Workbook Manager for Microsoft Excel

This help page illustrates different ways of managing your Excel files with the help of Workbook Manager. Create, open, sort, rename, hide/unhide, print, close and delete your workbooks and worksheets easily. Just pick the option you need and see how to achieve the result.

How to use the Workbook Manager tool

Start Workbook Manager

To run the tool, click the Workbook Manager icon in the Manage group on the Ablebits Data tab:
Run the tool by clicking on its icon on Excel ribbon.
On the left you will see the add-in pane with all currently opened workbooks and sheets in the worksheet tree. There's also a toolbar with the options that help you manage these Excel files.

How to create a new workbook

There are three ways to create a new workbook.

  • Click the New Workbook icon on the add-in toolbar:
    Use the toolbar to create a new workbook.
  • Click the arrow next to the New Workbook icon and choose the corresponding option from the dropdown list:
    Use the drop-down list to create a new workbook.
  • Use the Ctrl+N keyboard shortcut.

How to create a new worksheet

You can create a new worksheet in three different ways.

  • Click on the arrow next to the New Workbook icon on the toolbar and select Worksheet:
    Create a new worksheet using the option from the menu.
  • Use the Ctrl+Alt+W key combination to get the same result.
  • To create a new worksheet from the worksheet template, click the arrow next to the New Workbook icon and select the necessary worksheet template from the dropdown list:
    Choose the necessary worksheet template from the drop-down list.

How to open a workbook

Click the Open icon on the add-in toolbar:
Click this button to open Excel workbook.
The standard Explorer window appears. You can browse for a workbook there.

The keyboard shortcut you can use for the same result here is Ctrl+O.

Tip. To open recently used workbooks, click the arrow to the right of the Open icon:
See recently used workbooks in this list.

How to rename worksheets and workbooks

  1. Select the worksheet or workbook of interest in the list and click the Rename button on the toolbar:
    The Rename button.

    Or, right-click the worksheet (workbook) and select the Rename option from the context menu.
    Select this option to rename your worksheet or workbook.

    Tip. You can also use the F2 hotkey.
  2. After you type a new name, press Enter to save it:
    Press Enter on your keyboard to save a new name.
Tip. You can also take advantage of the Save As option to save your workbook under a new name. See How to save a file under a new name.

How to save changes to the file

You can save the changes you made by clicking the Save button on the add-in's toolbar. Just like in standard Excel, this will save the selected file under the same name in the same location.
The Save button.

Tip. If you want to save all your changes in all workbooks at once, press Ctrl+A on your keyboard and then click the Save icon.

How to save a file under a new name

If you want to save your file under a new name to a new location, use the Save As option. You can find it if you click the arrow to the right of the Save icon:
Select this option to save your Excel workbook as a new file.
It will let you change the file name and location in the Save As dialog box.

How to sort worksheets

To sort worksheets in a workbook alphabetically, choose a workbook in the list and click Sort A to Z or
Sort Z to A on the add-in toolbar:
Sort worksheets ascending be pressing the Sort A to Z option.
You can also find the same options in the context menu if you right-click the workbook in the tree:
Select the sorting option that suits you from the context menu.

Tip. If you select several workbooks, you can sort all the worksheets they contain at once. To do this, hold the Ctrl key pressed, select the necessary workbooks, and then click Sort A to Z or Sort Z to A.

Right-click the worksheet you want to print and choose the Print option from the context menu:
Choose this option to print your worksheet.
You will see the standard Print dialog box where you can define print settings.

Tip. You can use the Ctrl+P keyboard shortcut to do the same.
Tip. If you right-click the worksheet in the tree and select the Page Setup item from the menu, you will see the Page Setup dialog box where you can customize the page layout before printing your worksheet:
Select Page setup to customize page layout before printing.

How to hide sheets

To hide a worksheet, right-click it in the list and choose the Hide a Sheet option from the menu:
Choose to hide a sheet from the context menu.

Tip. If you right-click a workbook name and choose to Hide a Sheet, all worksheets except the last one in the file will become hidden at once.
Note. You can't hide all worksheets within one workbook. A workbook must contain at least one visible worksheet.
Tip. You can hide several worksheets at the same time. To do this, hold the Ctrl key, select the necessary sheets, right-click them and choose Hide a Sheet.

If you want to make your worksheet "Very Hidden", right-click it and choose to Make a Sheet "Very Hidden". By selecting a workbook name and choosing this option, you can make all sheets except for one "Very Hidden" at once.
Make a sheet "very hidden".

How to unhide sheets

To show a hidden or a "Very Hidden" worksheet, right-click it and choose Unhide a Sheet.

Tip. You can also select a workbook that contains several hidden worksheets, right-click it and select Unhide a Sheet. This will make all the worksheets visible.

Make sheets visible again with the Unhide a Sheet option.

How to copy worksheets from one workbook to another

To copy a worksheet from one Excel file to another, press the Ctrl key and drag the worksheet to another workbook in the worksheets tree.

How to move sheets from one workbook to another

To move a worksheet, just drag it from one workbook to another in the worksheets tree.

How to collapse or expand workbooks

If you want to have only the names of the workbooks displayed in the add-in pane, right-click the tree and select Collapse All Workbooks. To see the names of all the worksheets each workbook contains, select Expand All Workbooks:
Collapse or expand all workbooks using the context menu.

How to delete worksheets

To delete a worksheet from a workbook, select it and click the Delete a Sheet icon on the add-in toolbar:
Delete a worksheet using the option on the add-in's toolbar.

Tip. You can also find the Delete a Sheet option if you right-click the worksheet. Or just press the Delete key on your keyboard.
Use the option in the context menu to delete a sheet.

How to close a workbook

To close a workbook, select it and click the Close a Workbook icon on the add-in toolbar:
Close a workbook using the icon on the add-in's toolbar.

Tip. You can find the Close a Workbook option if you right-click the workbook:
Use the context menu option to close a workbook.

How to export workbook and sheet list

If you need to have a list of all opened workbooks and worksheets in one place, right-click the worksheet tree and pick Export Workbook and Sheet List from the context menu:
Have a list of all opened books and sheets exported to a new file.
The add-in will create a new workbook and place the list of all currently opened workbooks and their worksheets there:
Het the list of all opened sheets and books in a new Excel file.