# Workbooks and tabs

> Organize related work across multiple tabs in one workbook and reference cells on other tabs with Excel-style qualified references.

*[View this page in the Flax docs](https://flax-analytics.com/docs/sheets/workbooks-and-tabs)*

A workbook is a single sheet document with one or more named tabs. Each tab has its
own grid — its own bound query, calculated columns, and free cells — and tabs can
reference one another, just like Excel or Google Sheets. This is the model
introduced in ADR-0034 (multi-tab workbooks and cross-sheet references).

## Tabs in a workbook

Use the tab bar at the bottom of the editor to add, rename, and reorder tabs by
dragging them. A workbook is stored as one record, so all its tabs save, share, and
version together. A new tab can be bound to its own
[exploration](/docs/exploring/overview) or left as a blank grid for free-form
formulas.

A workbook can hold up to **32 tabs**.

> [!NOTE]
> Sheets created before workbooks existed still open normally — a single-grid sheet
> is read as one tab named **"Sheet 1"**.

## Cross-sheet references

Reference a cell or range on another tab by qualifying it with the tab name and a
`!`:

```text
=Orders!A1
='Cash Flow'!B2
=SUM(Orders!B2:B100)
=VLOOKUP(A2, Orders!A:C, 3, FALSE)
```

- Tab names without spaces are written bare (`Orders!A1`).
- Names with spaces or punctuation are single-quoted (`'Cash Flow'!B2`), with `''`
  to escape a quote inside the name.
- Lookup functions such as `VLOOKUP`, `HLOOKUP`, `INDEX`/`MATCH`, and `XLOOKUP` work
  across tabs once the range is qualified — no special syntax is required.

Circular references, even across tabs, are detected and reported as `#CYCLE!`.

## When references break

| Situation | Result |
| --- | --- |
| A referenced tab is deleted or its name no longer resolves | `#REF!` |
| A range tries to span two different tabs | `#NAME?` |

Renaming a tab rewrites the qualified references that point to it, so formulas keep
working. If a rewrite cannot find its target, the affected cell shows `#REF!` so the
break is visible rather than silent.

## Next steps

- [Formulas and functions](/docs/sheets/formulas-and-functions)
- [Editing](/docs/sheets/editing)
- [Collaboration](/docs/sheets/collaboration)