If you find yourself using the same basic Excel spreadsheet repeatedly, adding new data for each period, such as monthly budgets, sales figures, or annual rainfall, you may want to create a template to save time. Creating a template from an existing spreadsheet that works for you can be done in many ways, but this is one that makes sense.
To begin, select the full area of the spreadsheet, including the formula and the headings. Then, right-click somewhere in there and copy. Next, go to File, open a new workbook, and on the top left square, right-click again and paste. Carefully select just the data this time and delete that, leaving the formulae intact. Check that the formula is still working by putting in a test figure.
Now, save this as a template for future use. To do this, click on File, go to Save As, and choose Excel Template from the drop-down menu. You can save the template to the default area that Excel decides to save it, or you can create a folder for your Excel templates and save it there. To direct Excel to save your template to the folder you created, copy the folder’s address and paste it into the Default Personal Templates Location in the Save options.
After saving the template, you can close the existing spreadsheet. To use the template, double-click on it to open in a new Excel file. Then, copy the spreadsheet and paste it into your existing workbook. Rename the pasted spreadsheet to the current period, such as 2020. Rename the template spreadsheet to ‘template.’ When the current period is finished, move and copy the template to the end of the workbook and create a copy of it. Rename the copy with the next period, such as 2021.
By following these steps, you can create and use a template to save time when creating new Excel spreadsheets.