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: Opening a Workbook to a Specific Worksheet.

Opening a Workbook to a Specific Worksheet

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 6, 2019)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Marcus wonders if it is possible to somehow configure a workbook so that it opens on the same worksheet tab each time it is opened, rather than on the worksheet tab that was displayed when the workbook was last saved. The short answer is that you can do this—provided you use a macro. (There is no way to do it without a macro.)

There are two ways you can set up your macro. First, you can use a traditional Auto_Open macro that is automatically run whenever a workbook is opened:

Sub Auto_Open()
    Sheets("OpenToThisSheet").Select
End Sub

All you need to do is replace OpenToThisSheet with the name of the worksheet you want displayed when the workbook opens. A similar approach is to create a Workbook_Open event handler:

Sub Workbook_Open()
    ActiveWorkbook.Sheets("OpenToThisSheet").Activate
End Sub

Again, change the sheet name to reflect the name of the actual sheet you want displayed. This event handler should be added as part of the ThisWorkbook module.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the ExcelTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3877) 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: Opening a Workbook to a Specific Worksheet.

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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