Save Time by Setting Up and Editing Excel Tabs by Using Groups of Tabs

If you use Excel's little known tab grouping feature, you can save 25% to 50% of the time that it would normally take you to set up or modify a spreadsheet. Groups of tabs can be modified when setting up a workbook (spreadsheet) and also after a workbook has been established. This technique is particularly valuable for small business owners, Finance Managers, controllers and volunteers of non-profit organizations where ever minute invested must produce maximum value.


Information in Excel spreadsheeets that may be modified by grouping tabs includes:





Formatting


Headings and


Data





The key concept that you must remember is that to modify a group of tabs, highlight (multi-select) all of the tabs that you want to modify and then make the changes.





Tabs that are not selected will not be modified.


To stop modifying a group of tabs, highlight (select) only one tab.





Step-By-Step Instructions


Highlight all of the tabs that you want to modify. For contiguous tabs (tabs that are next to each other)





Click on the first tab to be highlighted


Press and hold the key


Click on the last tab to be highlighted


For tabs that are NOT next to each other:





Click on the first tab to be highlighted


Press and hold the key


Click on each additional tab to be highlighted





Everything that you do on selected tabs will be propagated. Everything includes:





Column headings and formats


Column widths and heights


Data


Attributes, such as color, font size etc.





Caveats





Before modifying, back up your workbook.


Work in small steps


Check your work


Use + z if you make a mistake to undo that mistake


Verify each step, and save the file from time-to-time.


In certain instances, you can save a tremendous about of time. For example, you can save many hours if you are setting up and revising a workbook with 24 tabs--one for each month in two different years. Therefore, heed this caveat: When you use grouping to update, you may inadvertently overwrite data. Be sure to back up your spreadsheet before modifying it, and double-check your work periodically.