Opening Files
Opening existing files in Excel works much the same as it does in any Windows program. The only difference is that Excel gives you two different ways to get to the standard Open dialog box. Here are your options:
Select File → Open.
Use the Task Pane (Section 1.3.2). In Excel 2003, click the Open link at the bottom of the Getting Started task. Or, in Excel 2002, look under the "Open a workbook" heading in the New Workbook task, and click the "More workbooks" link.
Note
If the Task Pane isn't currently visible, you can always choose View → Task Pane from the menu.
Both of these methods bring up the Open dialog box. Using this dialog box, you can browse to find the spreadsheet file you want and then click Open to load it into Excel.
Excel can open many file types other than its native .xls format. To learn the other formats it supports, pull up the Open dialog box, and, at the bottom, open the "Files of type" menu, which shows you the whole list. If you want to open a file but you don't know what format it's in, try using the first option on the menu, "All Files." Once you choose a file, Excel scans the beginning of the file and informs you about the type of conversion it will attempt to perform (based on what type of file Excel thinks it is).
Note
Depending on your computer settings, Windows may hide file extensions. That means that instead of seeing the Excel spreadsheet file MyCoalMiningFortune.xls, you just see the name MyCoalMiningFortune (without the .xls part on the end). ...