Those familiar with Word may know how to use the Version feature of that program to save different versions of the same document, all within the same file. You may wonder if such a feature was built into Excel, as well.
Excel does not have such a capability; there is no versioning feature. You can, however, use custom views (View menu) to create different ways of looking at your worksheet. Custom views are described fully in other issues of ExcelTips; they basically allow you to specify things such as which rows and columns are visible, row height, column width, formatting characteristics, etc. While not a true "version," custom views do provide a way that you can show different information to different people.
Another approach is to periodically create copies of your worksheets (use Edit | Move or Copy Sheet). Each copy you create can represent a different version of the worksheet. You could also just make copies of your entire workbook periodically, and then name each copy so that it represents a different version of your data.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2879) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
Professional Development Guidance! Four world-class developers offer start-to-finish guidance for building powerful, robust, and secure applications with Excel. The authors show how to consistently make the right design decisions and make the most of Excel's powerful features. Check out Professional Excel Development today!
Excel makes copying worksheets (duplicating them) rather easy. However, you may want a worksheet copy that differs from ...
Discover MoreWhen someone changes a cell in a worksheet, Excel normally goes along its merry way of keeping everything up to date. It ...
Discover MoreExcel provides ways to reference the column or row number of a cell, but it doesn't provide a built-in way to reference a ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments