Excel 2007 For Dummies
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When you first start using Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Excel wants to save files in the My Documents (Windows XP) or the Documents (Windows Vista) folder under your user name on your hard drive. So, for example, the directory path of the default folder where Excel 2007 automatically saves new workbook files on a computer running Windows XP is

C:Documents and Settings<i>user</i><i>name</i>My Documents

However, the directory path of the default folder where Excel 2007 automatically saves new workbook files on a computer running Windows Vista is

C:Users<i>use</i><i>rname</i>Documents

The generic My Documents or Documents folders may not be where you want new workbooks you create to be automatically saved.

To change the default file location to another folder on your computer, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Office button and then click the Excel Options button.

    The Excel Options dialog box appears.

  2. Click the Save tab.

    The Save options appear in the right pane.

  3. Click in the Default File Location text box.

    Change the default Save folder in the Excel Options dialog box.
    Change the default Save folder in the Excel Options dialog box.
  4. Edit the existing path or replace it with the path to another existing folder in which you want all future workbooks to be saved.

  5. Click OK.

    The Excel Options dialog box closes. The next time you save a new workbook file, it will be saved to the default file location you specified — unless you change the folder location in the Save As dialog box.

About This Article

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About the book author:

Greg Harvey has authored tons of computer books, the most recent being Excel Workbook For Dummies and Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 For Dummies, and the most popular being Excel 2003 For Dummies and Excel 2003 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies. He started out training business users on how to use IBM personal computers and their attendant computer software in the rough and tumble days of DOS, WordStar, and Lotus 1-2-3 in the mid-80s of the last century. After working for a number of independent training firms, Greg went on to teach semester-long courses in spreadsheet and database management software at Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
His love of teaching has translated into an equal love of writing. For Dummies books are, of course, his all-time favorites to write because they enable him to write to his favorite audience: the beginner. They also enable him to use humor (a key element to success in the training room) and, most delightful of all, to express an opinion or two about the subject matter at hand.
Greg received his doctorate degree in Humanities in Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Asian Studies and Comparative Religion last May. Everyone is glad that Greg was finally able to get out of school before he retired.

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