Opening a Recently Used Workbook

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 30, 2021)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 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:

  1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. This displays the Options dialog box.
  2. Make sure the General tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    3. Figure 1. The General tab of the Options dialog box.

  3. Make sure the Recently Used File List check box is selected.
  4. Click on OK.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2704) 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. ...

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