MS-Excel / General Formatting

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Switching among Open Workbooks

If you have multiple workbooks open, the workbooks usually appear maximized on-screen so that you can view only one workbook at a time. To switch the active display among workbooks, use one of the following methods:

1. Click the View tab on the Ribbon, click the Switch Windows button, and then select one of the workbook names in the menu that appears.
2. Press Ctrl+F6 or Ctrl+Tab to cycle the active display among the open workbooks.

Using a Workspace File

The term workspace refers to the layout of all the open workbooks - their screen positions and window sizes.

You may have a project that uses two or more workbooks, and you may like to arrange the windows in a certain way to make them easy to access at a later time. Fortunately, Excel enables you to save your entire workspace to a file. After you open the workspace file, Excel sets up the workbooks exactly as they were when you saved your workspace.

Opening a workspace file

To open a workspace file, follow the steps outlined for "Opening Nonstandard Files," earlier in this part, except in Step 2, select Workspaces (*.xlw) from the drop-down list (Windows XP) or menu (Windows Vista). Excel opens all the workbooks that you originally saved in the workspace.

Saving a workspace file

To save your workspace, follow these steps:

1. Click the View tab on the Ribbon and then click the Save Workspace button. Excel displays the Save Workspace dialog box.
2. Use the filename that Excel proposes (for example, resume.xlw or resume), or enter a different name in the File Name text box.
   Windows XP: In the Save In drop-down box, navigate to where you want to save the workspace.
   Windows Vista: If the Folders window is not displayed, click Browse Folders, click Folders to display the Folders window, and then select the folder in which to save the workspace.
3. Click Save.

A workspace file contains not the workbooks themselves but only the information that Excel needs to recreate the workspace. Excel saves the workbooks in standard workbook files. If you distribute a workspace file to a coworker, therefore, make sure that you also include the workbook files that the workspace file refers to.