Change Microsoft Excel Default Settings for a better experience

Excel's default settings are usually enough for most people. However, everyone has a different style of working with Excel. It can easily customize Microsoft Excel if needed.

If the default settings of Microsoft Excel do not match the style in which you work, you can change some options to fix them. Changing those settings every time you start a new worksheet may be inefficient if done frequently.

You can customize all new worksheets to fit automatically your work style by changing some variables.

Here are some of the default Excel settings that you can change according to your taste to get a better experience on your Windows PC.

Access Excel Settings

Microsoft Excel settings you can open via:

File > Options

You should not be swayed by the many options available. In most circumstances, the default settings are sufficient. However, here are some options that might improve your experience in using Excel.

• Changing the Font and Size
• Disabling LinkedIn
• Set the number of sheets
• Change the Calculation mode from Automatic to Manual
• Switch to the R1C1 reference style
• Change the default storage location
• Change the unit of the ruler
• Cursor Movement Direction
• Disabling VBA macros

Changing the Font and Size

Most of us don't need to change the default font and font size in Excel. Excel's default font is Calibri, with a size of 11px. However, this option may be a problem if your company has a specific format.

You can use the following instructions to adjust the font and its size to fit your needs:

1. Select the “General” tab.
2. In the “When Creating New Workbooks” section, click the dropdown button on “Use this as the default font“.
3. Choose the font you want.
4. Then, on “Font size”, click the dropdown button to select the font size.
5. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Disabling LinkedIn

LinkedIn functions in Word and PowerPoint may be useful to users. However, Excel users, users may find this useless. You'll see LinkedIn features integrated into Excel and all other Office products.

If you don't need LinkedIn, you can disable the LinkedIn function in Excel by following these steps:

1. Select the “General” tab.
2. Find the “LinkedIn Features” section.
3. Then uncheck “Enable LinkedIn features in my Office application“.
4. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Set the number of sheets

By default, each workbook has three sheets. You can add and remove sheets as needed, but you can't adjust the number of sheets originally given. To change this setting, follow these steps:

1. Select the “General” tab.
2. In the “When Creating New Workbooks” section, enter the number of sheets under “Include this many sheets“.
3. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Change the Calculation mode from Automatic to Manual

When using automatic calculation, recalculation starts whenever there is a change in the value in the cell that affects the calculation. This recalculation will probably take up a lot of time and slow down the workbook when you have a lot of data and formulas.

You can save time by changing the calculation option to manual. When you select manual mode, you must manually perform a recalculation by using the keyboard key “F9“.

To change the calculation mode from automatic to manual, you can do it by:

1. Select the “Formulas” tab.
2. In the “Calculation options > Workbook Calculation” section, click the “Manual” radio button.
3. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Switch to the R1C1 reference style

Excel automatically designates columns with the letters A, B, C, D, and so on. And show rows of numbers, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on.

If you want numbers on both sides, you should use the R1C1 reference style. The cell reference R1C1 is displayed using the Row and Column offset values. Displaying your formulas in this way often makes the relationships between cells easier to understand.

1. Select the “Formulas” tab.
2. In the “Working with formulas” section, check the  “R1C1 reference style” option.
3. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Change the default storage location

Excel stores all files in the Documents folder by default. You can change the default save location for each new Excel file in any folder you want. Here's how to change it.

1. Select the “Save” tab.
2. In the “Save workbooks” section, enter the folder location in the “Default local file location” option.
3. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Change the unit of the ruler

The default unit of measure of the Excel ruler is in inches, determined by the Windows Regional option. This ruler will be used in the Page Layout view.

You can change the inches to centimeters and more if you don't think it's appropriate to:

1. Select the “Advanced” tab.
2. In the “Display” section, click the dropdown button on the “Ruler units“.
3. Select the unit you want.
4. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Cursor Movement Direction

When you press the Enter key, Excel slides the pointer down one cell. You can change the direction of the pointed towards the right if most of your data inputs are from left to right. You can also change in the other direction by:

1. Select the “Advanced” tab.
2. In the “Editing options” section, click the dropdown button on “After pressing Enter, move selection“.
3. Select the direction of the cursor you want.
4. Click the OK button to save the changes.

Disabling VBA macros

Excel spreadsheets are often used by criminals to transmit malware or inject trojans into your machine.

To avoid such dangers, you can disable VBA macros with the following steps:

1. Select the “Trust Center” tab.
2. Then click the “Trust Center Settings” button.
3. In the dialog box that opens, select the “Macro Settings” tab.
4. Select “Disable VBA macros with notification“.
5. Click the OK button to save the changes.