In Excel, most new projects begin the same way—with creating or opening a new, blank
workbook.
All you have to do is go to the backstage view… and choose New.
If you prefer to start from scratch, go ahead and click the thumbnail that says Blank Workbook.
But you can also start with a template.
You'll find them in the very same place in the backstage view.
A template is a file that comes with its own design and sometimes even complex formulas
or formatting.
They make it easy to create professional-looking workbooks without a lot of time and effort.
You can browse the ones you see here, or you can search for something specific.
If you see a template you like, just click to view a preview… then click the Create
button.
Opening an existing workbook is also very easy.
Again, you'll want to go to the backstage view… but this time, click Open in the left
pane.
If the workbook you're looking for is something you've worked on recently, it might be listed
under Recent Workbooks.
In fact, you can "pin" certain workbooks here, so you always have access to your most frequently
used files.
All you have to do is mouse over the file, then click the pushpin icon.
To unpin it, click the icon again.
You can pin as many workbooks as you want.
If the file you're looking for hasn't been opened recently, just look to the other options.
For example, under SkyDrive, you can access files that are saved online to your SkyDrive
account.
Under Computer, you can access files that are saved locally.
All you have to do is click Browse… then select the workbook you want.
When you're ready, click Open… and the workbook will appear.
Now you know how to create and open workbooks in Excel 2013.