A Microsoft Office Excel workbook is a file that contains one or more worksheets that you can use to organize various kinds of related information. To create a new workbook, you can open a blank workbook. You can also base a new workbook on an existing workbook, the default workbook template, or any other template .What do you want to do?

Open a new, blank workbook

  1. Click Microsoft Office Button button image, and then click New.

    Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+N.

  2. Under Templates, make sure that Blank and recent is selected, and then under Blank and recent in the right pane, click Blank Workbook.

Base a new workbook on an existing workbook

  1. Click Microsoft Office Button button image, and then click New.

    Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+N.

  2. Under Templates, click New from existing.
  3. In the New from Existing Workbook dialog box, browse to the drive, folder, or Internet location that contains the workbook that you want to open.
  4. Click the workbook, and then click Create New.

Base a new workbook on a template

  1. Click Microsoft Office Button button image, and then click New.

    Keyboard shortcut You can also press CTRL+N.

  2. Under Templates, click Installed Templates or My templates.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • To use an installed template, under Installed Templates, click the template that you want, and then click Create.
    • To use your own template, on the My Templates tab, double-click the template that you want.

      Note The My Templates tab lists the templates that you have created. If you don't see the template that you want to use, make sure that it is located in the correct folder. Custom templates are typically stored in the Templates folder, which is usually C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates in Microsoft Windows XP, and C:\Users\user_name\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates in Microsoft Windows Vista.

Tip To obtain more workbook templates, you can download them from Microsoft Office Online. In the New Workbook dialog box, under Microsoft Office Online, click a specific template category, click the template that you want to download, and then click Download.