A complete guide to Excel 2016 (Part 4): How to store and share spreadsheets

But unlike the older versions, Excel 2016 also lets you save a spreadsheet to the cloud system using OneDrive . You can also export and share your spreadsheet with others directly from Excel.

Watch the video below to learn more about how to store and share spreadsheets in Excel 2016 :

Whenever you open or save a spreadsheet, you will have the option to use OneDrive , which is an online file storage service available in your Microsoft account. To enable this option, you will have to log into Office. To learn more, visit the Excel 2016 Complete Guide (Part 2): Learn about our OneDrive.

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Save & Save As

Excel 2016 provides two ways to save files: Save and Save As . These options work in similar ways to the old version, with only a few important differences:

1. Save : When creating or editing a spreadsheet, you will use the Save command to save your changes. You will use this command on a regular basis. When saving the file, you just need to select the file name and location to save the first time. Then just click the Save command to save it with the same name and location.
2. Save As : You will use this command to make a copy of the spreadsheet while keeping the original. When using Save As , you will need to select a different name and / or location for the copied version.

How to save Excel spreadsheet

The important thing when saving your spreadsheet is whenever you start a new project or make changes to an existing plan. Please save on a regular basis to prevent your work data from being lost. You also need to pay attention to where you save the spreadsheet so that it can easily be found later.

1. Locate and select the Save command on the Quick Access Toolbar .

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2. If you save this file for the first time, Save As will appear in Backstage view mode.

3. After that, you will need to choose where to save the file and name it. To save the spreadsheet to your computer, select Computer , then click Browse . Alternatively, you can click OneDrive to save the file to OneDrive.

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4. The Save As dialog box will appear. Select the location where you want to save the spreadsheet.

5. Enter the file name (file name ) for the spreadsheet, then click Save .

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6. The workbook will be saved. You can click the Save command to save the changes when modifying the spreadsheet. Alternatively, you can also access the Save command by pressing Ctrl + S on the keyboard.

Use Save As to create a copy spreadsheet

If you want to save another version of a spreadsheet while keeping the original, you can create a copy. For example, if you have a file named Sales Data , you can save it as Sales Data 2 to edit the new file and still reference the original version.

To do this, click on the Save As command in the Backstage view. Just like when saving a file for the first time, you need to choose where to save the file and name the new file.

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How to change the location of the default Excel file

If you do not want to use OneDrive, feel uncomfortable when OneDrive is selected as the default location when saving or find it inconvenient when you have to choose Computer every time, you can change the default save location for the computer to be saved. by default.

1. Click the File tab to access the Backstage view.

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2. Click Options .

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3. Excel's Options dialog box will appear. Select Save , check the box next to Save to Computer by default , then click OK . The default save location will be changed.

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AutoRecover feature

Excel automatically saves your spreadsheets to a temporary folder while you work on them. If you forget to save your changes or if Excel has a problem, you can restore the file with AutoRecover .

Use AutoRecover feature:

1. Open Excel . If the automatically saved version of the file is found, the Document Recovery frame will appear.

2. Click to open an available file. The spreadsheet will be restored.

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1. By default, Excel automatically saves every 10 minutes . If you are editing a spreadsheet for less than 10 minutes, Excel cannot create an automatically saved version.
2. If you don't see the file you need, you can browse all the saved files automatically from the Backstage view . Just select the File tab, click Manage Versions , then select Recover Unsaved Workbooks .

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Export Excel 2016 spreadsheets to different formats

By default, Excel spreadsheets are saved in .xlsx files. However, sometimes you need to use a different file type, such as a PDF or Excel 97-2003 spreadsheet . You can easily export spreadsheets from Excel to many different file types.

How to export a spreadsheet as a PDF file:

Export spreadsheets as Adobe Acrobat documents, commonly known as PDF files, can be especially useful if you're sharing spreadsheets with people who don't have Excel applications installed. A PDF file will allow users to view but not edit the content of the spreadsheet.

1. Click the File tab to access the Backstage view .

2. Click Export , then select Create PDF / XPS .

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3. The Save As dialog box will appear. Select the location where you want to export the spreadsheet, enter the file name, and then click Publish .

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1. By default, Excel will only export the active spreadsheet . If you have multiple spreadsheets and want to save them all in the same PDF file, click Options - Options in the Save As dialog box. The Options dialog box will appear. Select Entire workbook ( full spreadsheet ), then click OK.

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1. Whenever you export a spreadsheet in PDF format, you also need to consider spreadsheet data that will appear on each PDF page, like printing a spreadsheet.

How to export a spreadsheet to other file types:

You may also find it helpful to export your spreadsheet to other file types such as Excel 97-2003 spreadsheets if you need to share with old Excel users or .CSV files if you need a plain text version Drug of spreadsheet.

1. Click the File tab to access the Backstage view.

2. Click Export , then select Change File Type .

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3. Select a common file type, then click Save As .

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4. The Save As dialog box will appear. Select the location you want to export the spreadsheet, enter the file name, then click Save .

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1. You can also use the Save as type drop-down menu : in the Save As dialog box to save spreadsheets in many file types.

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Share Excel 2016 spreadsheet

Excel makes it easy to share and collaborate on spreadsheets when using OneDrive. Previously, if you wanted to share the file with someone, you could send it as an email attachment. Although this is convenient, it also creates multiple versions of the same file, which is difficult to organize.

When sharing a spreadsheet from Excel, you are actually allowing others to access the exact same file. This allows you and the people you share with to edit the same spreadsheet without tracking multiple versions.

To share a spreadsheet, it must first be saved to your OneDrive.

Share a spreadsheet:

1. Click the File tab to access the Backstage view, then click Share .

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2. The Share window will appear. If you have not completed a spreadsheet, you will be prompted to save your document to OneDrive.

1. Note that you may need to navigate back to the Share window after saving.

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3. On the Share window, if your document is saved to OneDrive, click the Share with People button.

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4. Excel will return to normal view and open the Share window on the right side of the window. Here, you can invite people to share your documents, see the list of people who have access to the document and see if they can edit or view documents only.

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Having fun!

Isabella Humphrey

Update 25 May 2019