If you don't have a book.xlt file, then the defaults for that new workbook are
buried into excel (I think). You can't change them.

But maybe you didn't save the template in the correct location, or maybe you
didn't save as a template, or maybe you didn't click on the new icon on the
standard toolbar.

I'd close excel and use windows search to find all the book.xlt files.

I use xl2003 and winXP home and my XLStart folder is:
C:\Documents and Settings\(username)\Application Data\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART

If you've upgraded through different versions of excel, xl will be able to find
those XLStart folders, too.

I'd keep one version of the book.xlt (and sheet.xlt) template files in the
current XLStart.

One way to find that current XLStart:
Open excel
Hit alt-f11 to get to the vbe
hit ctrl-g to see the immediate window
type this and hit enter:
?application.StartupPath



SnobbishJade wrote:

Dave, thank you for replying so quickly to my post. You are correct. When I
start Excel, this is the workbook that opens. But when I click on "new", I
get the same old template that comes with Excel, with the tiny little cells
and formatting I never find useful.

Where is *the* (the one, the only, the original) template, and how can I
change it?

"Dave Peterson" wrote:

You can create a workbook template named book.xlt and store it in your XLStart
folder.

If that file already exists, you can open it and modify it.

If the file doesn't exist, just start a new one and save it to that XLStart
folder.

You can also create a workbook template named sheet.xlt and if you add a new
worksheet to an existing workbook, excel will use this. (Save it in the same
folder.)

SnobbishJade wrote:

How do I change the excel worksheet that automatically opens when I start the
program?

--

Dave Peterson


--

Dave Peterson