Automate the Opening of A Group of Excel Worksheets

AUTOMATE THE OPENING OF A GROUP OF EXCEL WORKSHEETS 

I usually work with as many as seven Excel workbooks at one time. Opening them all is a chore because I have to first locate them and then click on each, one at a time, wait for them to open and then go through the whole process again. There has to be an easier way. Help!

There is, but first you must be sure your computer is programmed so that when you click on File, Open (Ctrl+O) you will be taken directly to that folder, which contains all your working files. To program the default, launch Excel and then click on Tools, Options, General and enter your folder of choice next to Default file location and click on OK (see screenshot). Or you could simply add that address in the box labeled At startup, open all files in.

Now to the shortcut. After typing Ctrl+O to open to the default folder, don’t just click on the first file you want; instead, hold down the Ctrl key and click on each target file in the order you want it to open. If you accidentally click on a file you don’t want, revoke the highlighting by clicking on it again. Then, after making your selections, click on File, Open and each file will open in the order you initially highlighted it.

The trick works in other Office applications as well. But to set the default file location in Word click on Tools, Options, File Locations (see screenshot below).