By default, when you create a new workbook in Excel, it contains one worksheet called
Sheet1.
Sometimes, that's all you need.
But if you want, you can create additional worksheets (and even customize them), so you
can store large amounts of data all in the same workbook.
As you can see, I've already made some progress creating worksheets for each month in the
year.
I still need one final sheet for the month of December.
To quickly insert a new sheet, just click the New Sheet button, always found to far
right of your tabs.
Alternatively, you can copy one of your existing worksheets.
This will create a new worksheet, and duplicate the contents—perfect for keeping track of
my budget using the same table each month.
All you have to do is right-click the worksheet you want… then choose Move or Copy from
the menu.
Next, check the box that says Create a Copy… and identify where you want the worksheet
to go.
I want mine to go to the very end of the list.
Click OK… and a copy will appear with the same name as the original, plus a version
number.
Remember, this is the worksheet I needed for the month of December, so I'm going to rename
it by right-clicking the tab… then choosing Rename.
When you're done, click anywhere outside the tab to deselect it, or press Enter on your
keyboard.
I'm also going to update the worksheet itself.
Next I'd like to review the rest of my worksheets, and make sure everything is in order; it looks
like some of them need to be moved.
To do this, just drag and drop the worksheet tabs into place.
You can even color-code your worksheets to make them easier to reference.
Just right-click the tab… then go to Tab Color.
The color is less noticeable when the worksheet is selected.
If you select another worksheet… you'll see the color the way it was intended.
Finally, if you have a worksheet you don't need anymore, you can easily remove it from
your workbook.
All you have to do is right-click the tab… then choose Delete.
Now it looks like we're all set.
When you have multiple worksheets, you can work with each one individually, or you can
edit several at the same time.
This can be useful if you're working with lots of data that's closely related.
Let's take a look.
For example, I'm planning to move in the month of September.
My rent is going to go up, and I'm canceling my gym membership too.
That means I need to update not only this worksheet, but also the sheets for the rest
of the year.
We can edit them all at once just by grouping them.
Start by selecting the first sheet you want to group, then press and hold Ctrl on your
keyboard while you select the rest.
Release the Ctrl key, and you'll be able to navigate and make changes to the data—changes
that will apply to all the worksheets in the group.
For example, if I change the rent to $775 in one worksheet… the rest of the group
gets updated too.
The same rule applies if I clear the row that contains my gym membership.
To ungroup, just right-click one of the worksheets… then click Ungroup Sheets.
Alternatively, you can click any worksheet outside the group—just be careful not to
do that by accident.
Worksheets are a great option for storing lots of data in the same workbook.
And with the ability to group them, you can easily add or edit data anytime—whether
you have hundreds of worksheets, or just a few.