Move and copy sheets

move and copy sheets

Worksheet tabs are arranged from left to right at the bottom of the workbook window, as you already know. When you insert a new worksheet, it might not be exactly where you want it. That's okay, though, because you can rearrange the stack of worksheets any way you want them. You can also duplicate sheets--along with their data--to save yourself some data-entry time when creating several similar sheets.

move or copy a sheet within a workbook

To move a sheet's position in the workbook, or to make a copy of it, do the following:

1. If you're copying (rather than moving) the sheet, hold down the Ctrl key and keep it down.
2. Point to the sheet tab you want to move, and then hold down the left mouse button. The mouse pointer turns into an arrow with a piece of paper on it. If you're copying, the piece of paper has a plus sign on it.
3. Drag to the left or right to move the selected sheet to a different position. As you drag, a black triangle shows where the sheet will drop if you release the mouse button, as shown in Figure 2-2.
4. Release the mouse button and then release the Ctrl key if you were holding it down.

Figure 2-2: Move a sheet by dragging it to the left or right.

move or copy a sheet to another workbook

You can also move or copy a worksheet to another workbook, but to do that, you must use a dialog box method. Here's how:

1. Right-click the worksheet tab and choose Move or Copy. The Move or Copy dialog box, shown in Figure 2-3, opens.

Figure 2-3: You can move or copy worksheets between workbooks with this dialog box.

2. Open the To Book drop-down list, and select the workbook in which to copy it. All open workbooks appear on this list.
3. Click the sheet before which the new one should appear, or click (move to end) if you want it to be the last one.
4. If you want a copy, mark the Create a copy checkbox.
5. Click OK. The worksheet is moved or copied.