Excel 2010 Bible

Part I: Getting Started with Excel

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Excel workbook files are subject to the same rules that apply to other Windows files. A filename can be

up to 255 characters, including spaces. This length enables you to give meaningful names to your files.

You can’t, however, use any of the following characters in your filenames:

\ (slash)? (question mark)

: (colon) * (asterisk)

“ (quote) < (less than)

> (greater than) | (vertical bar)

You can use uppercase and lowercase letters in your names to improve readability. The filenames

aren’t case sensitive. For example, My 2011 Budget.xlsx and MY 2011 BUDGET.xlsx are equivalent

names.

Filenaming Rules

Note
You can adjust the Versions feature in the Save tab of the Excel Options dialog box. For example, you can
change the autosave time interval (the default is 10 minutes), turn off autosave for a particular workbook, or
disable this feature for all workbooks. n

Specifying a Password .......................................................................................................

In some cases, you may want to specify a password for your workbook. When a user attempts to

open a password-protected workbook, a password must be entered before the file is opened.

To set a password for a workbook, choose File ➪ Info, and click the Protect Workbook button.

This button displays some additional options. Choose Encrypt With Password. Excel displays the

Encrypt Document dialog box, shown in Figure 7.3. Enter the password, and then enter it again.

Click OK, and save the workbook.

When you re-open the workbook, you will be prompted for a password.

FIGURE 7.3

The Encrypt Document dialog box is where you specify a password for your workbook.