File Open With Startup

Do you have an MS Excel workbook that must be opened right away everyday?

If so, wouldn't it be nice if Excel would simply open that file for you every time you start the program?

If you're thinking that would save you a lot of time each day, this is the tip for you!

There's no special setting in Excel or anything fancy to do, but you do need to know where you saved the file. Yep, that's the whole trick!

When Excel starts up, it automatically looks in the XLStart folder. So, if the file you need is in there, it will be opened right away. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it!

So, to have your special file open as soon as Excel starts, simply locate your XLStart folder and save the file to that location. (While each computer system is unique, I can tell you that in my older version of Excel, the XLStart folder was located here: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10. But in Excel 2007, I found it here: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12. That should at least get you going in the right direction to find your folder).

Keep in mind that the file is now stored in the XLStart folder, so any older versions of the file located elsewhere will not be updated when you save your work. Only the file in the new location is updated each time, because it's the one the program actually opens.

That's it. A quick Save As to the XLStart folder is all it takes!

Now, I do have a couple more quick notes for this one.

First, this trick works with multiple files and you don't even have to pick the most important one. If there are two or three files in the XLStart folder, it will open all of them.

Next, for those of you who are file backup minded and are afraid you'll forget to back up the files in their new location, I have a work around. I found that you can also use this trick with shortcuts to the files. To do so, simply create a shortcut to the file in its original location (right click on the file and choose Create shortcut). Then just move the shortcut into the XLStart folder.

That should do it. Just another way to take control of your own Excel universe!