EXCEL WORKSHEETS

Lesson 4 - Insert/Delete/Name/Move Worksheets

WORKSHEETS

All Workbooks must contain at least one Worksheet. The maximum number of Worksheets a Workbook can contain is limited only by the available memory of the PC. As a default, Excel places three blank Worksheets in front of you. Each one of these has the default name Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3 at the bottom. By default all Worksheets are identical in that they contain Rows, Columns and Cells (all discussed below).

NOTE: You can change the default of three blank Worksheets by going to File>Options/General and changing Sheets in new workbook: by typing in the number you require.

All Worksheets contains 256 columns and 65,536 rows. Each separate rectangle within the Worksheet is called a Cell. You will notice letters across the top of your Worksheet. These are the names of the columns and go from A through to IV. The numbers down the left hand side of your sheet of graph paper symbolise row headings and go from 1 through to 65,536. Inserting Worksheets

Adding new Worksheets to a Workbook can be done in a number of ways. The most common are:

Go To Home>Insert>Worksheet

Right Click On Another Sheet Name Tab And Select Insert And Then Select Worksheet.
click on icon at the bottom of the screen

There is another way that is not exactly inserting a new Worksheet, but rather making a copy of an existing Worksheet.

To do this, select the Sheet you want to copy then left click on the name tab and holding down the Ctrl key (bottom left hand side of your keyboard), then drag it to one side, then release. This is a great time saver when you have spent hours setting up a Worksheet with all the formatting you want. You will notice that Excel will place a number after the copied sheets name in brackets. This is because we cannot have two Worksheets of the same name in the same Workbook. Name and Renaming Worksheets is covered later. Deleting Worksheets

The logical opposite to inserting Worksheets is Deleting them. This can be done in any of the following ways.

Right Click On The Worksheets Name Tab And Select Delete
Go To Home>Delete.

Whichever method we use, Excel will display a warning message letting us know that the deletion cannot be undone. This is not technically true as we could always close our Workbook WITHOUT saving and then re-open the Workbook, but of course this means we would loose any other changes we had made. Naming Worksheets

We can also name our Worksheets with meaningful names (which is a good idea!). The only restrictions we have with Worksheet names is:

They Cannot Exceed 31 Characters.
They Cannot Contain The Following Characters: \ / ? * [ ].
The Name Cannot Be The Same As Another Worksheet In The Workbook.

While it is not totally necessary, try to AVOID using spaces between words. For example, if you wanted to name a Worksheet Bills Hours use BillsHours instead! The reason for this is that some of Excels formulas have slight problems when they reference Worksheets that contain spaces.

To name a Worksheet we can do so with any of the most methods below:

Double Click The Worksheet Name Tab. This Will Allow You To Now Type The Name. Once Finished, Push Enter Or Click Any Cell.
Right Click On The Worksheet Name Tab And Select Rename From The Shortcut Menu. Then Type The Name And Hit Enter Or Click Somewhere Else On Your Worksheet.

Moving Worksheets

At times we may need or wish to move a Worksheet to another position in the Workbook or even to another Workbook. We have already looked at how we can make a copy of a Worksheet, select the Sheet you want to copy then left click on the name tab and holding down the Ctrl key drag it to one side, then release. If we do not want to copy but rather move the entire Worksheet to another position in the Workbook we can simply left click the Worksheet Name tab, then holding down the mouse button drag it to it's new position and release. The other method is to use the Move or the Copy dialogue box. This can be accessed by the following:

Right Click On The Worksheet Name Tab And Select Move Or Copy

You will see on this dialogue box a To book: box with a small drop arrow to the right. The selection in this box will determine where our sheet will be moved or copied to. The default name in this box will be the active Workbook name (the current Workbook we are in). There will also always be another choice, if we click the drop arrow. This is (new book), if we choose this option Excel will automatically create a new Workbook for the sheet to be moved or copied to. Within this box will also be the names of any other open Workbooks, should there be any.

Directly below the To book: box is the Before sheet: box. Our selection in this box will decide which position our sheet will be moved or copied to. Last of all is the Create a copy checkbox. If we check this box Excel will create a copy of our moved Worksheet. In other words our original sheet will remain where it is and a copy of it will be moved to our chosen location. If we leave it unchecked (which is the default) the Worksheet will be moved and not copied. The best way (as with most of excel) is to jump straight in and try out different options - you cannot do any harm!

Go back to:

Lesson 1 - Excel Fundamentals

Lesson 2 - Starting Excel and Excel Workbooks

Lesson 3 - Excel Toolbars and Task Panes