M
ICROSOFT
E
XCEL
2011
Open, create, and save Workbooks ... 3
Open an existing Excel Workbook... 3
Create a new Workbook ... 6
Save a Workbook ... 6
Set workbook properties ... 8
Create and modify workbook templates ... 11
From Excel Workbook Gallery ... 11
Using an existing workbook ... 12
Manage workbooks across multiple versions ... 15
Common scenarios for using Excel across multiple versions... 15
Save Excel files in different formats of Excel versions ... 16
The following training document is using information from Lynda.com and Microsoft Office Excel 2011 Help
Open, create, and save Workbooks
Open an existing Excel Workbook
There are three options to open an Excel file through Open dialog box
From the Menu Bar, click File Open
From the Toolbar, click Open button
Command keyboard shortcut: control +
O
(⌘O) In the Open dialog box, navigate to find a desired Excel file to open, select it and then click Open button
TIP
For quickly navigating Excel files in the Open dialog box, by limiting files that are displayed within the dialog box, click the Enable list button and choose one of criteria options from the list such as: All Excel Files, Excel Templates, Workbooks….
To change options on how the workbook is opened, click the Open list button and select a desired option such as
The original copy of the workbook
The copy of the workbook
Create a new Workbook
There are two ways to create a new workbook
From the Toolbar, click New Workbook button
Command keyboard shortcut: command + N (⌘N) By default, each new workbook has one worksheet.
NOTE Use Excel Preferences dialog box to change the default number of worksheets in a new workbook
Save a Workbook
There are three ways to save a workbook
From the Menu Bar, click File select Save or Save as option
Save – save any changes in an existing workbook
Save as – save any changes in an existing workbook and create a separate workbook with a different filename
Command keyboard shortcut:
For Save option: command + S (⌘S)
For Save as option: shift + command + S (⌘S)If you select Save as option, the Save as dialog box will display. Do the following:
Change filename in Save as field
Click Where list button to locate a desired destination to save the workbook
Click Format list button to change the workbook format if desired
Set workbook properties
When you create an Excel workbook, the program records the author’s name, the date and time the Workbook was created as well as when the file was last modified, under workbook properties. To set workbook properties, do the following:
From the Menu Bar, click File Properties
The Properties dialog box appear
Under Summary tab, you can information related to the workbook such as:
Title
Author
Company
Keyword – allows for easier searching when the workbook will be saved on a server
Comments
Under General tab, the general information of the workbook will be displayed, such as the filename, the file type, the location where it’s stored, the current file size, when the file was created as well as when the file was last modified
Under Statistics tab, you can view the statistics information is related to the workbook such as when the file was created, when the file was last modified, when was last saved, and who saved it last
Under Contents tab, the information is related to what the workbook contains
Under Custom tab, you can add your own custom information, such as creating a custom properties
Create and modify workbook templates
If you create workbooks with the same structure but different data content more than once or twice a year, you should consider creating a template, which is a workbook that contains existing formatting and headings so that you only need to plug in your data. Templates are especially valuable for those of documents which are used frequently, such as weekly presentations, application forms, and expense reports. In Office 2011, there are a quite bit number of templates that are installed as a part of the installation components
From Excel Workbook Gallery
Open the Excel Workbook Gallery From the Toolbar, click New Template button
From the Menu Bar, click File New from Templates
Command keyboard shortcut: shift + command + P (⌘P) Select a desired template from the gallery and
Press return key on the keyboard or click Choose button at the right bottom of the gallery window to create your workbook
Using an existing workbook
Open an existing workbook that you want to use as a template
TIP Some tips for creating a template:
Keep a generic title which can be changed easily to reflect the specific report you are creating
Make headers remain constant
Clear data contents in the workbook that would be specific to a particular report
Select the data range on the workbook
To save the document as a template, from the Menu Bar, click File Save as
In the Save As dialog box, do the following:
Change the filename in the Save as field if desired, for example SalesReportTemplate
Click the Where list button, to select the destination to save the template, for example My Templates
TIP It is important to save workbook templates in the My Templates folder so Excel looks for the custom templates under My Templates in the Excel Workbook Gallery
Click Format list button to change the format from Excel Workbook (.xlsx) to Excel Template (.xltx) from the list
Click Save button
Manage workbooks across multiple versions
Common scenarios for using Excel across multiple versions
Save Excel files in different formats of Excel versions
Open an Excel file saved under Excel 2011 and Excel 2008 version for Mac or Excel 2007 and Excel 2010 for Windows under the two extensions of the file format
Excel Workbook (.xlsx)
Excel Template (.xltx)
From the Menu Bar, click File choose Save as In the Save As dialog box, do the following:
Click Format list button and select a desired format from the list so that other users can open the file with any version of Microsoft Excel (Excel 97 through Excel 2004 for Mac or Excel 97 through Excel 2003 for Windows)
Excel 97-2004 Workbook (.xls)
Excel 97-2004 Template (.xlt)
NOTE Some functions of Excel 2011 for Mac or Excel 2010 for Windows, such as Sparklines, will not be available in other previous versions of Microsoft Excel
Click Save or Compatibility Report button to check the compatibility issue before saving the file
TIP Before saving a Excel 2011 file under a different verison format, it’s recommended to use the Compatibility Report to check if there are any issues.
In the Save As dialog box, click Format list button and select a desired file format
Click Compatibility Report button to run the report
If Excel finds any compatibility issue, the pop-up windows will be displayed
Click Continue Saving to save the file under a different format anyway
