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How to rename an opened or active workbook in Excel?

Author Sun Last modified

When you want to rename an opened workbook, you may need to close it firstly, and then rename it which it is a little complex. Here in this tutorial, I introduce some quick ways to rename an opened workbook without closing it.

Rename opened workbook with Save As command

Rename opened workbook with Office Tab

Rename opened workbook with Save As command

If you want to rename the active workbook without closing it, you can use the Save As command t to save it as a new workbook with a new name.

1. Click File or Office button, and choose Save As. See screenshot:

a screenshot of selecting the Save As option

2. And then in the Save As dialog, rename the workbook in the File name textbox, see screenshot:

a screenshot of naming the file

Tip: In Excel 2013/2016. Click Browse to go to the Save As dialog.

a screenshot showing how to open the Save As dialog box in Excel 2013 and 2016

3. Click Save, and the active workbook has been save as a new workbook with a new name.

Rename opened workbook with Office Tab

If you do not want to save the opened workbook as new workbook to rename it, you can use a handle add-in ā€“ Office Tab which can help you view and edit multiple opened workbooks in a single tabbed window.

After installing Office Tab, please do as below:

1. Go to the workbook you want to rename, and right click at the tab name to select Rename from the context menu. See screenshot:

a screenshot showing right-clicking the file tab and selecting Rename

2. In the Office Tab dialog, type the new name into the textbook. See screenshot:

a screenshot of typing a new name

3. Click OK, and the current workbook has been renamed with new name without closing. See screenshot:

a screenshot showing the new name of the workbook

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