Opening a Recently Used Workbook

Summary: Using the Most Recently Used list to open workbooks that have been used in Excel. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, and Excel 2003.)

If you want to work on a spreadsheet which you have recently worked on, you can do this by using the MRU list built into Excel. MRU is an acronym for most recently used, and refers to the file list at the bottom of the File menu. You can load one of these files automatically by clicking on the file name you want to open. Excel only tracks and lists the four most recently used files. If you do not see a file name on this list, you will have to open it in the normal fashion.

If you do not see a list of recently used files at the bottom of the File menu, then someone has turned this feature off on your system. To turn the feature back on, follow these steps:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. This displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the General tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
Make sure the Recently Used File List check box is selected.
Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2704) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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Opening a Recently Used Workbook