You've been working in Excel all afternoon, there are several worksheets open, your screen is arranged just the way you need it with all the information you are using visible, but it's time to go home for the day. Will you have to recreate this scene tomorrow morning before you can get back to work at the place where you left off? Not at all!

Normally, when you are ready to close Excel, you probably choose File, Save or File, Save As, so that you can save your workbook file. Or maybe you just close the program, and then click Yes when asked if you want to save your file. You repeat this process for each worksheet you are using.

Alternatively, if you choose File, Save Workspace, Excel asks you for a name for your workspace. The name you choose encompasses all open files and the save process saves not the files, but the layout of the files - which files are open, which file is active, and where your cellpointer is located. When you use File, Save Workspace, you will be given the option of saving any changes that have been made to the files.

In the future, when you open Excel, you can choose to open a workspace just as you would open a file, by choosing File, Open and selecting the name you gave to the workspace. Excel will open all files that are associated with the workspace you saved and will place the same file in the active position. Your cellpointer will be located in the same cell as it was when you saved the workspace.

Not only will this method of saving files help you save time when you get back to work on this project, but you can use this technique to save a file for another user - your files may be more accessible to others and easier to understand when you use File, Save Workspace to maintain the integrity of the screen layout.