Excel: Save, Backstage & File Compatibility

Key Takeaways

When working with files in Excel, there will be two save scenarios. You'll either save a new file that was made from scratch or you'll save changes to an existing file. Therefore, there are two different save commands in Excel. Save and save as. Let's have a look at the actions of each command on either a new file or an existing file. When saving a new file, clicking either save or save as will have the same result. You'll be prompted to give the file a name and choose a save location. You can also specify a file type. When saving an existing file and clicking save, any changes you have made will be applied to the existing file in its current location. When saving an existing file and clicking save as, you have the option to give the file a new name and a new save location. You can also specify a new file type. If you do change something, the original file will not be changed. To save a new file for the first time, you can click the save icon on the quick access toolbar. Press control and S together. Click file and then save or click file and then save as. Any of these options will open the save as category of backstage view. On the left hand side, choose the location to which you want to save or click browse to manually choose a location. Clicking browse will open the traditional save as dialogue box. At the top of the window, you can choose a location to save your file. You can also use the shortcuts on the left hand side of the window to navigate through your computer. At the bottom of the window, enter a file name. Finally, choose a file type if desired. Click save to complete the process. Once you have saved a file in this way, you can use the commands mentioned previously. Save icon on the quick access toolbar, control and s keys or file and then save to update it. Because you are updating an existing file, you will not need to enter the file name, location, or type again. If you want to save the file with a different name, location, or type, click file and then save as, or use the F12 shortcut. This will reopen the save as dialogue box and let you change file information. Microsoft One Drive is Microsoft's online file storage service. It is available to anyone with a Microsoft account and allows users to store, sync, and share files with other users online. You can access these files using your browser or through your operating system if you use Windows 8 or later. Microsoft 365 incorporates one drive directly into most of its apps so that you can seamlessly save and open files to your one drive account. For example, in the save as category of backstage view, you have quick access to your one drive account if you are signed in with a Microsoft account. To save the current workbook to your one drive account, click the one drive entry on the lefth hand side of the save as category. Then choose the desired folder within the one drive account from the list on the right hand side. When working with a workbook in Excel 365 that was created in an older version of Excel, such as Excel 2003, that workbook will automatically open in compatibility mode. Such workbooks can easily be identified by the compatibility mode text next to the file name on the title bar. A workbook that was created using an older version of Excel can be opened in Excel 365 using compatibility mode. However, some newer features may be limited. To access these features, you can convert older workbooks into Excel 365 file format. Additionally, you will often find that converting older workbooks into this newer format will help reduce its size. To convert an open workbook, click file, then info, and then convert. This will open a save as dialogue box where you can save a version of the workbook in the Excel 365 format. Clicking save will mean that you are now working within the converted workbook. The compatibility checker is designed to scan your workbook for potential issues if you want to save it as an earlier version of Excel, particularly using XLS format. Open this tool by clicking file, then info, and then check for issues and finally check compatibility. After a moment, the compatibility checker dialogue box will appear and show all possible conflicts between XL 365 and previous versions. Click okay to close the dialogue box. Note the available option at the bottom of the compatibility checker dialogue box to automatically check compatibility when saving this workbook. Microsoft Excel also comes with a tool to help you check your document for possible accessibility issues that could affect users with disabilities. To use this tool, click file, then info, and then check for issues and finally check accessibility. The accessibility task pane will then be displayed on the right hand side of your screen. Its contents will be divided into three sections: errors, warnings, and tips. You can click on any issues to go to that item and view more information about the problem. Let's take a closer look at the three types of inspection results. The error section will list items in the workbook that people with disabilities will not be able to access. This includes objects without alternate text, tables that do not have header rows, and manual formatting. Alternative text is a sentence that describes an image you've inserted in a spreadsheet that helps visually impaired users. The warning section lists issues such as hardto- read color combinations for the visually impaired, awkward table formatting, and hyperlinks that do not have screen tips. You can click on an entry in this list to see suggested ways to fix the problem. Clicking also takes you directly to the item. And finally, the tips section of the accessibility checker will give you additional information for ways that you can improve the accessibility of your workbook even further.