Worksheet Excel: Definition & How to Manage Sheets

To start your knowledge in using Ms. Excel, you must know what a worksheet is, how to add, rename, delete, move and copy sheets in Excel. Because in the future, you will always hear these terms.

Let’s get started…

What is a Worksheet in Excel?

A worksheet in Excel is a collection of rows and columns that make up each cell as a place to enter data in Microsoft Excel. The worksheet always starts from row 1 and column A.

In Worksheets, you can enter data, create charts, tables, use Formulas and Functions, Pivot Table reports, and so on.

In other words, a worksheet is a collection of cells where you process data in Excel.

To illustrate: A workbook can be called a book. This book consists of pages. Well, these pages are called worksheets. Each worksheet will be saved in a workbook (Excel file). You can create multiple worksheets in one workbook.

Some users are more familiar with “sheets” instead of “worksheets”. So when you hear the term “sheet”, it’s the same thing as a worksheet.

In Excel, you can link data between worksheets, even those in different workbooks.

For example, you want to sum the data on Sheet 1 and Sheet 2 on workbook 1. Or you can also sum the data for each sheet 1 on multiple workbooks.

You can do that.

Therefore, you need to learn worksheets, whether it’s creating, moving, deleting, copying, or even renaming.

Pro tips: Unique worksheet names will make it easier for you to process data in Excel.

Insert a New Worksheet

Firstly, please open the Microsoft Excel software on your computer. Then select Blank Workbook as shown below:

Excel will create the first worksheets for you automatically with the name Sheet1. Meanwhile, the workbook will be named Book1 as shown below:

To add a new worksheet, please click the plus sign in the sheet list as shown below:

You can insert as many sheets as you want.

Note: Microsoft Excel doesn’t limit the maximum number of worksheets in a workbook. One thing that limits the maximum number of worksheets is computer memory (RAM). Computers with large memory can create 1,000 worksheets or more.

Rename a Worksheet Excel

There are many benefits that you will get when you change the name of the worksheet to be more human-friendly. Some of them: to make it easier to find worksheets, make formulas/functions easier to understand (structured reference), etc.

Instead of using the default name (sheet1, sheet2, etc.), please rename your worksheet using the following method:

1. Right-click on Sheet2, then click Rename.
2. Type in a new Sheet Name, in this example, I changed it to Sales. Here are the results:

Pro Tips: In addition to right-clicking and selecting rename, you can also double-click on the sheet name, then type the new sheet name you want.

Delete a Worksheet

To delete a worksheet, please right-click on the worksheet name, then click delete. If there is a notification, please click Delete to confirm as shown below:

Note: After you delete a worksheet, you can’t restore it, even if you use Undo (CTRL + Z) though.

Move Worksheet in Excel

There are two ways to move a worksheet. Firstly, use Click-hold-drag. Secondly, use right-click. I give an example using click-hold-drag like this:

1. To move the “Sales” sheet to the “Profits” position, please left-click and hold on “Sales” sheet.
2. Drag it to the left side of the “Profits” sheet, then release the left click. Here are the results:

Copy Worksheet in Excel

By copying a worksheet, you can duplicate the sheet including its contents. For example, to copy a Sales sheet, please follow these steps:

1. Right-click on the Sales Sheet, then click Move or Copy…
2. To copy sheets to the same workbook, please match the To Book field with your workbook name. In this example, the name of My Workbook is Book1 (see image).
3. Please select a destination location. I mean, where do you want to make a copy of that sheet?. If you select Sheet1, Excel will make a copy of the Sales Sheet before Sheet1 is in position. If you select (Move to end), Excel will make a copy to the last sheet. I select (moved to the end).
4. Finally, check “Make a Copy” to make a new copy of the Sheet. If unchecked, the Sales Sheet will simply be moved. Then click Ok to continue. Here are the results:

Note: When you copy a worksheet, Excel will create a new copy with the same name + number. For example, a copy of the sales sheet is “Sales (2)”.

Easy isn’t it?

I hope you have understood this Excel Worksheet guide. But, if you encounter any problems, please discuss them through the comments form.