XL97: Cannot Rename Worksheet to History

• Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 97, when you attempt to rename a worksheet in your workbook to History, you may receive the following error message:

   History is a reserved name.

CAUSE

You receive the error message because Microsoft Excel 97 uses the word History as part of its history tracking feature. Microsoft Excel 97 creates a worksheet with the name History when you select "List changes on a new sheet" in the Highlight Changes dialog box. (On the Tools menu, point to Track Changes and click Highlight Changes.)

RESOLUTION

If this problem occurs, use an alternate name; do not use the name History.

NOTE: Whether History is used in upper or lower case, the same error occurs.

STATUS

This behavior is by design of Microsoft Excel 97.

MORE INFORMATION

You can open a workbook created in an earlier version of Microsoft Excel, that contains a sheet named History. Earlier versions of Microsoft Excel do not have the same tracking feature and History is not a reserved word in those versions, therefore, a sheet can have the name History. If you open a workbook in Microsoft Excel 97 that was created in an earlier version, and it has a sheet named History, that sheet is renamed History(1) if you use the tracking feature.

In Microsoft Excel you can share files with other people and work on the data collaboratively. If you want several people to work on the data in your workbook simultaneously, you can save it as a shared workbook. The History worksheet is separate from your data worksheets and lists information about changes made and saved in a shared workbook. It includes who made the change, when and where the change was made, what data was deleted or replaced, and how conflicts were resolved.