NotebookOpen
✖
NotebookOpen
opens an existing notebook with the specified name, returning the corresponding notebook object.
Details

- NotebookOpen[File["path"]] and NotebookOpen[URL["url"]] are also supported.
- NotebookOpen will usually cause a new notebook window to be opened on your screen.
- NotebookOpen returns $Failed if it cannot open a notebook with the specified name.
- NotebookOpen searches the directories specified by the NotebookPath global option for the front end. »
- With the option Visible->False set, NotebookOpen will open a notebook with the option Visible->False set so that the notebook never displays onscreen.
- NotebookOpen initially sets the current selection to be before the first cell in the notebook.
Examples
open allclose allBasic Examples (1)Summary of the most common use cases
Scope (1)Survey of the scope of standard use cases
Possible Issues (2)Common pitfalls and unexpected behavior
A relative file name locates files relative to the front end's NotebookPath setting:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0tz3xlmg-oa30rb

Set the current working directory:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0tz3xlmg-rcfgb
NotebookOpen does not look in this directory for the specified file name:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0tz3xlmg-du71m3

To open a file in the current directory, give a path based on Directory[]:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0tz3xlmg-lz5hbs
Return to the previous working directory:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0tz3xlmg-ds3plr
Wolfram Research (1996), NotebookOpen, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html (updated 2016).
Text
Wolfram Research (1996), NotebookOpen, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html (updated 2016).
Wolfram Research (1996), NotebookOpen, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html (updated 2016).
CMS
Wolfram Language. 1996. "NotebookOpen." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2016. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html.
Wolfram Language. 1996. "NotebookOpen." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2016. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (1996). NotebookOpen. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html
Wolfram Language. (1996). NotebookOpen. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_notebookopen, author="Wolfram Research", title="{NotebookOpen}", year="2016", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html}", note=[Accessed: 08-July-2025
]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_notebookopen, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={NotebookOpen}, year={2016}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NotebookOpen.html}, note=[Accessed: 08-July-2025
]}