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.
To run the tool, click on the Workbook Manager icon in the Manage group on the Ablebits Data tab:
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.
There are three ways to create a new workbook:
You can create a new worksheet in three different ways:
Click on the Open icon on the add-in's toolbar and you will see a standard Explorer window where you can browse for a workbook:
The keyboard shortcut you can use for the same result here is Ctrl+O.
Or, right-click on the worksheet (workbook) and select the Rename option from the context menu.
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.
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 on the down arrow to the right of the Save icon:
It will let you change the file's name and location in the Save As dialog box.
To sort worksheets in a workbook alphabetically, choose a workbook in the list and press the Sort A to Z or
Sort Z to A button on the main toolbar:
You can also find the same options in the context menu if you right-click on the workbook in the tree:
To hide a worksheet, right-click on it in the list and choose the Hide a sheet option from the menu:
If you want to make your worksheet "very hidden", right-click on it and choose to Make a sheet "very hidden" from the menu. By selecting a workbook name and choosing this option, you can make all sheets except for one "very hidden" at once.
To show a hidden or a "very hidden" worksheet, right-click on it and choose to Unhide a sheet from the menu.
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.
To move a worksheet, just drag it from one workbook and drop to another in the worksheets tree.
In case you need to check the names of all opened workbooks only or see all worksheets in each opened workbook as well, right-click the worksheets tree and take advantage of the corresponding options in the context menu:
To delete a worksheet from a workbook, select it and click the Delete button on the add-in's toolbar:
To close a workbook, select it and click the Close button on the add-in's toolbar:
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:
The add-in will create a new workbook and place the list of all currently opened workbooks and their worksheets there:
Silly question...
I used to have the workbook manager attached to the left side of excel, but now it is free floating as a whole window, which doesn't make it very useful to manage multiple workbooks. How do I do I "re-attach" it to the xlsx.
Hello, Michelle,
Thank you for using Workbook Manager and for the question. The question is not silly at all!
If I have understood you correctly, the following steps will help:
1. Maximize your Excel file to make it full screen.
2. Run Workbook Manager. Left-click the name of the tool in the upper left corner of the tool’s window and, holding the left click, drag the window to the left side of your Excel book.
3. When your mouse reaches the left side of the monitor, a green stripe will appear. As soon as you see it, release the mouse button.
Please let me know if this helped!
Thank you.
