Opening an Existing File

You can open an existing file and its program at one time, or you can open the file from within its Office program. If you can't recall a file's name or location, use the Search feature in the Open dialog box to locate the file, based on the information (or criteria ) you can recall, such as its creation date, content, author, size, and so forth.

Open an Existing File from Within an Office Program

Click the Open button on the Standard toolbar.

Click an icon on the Places bar to open a frequently used folder.

If necessary, click the Look In list arrow, and then click the drive where the file is located.

Double-click the folder in which the file is stored.

Click the file you want to open.

Click Open.

Did You Know?

You can open a recent file quickly . Click the File menu, and then click the appropriate file name at the bottom of the menu.

You can open a recent file quickly from the Start menu . Click the Start button, point to My Recent Documents, and then click the file name you want to open.

You can open a copy of a file quickly . When opening a file from the Open dialog box, click the Open button list arrow, and then click Open As Copy. This creates a new copy of the file in the same folder with the file name Copy of [File name].