Custom Spreadsheet Solutions
Productivity – powered by Excel

Easily add names for cells.

I have written about naming cells and why it is a good idea before. Here is an easy way to do a whole lot of those at once. Your data has to be set out in a particular way. I have a small example here. Select all the data, from the Income cell to the […]

Make your spreadsheet look less like a spreadsheet.

If you want your spreadsheet to look less like a spreadsheet, or you want more space for your data when showing it to others, then you can make a big difference with a few clicks. Turning off the gridlines and the headings (the letters across the top, and the numbers down the side) can make […]

What is faster than scrolling? Jumping. Go To…

Home menu, Editing section, Find & Select, Go To… or Shortcut key Ctrl + G, or F5. You can type in a cell reference, click OK and be taken right there. You can use it to jump to another sheet, but have to type in the name of the sheet, then !, then the cell […]

I still haven’t found what I am looking for… solved.

Hiding under the Find & Select drop down is Go To Special… Find & Select, can be found on the Home Menu and is the Editing section. Click on the drop down and choose Go To Special… This powerful little tool can be very handy when you are looking for particular parts of your spreadsheet. […]

How to Clear a cell

Use the Clear options in the Editing section of the Home menu to remove data or formatting or both from the cells you have selected. Shortcut keys to Clear All are Alt, H, E, A.

Pivot Tables are amazing!

I was reminded again this week how great Pivot Tables are. If you haven’t used these little beauties in your Excel workbooks you might be missing out. Sometimes, they can require a little bit of manipulating to get your data into a state that is ready for a Pivot Table, but it is totally worth […]

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. […]

Fitting data into a cell and getting it just right.

When the information you want to enter into a cell is too long for the width of the cell you would like, you can use Wrap Text. This will fit the information to the cell by expanding it down to fit. Another great trick to know about is Alt + Enter. When you would like […]