Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Quickly Copying Worksheets.

Quickly Copying Worksheets

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated April 13, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


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If you need to make a copy of a worksheet, you probably already know that you can use the Move or Copy Sheet option from the Edit menu. There is a quicker way to make a copy, however. All you need to do is follow these steps:

  1. Select the tab of the worksheet that you want to copy.
  2. Hold down the Ctrl key and use the mouse to drag the worksheet tab left or right. A small plus sign should appear next to the mouse pointer.
  3. Release the mouse button when the pointer is between the tabs where you want the worksheet copy to appear.

That's it! Excel makes an exact copy of the worksheet, depositing it at the point where you released the mouse button.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (1948) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Quickly Copying Worksheets.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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What is 2 + 8?

2019-04-15 22:53:06

Felix A. Keller

"Quickly Copying Worksheets" is not working, at least not in Excel for Mac Version 16.22


2019-04-13 14:57:51

Dave Onorato, CFC

The <Ctrl> and drag technique is great. And it works in many places. Try it when dragging the border of a selected cel, and it copies.
But it is excellent for any graphic, just Ctrl and drag.
It also works in MANY places throughout the Office Suite


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