dialog box by simply clicking on the New Workbook button in the Standard toolbar. Excel opens a new workbook window without displaying the New dialog box.
Figure 6.2
The General tab in the New dialog box.
Windows 95: New Workbook The New Workbook feature in Excel for Windows 95 and Excel 5 are similar. The New dialog box in Excel for Windows 95 has two tabs: General and Spreadsheet Solutions. The General option lets you create a new workbook. The new Spreadsheet Solutions option lets you create a new workbook based on a template. See Lesson 22, "Working with Templates" for more information on creating a new workbook using a template. In Excel 5, the New dialog box contains a list of new workbook options such as Workbook and Slides.
Closing a workbook removes its workbook window from the screen. To close a workbook, do this:
Timesaver Tip: In a Hurry? To quickly close a workbook, press Ctrl+F4. You can also click the Close (X) button located in the upper right corner of the workbook. If you have more than one workbook open, you can close all of them by holding down the Shift key while selecting File Close All.
If you have closed a workbook and then later you want to use it again, you must open it. Here's how you do it:
Figure 6.3
The Open dialog box.
Timesaver Tip: Recently Used Workbooks Near the bottom of the File menu is a list of the most recently opened workbooks. You can quickly open the workbook by selecting it from the File menu.
Windows 95: Preview Workbook Before Opening It Before you open a workbook in Excel for Windows 95, you can preview the contents of the workbook to see if it's the file you want to open. Click the Preview button in the Open toolbar at the top of the Open dialog box. Excel displays the contents of the workbook in a window on the right side of the dialog box. This new feature isn't available in Excel 5.
If you forgot where you saved a file, Excel can help you with its new Search for Files option in the Open dialog box. Here's what you do to have Excel hunt for a file:
Figure 6.4
The Search options in the Open dialog box ask you to specify what you want to search
for.
Panic Button: File Not Found? If the file you want is not listed in the files and folders list, you can specify more detailed search criteria by using the Advanced Find feature. If you click the Advanced button in the Open dialog box, Excel displays the Advanced Find dialog box. Enter the search criteria such as property, condition, or value. Click the Find Now button to find the file you want.
Windows 95: Search for Misplaced Files The new Search options in the Open dialog box are not available in Excel 5. The Advanced Find feature in Excel for Windows 95 replaces the File, Find File command in Excel 5.
Sometimes, you may have more than one workbook open at a time. There are several ways to move among open workbooks:
Plain English: The Active Window If you have more than one workbook open, only one of them is considered active--the workbook where the cell selector is located. The title bar of the active workbook will be darker than the title bars of other open workbooks.
In this lesson, you learned how to save, close, and open workbooks, as well as find misplaced workbook files. The next lesson teaches you how to work with the worksheets in a workbook.
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