Even though the list of templates comes up first when starting Excel, most people just skip past it, unintentionally preferring the hard road of building new worksheets from scratch. Yet if you want a nicely formatted form, list, chart, or report but you don't have a lot of time - or ideas - Excel provides hundreds of templates at the ready to help you begin your project.
If you have a sense of the type of document you'd like to create, simply select 'New' and then type in the 'Search for online templates' box, or select from the 'Suggested searches' listed.
On the right side of the screen, you can further narrow down the list of templates by selecting categories and viewing the results.
You can pin favorite templates to make them easy to find later, just like we pinned favorite workbooks and folders last week.
To preview any template and get a closer look at it, click it once. Then you can scroll through to see other templates in the larger view. To select a template you like and begin working with it right away, click the Create button.
Now you have a beautifully formatted Excel workbook in front of you. Some even have instructions included to provide guidance on the most efficient way to use them.
You can now customize it and save it as your own workbook. Nobody will ever know you started with a template. They'll just be impressed!
Leave us a comment and let readers know what Excel tips you use on a daily basis.