Excel 365 2013 2010 2007 2003

Starting Excel without an Empty Workbook

If you prefer to avoid the empty workbook to be created when Excel starts up, you can do so by editing the command line that is used to start Excel.

How to change the number of sheets for new workbooks

Excel 2016 automatically creates one worksheet in each new workbook, but you can force it to create as many worksheets as you need.

Combining text and formatted values

The Excel TEXT function enables you to specify numbers and date format.

Making a spreadsheet very hidden

Using the Hide command, you can hide the data and formulas from "inquisitive minds". But some of them still can use the Unhide command. Nevertheless, you can completely hide the Excel spreadsheet so that it will be needed some VBA programming to unhide it.

Allow specific users to edit ranges in a protected spreadsheet

Excel offers you an ability to assign user-level permissions to different areas on a protected spreadsheet. You can specify which users can edit a particular range while the spreadsheet is protected. As an option, you can require a password to make changes.

Share workbook and track changes

With Excel built-in tools you can easily work together on workbooks and monitor who, when and what changes made. E.g., track project status and tasks.

Protecting spreadsheet elements

Working with large and complex Excel workbooks, especially when entering large amounts of data, no one is protected from accidental changes in formulas, formats, and other spreadsheet elements. But you can protect yourself from too much work on finding and eliminating such errors by protecting the individual spreadsheet elements.

How to protect spreadsheets

You can significantly reduce the number of errors in data entry in Excel by protecting changes of specific spreadsheets (worksheets) and cells.

View spreadsheets side by side

Sometimes it is necessary to compare two Excel worksheets. E.g., compare balance sheets for different periods of time. You can do it by comparing spreadsheets side by side in two automatically linked windows.

Changing a spreadsheet tabs color

Color code is a perfect way to identify content and draw any attention to it. In Excel, you can easily change the colors of one or more spreadsheet tabs.