When I use BI4 to save results to Excel, I don’t have the option to just open the results and work with them. I am forced to save first – how can I get around this extra step?
You can't really avoid this extra step.
Save the report you’re working on to your My Favorites folder.
This is a best practice – if you don’t want to keep it long term, just use the same name over and over.
See Copy a Repository/Corporate Report for Editing (PDF).
Go back and open it.
Save it to Excel, where you’re offered the option to either 'Open' or 'Save'.