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How to change the default template that is used whenever I create a new .xlsx file?

Copper Contributor

I have created a workbook that I would like to use as a template for all new .xlsx files that I create from file explorer. I have read several guides online and almost all of them say the same thing. I have created a custom workbook, named it Book.xltx and placed it in the both the following folders:

  • C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART and 
  • C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Root\Office16\XLSTART\

According to the guides I read online, all I have to do now is restart Excel, and then all the new .xlsx files I create from File Explorer will automatically use this template I created. But after closing Excel using Task Manager, and then opening it again, this does NOT happen. What am I doing wrong? And how can I fix this? 

 

The guides I read online:

 

6 Replies

@ssgchen 

You should not save it as a workbook but as a template. Simply changing the extension from .xlsx to .xltx won't work.

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Hi @Hans Vogelaar

 

That is exactly what I did. I used Excel>File>Save As and selected the appropriate Template file extension and saved it directly to one of the folders I mentioned above. I copy and pasted the file into the other folder I mentioned above. I didn't change the name through File Explorer. 

 

To clarify, when I open the file from File Explorer, it does properly open a new Excel workbook named Book1.xlsx and I'm able to save it separately from the template file as intended. 

 

But that's not the ONLY thing I want to do. I want to overwrite Excel's default "New Workbook" when opening Excel. When I go to Excel>File>New>New Blank Template, I want Excel to open a new file based on the template that I created, not the one that Excel has by default. 

best response confirmed by ssgchen (Copper Contributor)
Solution

@ssgchen 

Ah - that won't work. The template you get by selecting File>New>New Blank Template is a built-in template that cannot be changed.

Book.xltx will be used when

- You start Excel.

- You press Ctrl+N.

- You click New on the Quick Access Toolbar.

Ah I see, thanks for the clarification. I just tested out all three methods. It doesn't work when I start Excel, but it works when I press ctrl+N and click new on the Quick Access Toolbar! Do you know why that could be the case?

@ssgchen 

I don't know why it doesn't work when you start Excel.

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Accepted Solutions
best response confirmed by ssgchen (Copper Contributor)
Solution

@ssgchen 

Ah - that won't work. The template you get by selecting File>New>New Blank Template is a built-in template that cannot be changed.

Book.xltx will be used when

- You start Excel.

- You press Ctrl+N.

- You click New on the Quick Access Toolbar.

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