What Is a Template?

Templates provide a pattern and tools for creating a variety of workbooks. A template can help you create workbooks that are consistent, and can help you customize your workbooks to suit a particular need. If you create a weekly expense report and you don't want to re-create the entire report each week, you can save one of your reports as a customized template and then insert new numbers in the basic format each week.

Template? Generic, model workbook that might consist of basic formatting, styles, text, numbers, and graphics.

Each newly created workbook must be based on a template. When you create a new workbook, Excel bases it on the default template called WORKBOOK.XLT.