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Microsoft Excel 2008

Organizing Worksheets

Organizing the worksheets within your workbook files can make your Excel documents easier to maintain and manage. Worksheets can be moved, renamed, or deleted to make your workbook easy to navigate through. This document covers the following topics:

return to topRenaming Worksheet Tabs

The tabs on the bottom of the worksheets contain the name of each worksheet. You can change the default name of the worksheet to describe its contents.

  1. To select the sheet name, double click the appropriate worksheet tab
    OR
    Press [Control] + click the appropriate worksheet tab » select Rename
    Sheet tabs

  2. Type the new sheet name

  3. Press [Return]
    The worksheet is renamed.

return to topInserting Worksheets

New Excel 2008 workbooks are created automatically with one worksheet. If you need additional sheets, you can easily insert them.

Inserting Worksheets: Mouse Option

This option inserts a new worksheet after the selected worksheet tab.

  1. Press [Control] + click the appropriate worksheet tab » select Insert...
    The Project Gallery dialog box appears.

  2. Select the desired type of worksheet

  3. Click OPEN
    The new worksheet is inserted after the current worksheet.

Inserting Worksheets: Button Option

This option inserts a new worksheet after all other worksheets.

  1. At the far right of the worksheet tabs, click INSERT SHEETInsert Worksheet button
    A new worksheet is added to the right of all other worksheets.

return to topMoving Worksheets

You may want your worksheets in a particular order when printing the final document. You may also want to to group similar worksheets together, or simply rearrange the order for easier access while working on a file. If the original worksheet order no longer fits your needs, you can rearrange worksheets within the same workbook or move a worksheet to another workbook.

Moving Worksheets: Same Workbook, Dialog Box Option

  1. Press [Control] + click the appropriate worksheet tab to be moved » select Move or Copy...
    The Move or Copy dialog box appears.
    Move or Copy dialog box

  2. From the To book pull-down list, select the current workbook

  3. From the Before sheet scroll box, select where the sheet will be moved
    NOTE: The sheet will be placed in front of the sheet you select.

  4. Click OK
    The worksheet is moved.

Moving Worksheets: Same Workbook, Drag and Drop Option

The Drag and Drop option works only if you want to move a worksheet within the same workbook.

  1. Click and hold the SHEET tab of the worksheet to be moved
    A sheet icon and arrow appears.
    Sheet icon and arrow

  2. Drag the sheet icon to the desired location
    The arrow indicates where the sheet will be placed.

  3. Release the mouse button
    The worksheet is moved.

Moving Worksheets: Different Workbook

  1. Open both the worksheet to be moved and the workbook to which it will be moved

  2. Press [Control] + click the appropriate worksheet tab to be moved » select Move or Copy...
    The Move or Copy dialog box appears.
    Move or Copy dialog box

  3. To move the worksheet to an existing workbook, from the To book pull-down list, select the destination workbook
    To move the worksheet to a new workbook, from the To book pull-down list, select (new book)

  4. From the Before sheet scroll box, select where the sheet will be moved
    NOTE: The sheet will be placed in front of the sheet you select.

  5. Click OK
    The worksheet is moved.

return to topCopying Worksheets

You may need to create a copy of a worksheet if the same information is needed in multiple files. Or, you may want to use the same format without having to reformat a new worksheet. For example, if you have created a worksheet for one project but do not want to recreate the worksheet for another project, copying the worksheet saves you the time of creating another worksheet.

Copying Worksheets: Same Workbook

  1. Press [Control] + click the appropriate worksheet tab to be moved » select Move or Copy...
    The Move or Copy dialog box appears.
    Move or Copy dialog box

  2. In the To book pull-down list, select the current workbook

  3. From the Before sheet scroll box, select where the sheet will be located
    NOTE: The sheet copy will be placed in front of the sheet you select.

  4. Select Create a copy

  5. Click OK
    The worksheet is copied.

  6. OPTIONAL: Rename the copy

Copying Worksheets: Different Workbook

  1. Open the worksheet to be copied and the workbook to which it will be copied

  2. Press [Control] + click the appropriate worksheet tab to be moved » select Move or Copy...
    The Move or Copy dialog box appears.
    Move or Copy dialog box

  3. To copy the worksheet into an existing workbook, from the To book pull-down list, select the destination workbook
    To copy the worksheet into a new workbook, from the To book pull-down list, select (new book)

  4. From the Before sheet scroll box, select where you want the worksheet copied
    NOTE: The sheet copy will be placed in front of the sheet you select.

  5. Select Create a copy

  6. Click OK
    The worksheet is copied.

return to topDeleting Worksheets

If you no longer have a need for a particular worksheet, you can delete that sheet from the workbook.

  1. Press [Control] + click the appropriate worksheet tab » select Delete
    A confirmation dialog box appears.

  2. Click OK
    The sheet is deleted.

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