Renaming Worksheets

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 23, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


3

At the bottom of each worksheet in the Excel document window is a small tab that indicates the name of the worksheets in the workbook. Excel names these worksheets using a default name. These names (Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3, and so on) are not very descriptive; you might want to rename your worksheets to reflect what they contain. For instance, if your workbook contains your annual budget, each worksheet within the workbook might contain budgets for individual months.

There are three ways you can rename a worksheet, and the only difference between them is the way in which you start the renaming process. You can do any of the following:

  • Double-click on one of the existing worksheet names.
  • Right-click on an existing worksheet name, then choose Rename from the resulting Context menu.
  • Select the worksheet you want to rename (click on the worksheet tab) and then select the Sheet option from the Format menu. This displays a submenu from which you should select the Rename option.

Regardless of the method you choose to rename a worksheet, Excel highlights the name on the worksheet tab and allows you to type a new name. To enter a new name, just start typing. When you press Enter or click anywhere else on the screen, the worksheet tab is renamed. You can use names that are up to 31 characters long, composed of any characters desired. The names can even include spaces.

If you decide you don't want to rename a worksheet after all, you can press Esc at any time to undo your changes. This will not work, of course, after you have completed editing the tab and pressed Enter or clicked elsewhere on the screen. In those cases, you need to use the Undo feature.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (1949) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Text Doesn't Wrap at Margin in Normal View

If you are using Word in Normal view, and the text on the screen doesn't wrap at the right margin like it should, the ...

Discover More

Removing Spaces before Footnote References

If you need to remove a space before a footnote reference, doing so may seem an impossible task. However, you can use two ...

Discover More

Transposing Two Characters

If you have two characters in the wrong order, you might be interested in a shortcut you can use to switch their order. ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Combining Worksheets from Many Workbooks

Do you need to pull a particular worksheet out of a group of workbooks and combine those worksheets into a different ...

Discover More

Synchronized Workbook and Worksheet Names

When you work on older workbooks in Excel, you may notice that the name of the worksheet tab and the workbook itself are ...

Discover More

Protecting a Worksheet's Format

You can protect various parts of your worksheets by using the tools built into Excel. One thing you can protect is the ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 7 + 9?

2019-10-10 05:26:31

Alan Elston

@ ryser
let me know if you want me to give you a simple macro code example
Alan Elston


2019-10-10 05:24:57

Alan Elston

@ ryser
Hi,
I don't know if there is an easy manual way to do that.
But it is the sort of thing that can easilly be done with a small bit of VBA coding.
For example, VBA lets you make a string text of dates in any typical date format, which you can then using coding change the worksheet names to. (it is also easy in coding to add or delete worksheeets)
There is not much that you cannot do with VBA coding in Excel. It is worth learning basic VBA coding at an early stage of Excel use, in my opinion.

Alan Elston


2019-10-09 06:53:54

ryser

hi..thank you.i just wondering ,is there a way i can rename several sheets withot re typing each,lets say i want to have 30 sheets reading complete dates from 1st october 2019 to 31st october


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.