Excel Optimize

Problem: You always use Excel to work on a particular workbook. Every time that you open Excel, you want this workbook to open automatically.

Strategy: Place the fi le (or a shortcut to the file) in the XLStart folder. This folder can generally be found in the C:\Documents and Settings\ Username\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\ folder. Anything in this folder will automatically start when Excel starts.

Alternate Strategy: You can specify one folder to act as an additional XLStart folder. Follow these steps.
1) Move the Excel workbook or workbooks to a new folder. Excel will try to open every fi le in this folder, so make sure that you do not have other files in it.
2) Open Excel. From the Tools menu, select Options.
3) In the Options dialog box, find the General tab. There are five fields at the bottom of the General tab. As shown in Fig. 61, in Excel 2002 and later versions, the penultimate field is called At Startup, Open all Files in:. In Excel 2000 and earlier versions, this same field was called Alternate Startup File Location, as shown in Fig. 62. In either case, enter the path to the folder in this field.

Alternate Strategy: A third strategy is to use a command line switch. This is discussed in the next topic.

Summary: Excel will automatically open all fi les in the XLStart folder or in one additional alternate startup folder that you specify.