Excel 2010 Bible

Chapter 7: Understanding Excel Files

147

Choosing your file display preferences ....................................................................

The Open dialog box can display your workbook filenames in several different styles: as a list, with

complete details, as icons, and so on. You control the style by clicking the Views icon and then

selecting from the drop-down list. The style that you choose is entirely up to you.

Saving a Workbook ...........................................................................................................

When you’re working in Excel, your workbook is vulnerable to day-ruining events such as power

failures and system crashes. Therefore, you should save your work often. Saving a file takes only a

few seconds, but re-creating hours of lost work takes many hours.

Many people work on the same workbooks each day. If this describes you, you’ll be happy to know

that Excel can open specific workbook files automatically whenever you start Excel. Any workbooks

placed in the XLStart folder open automatically.

The location of the XLStart folder varies, depending on your Windows version. To determine the loca-

tion of the XLStart folder on your system

1. Choose File ➪ Options and click Trust Center.
   2. Click the Trust Center Settings button.
   3. In the Trust Center dialog box, click the Trusted Locations tab. You’ll see a list of trusted
   locations.
   4. Look for the path for the location described as User Startup. The path might look something
   like this:
   C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\

Another XLStart folder may be located here:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\XLStart\

Any workbook files (excluding template files) stored in either of these XLStart folders open automati-

cally when Excel starts. If one or more files open automatically from an XLStart folder, Excel won’t start

with a blank workbook.

You can specify an alternate startup folder in addition to the XLStart folder. Choose File ➪ Options and

select the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the General section and enter a new folder name in the At

Startup, Open All Files In field. Then, when you start Excel, it automatically opens all workbook files in

both the XLStart folders and the alternate folder that you specified.

Opening Workbooks Automatically