In Excel: File ▸ Save As under a different name creates a full copy of the workbook, or copy/paste the .xlsx file in File Explorer/Finder — either preserves every sheet, formula, and formatting exactly. To copy every sheet INTO another workbook that is already open instead, right-click any tab ▸ Select All Sheets, right-click again ▸ Move or Copy, choose the target workbook, and tick "Create a copy" — leaving that box unticked MOVES the sheets out of the original instead of copying them.
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For a full independent duplicate of the file itself, use File ▸ Save As and give it a new name (or copy/paste the .xlsx in File Explorer/Finder).
To copy every sheet into a DIFFERENT, already-open workbook instead, right-click any tab ▸ Select All Sheets.
Right-click the selected tabs again ▸ Move or Copy.
In the dialog, set "To book" to the target workbook and tick "Create a copy" — leaving it unticked moves the sheets out of the source file instead.
Click OK, then check any formula that referenced a workbook outside this one, since those links still point at the original file location.
What this does
"Copy a workbook" actually covers two different jobs. File ▸ Save As (or a plain file-system copy) duplicates the ENTIRE .xlsx as a new, independent file — the fastest option for a full backup or a "v2" to experiment in safely. Move or Copy with "Create a copy" ticked instead brings every sheet from one workbook INTO another workbook that is already open, useful for consolidating several files into one. Whichever method is used, any formula that referenced a DIFFERENT external workbook keeps pointing at that original file, not at the copy — those links do not automatically retarget themselves. The same idea underpins a lot of everyday Excel work, so the few minutes spent getting it right here pay back across every sheet you build afterwards. Treat it as a pattern, not a one-off, and it stops being something you look up and starts being something you reach for. Treat “copy an entire excel workbook” as a small repeatable workflow rather than a one-off click you hope to remember next time. Use a small test block before the live file, so any surprise in the affected sheet shows up while it is still harmless. When this is a ribbon command, the selection matters more than the button: confirm the range, apply the command, then spot-check the output before saving. That turns a workflow that saves repeating the same clicks every week into a method you can reuse, explain, and defend when the workbook leaves your screen.
A worked example
budget-2026.xlsx needs a duplicate to test scenario changes without risking the original. File ▸ Save As ▸ budget-2026-scenario.xlsx creates an independent copy with all 8 sheets intact; editing the new file leaves budget-2026.xlsx untouched. Separately, to pull all 8 of those sheets into an already-open consolidated-model.xlsx: right-click any tab in budget-2026.xlsx ▸ Select All Sheets, right-click again ▸ Move or Copy, set "To book" to consolidated-model.xlsx, tick Create a copy, and click OK — all 8 sheets now also exist inside consolidated-model.xlsx, and budget-2026.xlsx is untouched because Create a copy was ticked. A backup before a risky change, a template being reused, or several workbooks being consolidated into one are common enough that knowing which of these two different "copy" operations applies avoids either losing sheets from the original or ending up with a half-finished copy. If this is something you do often, add the command to the Quick Access Toolbar (right-click it on the ribbon and choose Add to Quick Access Toolbar) or learn its shortcut, so next time it is one click instead of a hunt through the menus.
In Google Sheets
This is a command rather than a formula, so there is no syntax to carry over. Google Sheets arranges its commands in menus across the top instead of a ribbon, names some of them differently and does not have every Excel command — look for the equivalent in the Sheets menus or its help before assuming the steps match. The aim was to get you unstuck fast and leave you a little more capable than a copy-paste would. The answer is at the top and the detail above shows why it holds — so the next time a colleague asks, you can answer without reaching for search. If you take one thing from this page on “copy an entire excel workbook”, make it the order of checks rather than the individual clicks: confirm what is selected, apply the step, and look at the result before moving on. That small routine is what keeps Excel work predictable when the same task comes back in a slightly different workbook.
Common mistakes
- Using Move or Copy without ticking "Create a copy," which REMOVES every sheet from the source workbook instead of duplicating them.
- Assuming formulas that reference another external workbook automatically repoint to the new copy — they keep the original file's path until manually updated (Data ▸ Edit Links).
- Copying the file with File Explorer while it is still open in Excel, risking a copy of unsaved changes or a file-lock error.
- Giving a Save As copy an unclear name and later losing track of which file is the "real" one — a clear naming convention (dates or version numbers) avoids this.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make a full copy of an Excel workbook, including every sheet?
File ▸ Save As and give it a new name — that duplicates the whole file, every sheet included, as an independent workbook.
How do I copy all sheets from one workbook into another one that is already open?
Right-click any tab ▸ Select All Sheets, right-click again ▸ Move or Copy, choose the target workbook under "To book," and tick Create a copy.
Does Google Sheets have an equivalent?
Yes — File ▸ Make a copy duplicates the whole spreadsheet with every tab, similar to Save As. To copy a single sheet into a different Sheets file, right-click that sheet's tab ▸ Copy to ▸ Existing spreadsheet; Sheets has no bulk "select all tabs" step, so copying every sheet into another file means repeating Copy to once per tab.
Other ways people ask this
On the way here you may have searched this as “how to copy entire excel workbook” and “how do you copy an entire workbook in excel” — it is all the same task, and this page is the single, complete answer to it.
Why do people search for this in so many different ways?
Because the same task has many names. “how to copy entire excel workbook”, “how do you copy an entire workbook in excel” all point at the one operation explained on this page, which is why they all lead here.