Microsoft KB Archive/93537

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Excel: How to Access Custom Templates with NEW Function

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0
 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 3.0, 4.0, 4.0a, 5.0

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SUMMARY
In Microsoft Excel, you can use the NEW function in a macro to create a new document or open a template.

To use NEW to open a template, your template must appear in the New dialog box that is displayed when you choose New from the file menu.

NOTE: To have your template available in the New dialog box, see &quot;Displaying Your Template in the New Dialog Box&quot; in the More Information section of this article.

When you use NEW to open a template, include the template name in quotation marks as the type_num argument, as in the following example

  =NEW(&quot;MyTmp&quot;)

where MyTmp is the name of your document template.

NOTE: Do not include the .XLT extension in the filename when using Microsoft Excel for Windows.

Displaying Your Template in the New Dialog Box
When you choose New from the File menu, a dialog box is displayed that contains a list of document types and templates. To include your custom templates in the New document list, place your template in the Microsoft Excel startup folder or directory:


 * In Excel for Windows, the startup directory is called XLSTART and is located in your Microsoft Excel program directory.
 * In Excel for the Macintosh, the startup folder is called EXCEL STARTUP FOLDER (4) for Microsoft Excel 4.0 and EXCEL STARTUP FOLDER for Microsoft Excel 3.0. The location of this folder depends on which version of Macintosh system software you are using; if you are using system software versions 6.x, this folder is located in the System folder; if you are using system software versions 7.0 and later, this folder is located in the Preferences folder inside the System folder.

NOTE: You can also specify an additional startup folder or directory using the Alternate Startup add-in macro. For information on specifying an additional startup folder or directory, see page 80 of the version 4.0 &quot;Microsoft Excel User's Guide 1.&quot;