Avoid manual data entry with the Fill Handle.
Instead of doing lots of typing, did you know you can fill a series of cells based on just one manually entered cell? Using the Fill Handle, you can. For example, if you write in a date, and take your mouse to the bottom right-hand corner of the cell, the pointer will turn into a […]
Super Powerful: Power Query
If you are having to collate information from different sources into one place, learn about Get & Transform. (It used to be called Power Query and is still often referred to as this.) It will change your life. The Basics You can find Get & Transform on the Data menu. Basically, Get & Transform is […]
Make your data colour coded with Conditional Formatting
Conditional Formatting, such a great tool. On the home tab of your #Excel sheet or shortcut key Alt, H, L. Start by selecting the cells that you want to apply the formatting too. I have used it to highlight all the cells in my column that are over 85. You can use it to automatically […]
Make your life easier, use shortcut keys in Excel.
Shortcut keys can make your time on Excel much more efficient. Reaching for the mouse or touch pad to do something is definitely slower than using a shortcut key. Also, some of the best shortcut keys saving typing time and are more accurate. It can take a bit of time to get used to using […]
Display just the way you want.
The data displayed in a cell can be different to the data that is stored in the background. You can change the way the data looks by formatting the cell. Perhaps the simplest way to understand this is to enter a number and then format it as money (either Currency or Accounting). The data stored […]
Workbook, Worksheets, and Cells.
There is some terminology that is important to understand when using an Excel spreadsheet. The workbook is the whole file. You can change the name of the workbook by saving the file with a new name. A workbook can have one or more worksheets. Each worksheet is listed across the bottom of the workbook in […]
Text to Columns to the rescue!
I have had two times in the past couple of days when I have needed to use Text to Columns. It is a niche tool, but so good when it is needed, saving a lot of time compared to doing things manually. So, what did I use it for? Splitting text in one column into […]
Stop people messing with your cells.
If you share a workbook with others and want to stop them changing the sheet cells you can protect the sheet. By default all cells are protected. If you want to allow them to enter information in some cells, but not others, then you need to unlock the cells to allow them to be changed. […]
Save time, fill across worksheets
You can copy the same data into multiple worksheet in one go. Select the data to copy.Hold down Ctrl and select worksheets to copy to.Go to the Home menu, find the Editing section, Chose Fill – Across worksheets. Be careful to unselect the sheets before you do anything else. Do this by clicking on an […]
Get your information here!
Excel includes Data Types that can get information from the internet and put it straight into your spreadsheet. You can choose from twenty different types of information, including Stocks, Geography, Food and Movies. Type in the thing you are interested in, select which data type you want it to be, and use the Insert Data […]