Default Folder & Template (Excel Tune-up - Part 3)

This week: Default Folder and Auto-Start Up Template

This is the 3rd instalment in my series of how to set up Excel so that it saves you time.

Default Folder Location (for opening and saving files)

Take 30 seconds to set your most commonly accessed folder.

File > Options > Save > Default local file location e.g P:\Finance\2018

The number of times I see people drilling through a myriad of folders 30 times a day to get to their team folder in order to save or open a file is disheartening when it's a 30 second fix!

Save an auto-start template - it's super super simple

Don't re-invent the wheel every time. Save your default Excel formatting and layout settings so that Excel AUTOMATICALLY loads them each time you start Excel.

With the advent of Power Pivot I use a template to to have a Calendar Table and a couple of Measure Tables already built into my file when I open it.

But even much simpler things can be set up such as default colour scheme you like, or if you always use a particular number format such as negatives to turn red with brackets.

Just set up your Excel file just the way you like it then do a search for a folder called XLSTART

It's often found somewhere like C:\Users\ [username] \AppData\ Roaming\ Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART\

Then do a SaveAs Book.xltx in that folder and you're done.

Each time you start Excel that file will be loaded automatically.

Hope this is useful, please share and let me know if it is

Wyn

For previous instalments...

Part 1

Part 2

https://accessanalytic.com.au/free-excel-stuff/