Remembering Commonly Used Workbooks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated August 15, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

1

When you work with the same workbooks over and over again, you may want to come up with a quick way to get to those workbooks. This can be easily done in Excel; just follow these steps if you are using Excel 2007:

  1. Click the Office button.
  2. Hover the mouse pointer over the first three options you see (New, Open, or Save). Excel displays, at the right, a list of recent workbooks you've used.
  3. Click the push-pin icon that appears to the right of any workbooks you use regularly.

If you are using Excel 2010 or a later version, then the steps are slightly different:

  1. Display the File tab of the ribbon.
  2. If you are using Excel 2010, click Recent at the left side of the dialog box. If you are using Excel 2013 or a later version, click Open at the left side of the dialog box. In either case, Excel shows you a list of the most recent workbooks you've used.
  3. Scroll through the list of workbooks until you see the one you want to use regularly.
  4. Click the push-pin icon that appears to the right of the workbook in the list. (You may need to hover the mouse over the workbook name in order to see the push-pin icon.) Excel moves the workbook to the top of the list of files.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for any other workbooks you want to "remember."

That's it. You can now access these commonly used workbooks at any time by simply displaying the recent workbook list where they will always be shown at the top of the list.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (8489) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Getting Rid of Addresses

Word interfaces easily with other Office programs, such as Outlook. As an example, the Envelopes and Labels dialog box ...

Discover More

Controlling How Body Text is Displayed

When working in Outline view, you can control how Word displays the body text under each heading. You can specify that ...

Discover More

Multiple Data Points in a Chart Column

Excel provides lots of ways you can create charts. This tip provides some pointers on how you can combine stacked column ...

Discover More

Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!

More ExcelTips (ribbon)

Seeing All Open Workbook Names

Ever want to see a list of all the workbooks that are open? If you open more than nine, Excel only displays the first ...

Discover More

When Excel Starts, Nothing Shows

When you start up Excel, you should eventually see a blank workbook, ready for you to work with. If you don't, if you see ...

Discover More

Forcing a Workbook to Close after Inactivity

Tired of your workbooks being left open on the screen where they can be seen by anyone passing by? Here's a way to have ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 - 7?

2020-08-16 10:12:09

John Mann

Another technique I have used is to create a desktop short-cut to some of my frequently used files. I also use the method in this tip.

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2025 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.