Part I: Getting Started with Excel
The book.xltx template is not used if you choose File ➪ New and choose Blank Workbook from the list of tem-
plates. That command results in a default workbook and provides a way to override the custom book.xltx tem-
plate if you need to do so.
Creating a worksheet template
You can also create a single sheet template named sheet.xltx. Use the same procedure
described for book.xltx. The sheet.xltx template is used when you insert a new
worksheet.
Editing your template
After you create your book.xltx template, you may discover that you need to change it.
You can open the template file and edit it just like any other workbook. After you make
your changes, save the file to its original location and close it.
Resetting the default workbook
If you create a book.xltx (or book.xltm) file and then decide that you’d rather use the
standard default settings, simply delete (or rename) the book.xltx (or book.xltm) tem-
plate file. Excel then uses its built-in default settings for new workbooks.
Using custom workbook templates
The book.xltx template discussed in the preceding section is a special type of template
that determines default settings for new workbooks. This section discusses other types of
templates, referred to as custom workbook templates, which are simply workbooks that you
set up as the basis for new, specific types of workbooks.
Creating custom templates
Creating a custom workbook template can eliminate repeating work. Assume that you cre-
ate a monthly sales report that consists of your company’s sales by region, plus several
summary calculations and charts. You can create a template file that consists of everything
except the input values. Then when it’s time to create your report, you can open a work-
book based on the template, fill in the blanks, and be finished.
You could, of course, just use the previous month’s workbook and save it with a different name. This is prone to
errors, however, because you easily can forget to use the Save As command and accidentally overwrite the previous
month’s file. Another option is to choose File ➪ Open and choose Open as Copy in the Open dialog box. (This com-
mand appears when you click the arrow on the Open button.) Opening a file as a copy creates a new workbook from
an existing one, but it uses a different name to ensure that the old file is not overwritten.
