There are many occasions when you need to create a new spreadsheet based on an existing spreadsheet or move tabs from one Excel file to another. For example, you can back up important worksheets or make multiple copies of the same sheet for testing purposes. Luckily, there are some easy and quick ways to clone a spreadsheet in Excel.
How to copy a sheet in Excel
Excel has three inbuilt routes to duplicate worksheets. Depending on your preferred working technique, you can use the ribbon, mouse or keyboard.
Method 1. Copy the Excel sheet by dragging
Usually, you drag and drop to move something from one place to another. But this method also works for copying tabs and is, in truth, the fastest way to copy a sheet in Excel.
Simply, click on the sheet tab that you want to copy, hold the Ctrl key and drag the tab where you want it:
Method 2. Duplicate a sheet by right-clicking
Here’s another way to duplicate a sheet in Excel that is just as easy:
Right click on the tab and select Move or Copy from the context menu. This will open the Move or Copy dialog box.
Under the Before sheet, choose where you want to place the copy.
Put a tick in the Create a copy box.
Click OK.
For instance, that’s how you can make a copy of Sheet1 and place it before Sheet3:
Method 3. Copy a tab in Excel using the ribbon
The ribbon contains all the features available in Excel, you just need to know where to look 🙂
To copy a sheet, go to the Home tab > Cells group, click Format, and then click Move or Copy Sheet:
How to copy an Excel sheet to another workbook
The common way to copy a sheet to another workbook is this:
Right-click on the tab that you want to copy, and then click Move or Copy…
In the Move or Copy dialog box, do the following:
Under To Book, choose the target file. To place a copy into a new workbook, select (new book).
Under the Before sheet, specify where to put the copy.
