Comprehensive List of Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted on February 22nd, 2010 in Featured , Keyboard Shortcuts , Learn Excel - 115 comments

Few weeks back I have invited all of you to share your excel keyboard shortcuts in a open thread. More
than 50 people commented on that post and shared a hundred excel keyboard shortcuts with us. There
were so many wonderful keyboard shortcuts and tricks buried in the comments section of that post. During
the weekend, I spent sometime to collect all these beautiful shortcuts and arranged them neatly so that
you can easily learn them.
Special thanks to all the commenters on the original post. Without you I couldnt have learned
these shortcuts.

Here is the complete list of excel keyboard shortcuts.

Shortcuts for Selection

Shortcuts for Editing
Shortcuts for Navigation
Shortcuts for Formatting
Shortcuts for Formulas
Shortcuts for Excel Options
Shortcuts for Auto Complete
Shortcuts for Everything Else
Note: I have *ed some of the most important shortcuts. These are very useful and extremely time saving
ones. You may want to remember a few to boost your productivity.
Select the whole column

SELECTION

CTRL + SPACE
Select the whole row

SELECTION

SHIFT + SPACE
Select table

SELECTION

SHIFT + CTRL + SPACE bar

Save

SELECTION

CTRL + s
Select visible cells only

SELECTION

ALT + ;
Select entire region

SELECTION

CTRL + A
Select range from start cell to far left

SELECTION

SHIFT + Home
Select range from start cell to end in direction of arrow
SELECTION
SHIFT + End + arrow
Select a continuous range of data (e.g. pivot), no matter where your cursor is.
SELECTION
CTRL + *

Select blank cells

F5 + ALT + S + K + ENTER

SELECTION

Select all cells with comments

CTRL + SHIFT + O

SELECTION

Select all cells that are directly or indirectly referred to by formulas in the selection
SELECTION
CTRL + SHIFT + {
Select all cells with formulas that refer directly or indirectly to the active cell
SELECTION
CTRL + SHIFT + }
Selects all the way to a1 from cursor position
SELECTION
CTRL + SHIFT + HOME
Select cells in the direction of arrow
CTRL + SHIFT + Arrow

SELECTION

Previous sheet
CTRL + Page Up

NAVIGATION

Next sheet
CTRL + Page Down

NAVIGATION

Launch GO TO Dialog (from here you can select special or jump to a cell or range)
NAVIGATION
F5
Go to top left (will go to top left of freezed pane if set)
NAVIGATION
CTRL + Home
Go to last non-blank cell
CTRL + end

NAVIGATION

Go to previous sheet
CTRL + PgUp

NAVIGATION

Go to next sheet
CTRL + PgDn

NAVIGATION

Print
CTRL + p

NAVIGATION

Toggle between workbooks in a given session of excel.

NAVIGATION
CTRL + TAB
Change the type of cell reference from relative to absolute or semi-absolute
FORMULAS
F4
Repeat whatever you did last
F4

FORMULAS

Debug portions of a formula (select and press)

FORMULAS
F9

Sum range
ALT + =

FORMULAS

Enter array formula

CTRL + SHIFT + Enter

FORMULAS

Select array formula range

CTRL + /

FORMULAS

Display range names (can be used when typing formulas)

FORMULAS
F3
Evaluate formulas. (its easy to remember when working with some tuf formulas!)
FORMULAS
ALT + TUF
Copy a formula from above cell and edit
CTRL + '

FORMULAS

Display the formula palette after you type a valid function name in a formula
FORMULAS
CTRL + A (while writing a formula)
Alternate between displaying cell values and displaying cell formulas
FORMULAS
CTRL + ` (Single Left Quotation Mark)
Calculate formulas
F9

FORMULAS

Select all precedent cells

CTRL + [

FORMULAS

Select all dependent cells

CTRL + ]

FORMULAS

Format Selection (cells, objects, charts)

CTRL + 1

FORMATTING

Bold a cells content

CTRL + B

FORMATTING

Format Painter Paste formats from selection

FORMATTING
ALT + EST
Format as number with 2 dp
CTRL + SHIFT + 1

FORMATTING

Format as local currency

CTRL + SHIFT + 4

FORMATTING

Format as percentage with 0 dp

CTRL + SHIFT + 5

FORMATTING

Hide row
CTRL + 9

FORMATTING

Hide column
FORMATTING

CTRL + 0
Unhide row

FORMATTING

CTRL + SHIFT + 9
Unhide column

FORMATTING

CTRL + SHIFT + 0
Display the style command format menu
ALT + '

FORMATTING

Sets/removes strikeout in current cell

CTRL + 5

FORMATTING

Show/hide the top bar when you have a group

FORMATTING
Crtl + 8
Single border around selected cells
CTRL + SHIFT + 7

FORMATTING

Sort
ALT + DS

FORMATTING

Insert hyperlink
CTRL + K

FORMATTING

Freeze panes
ALT + WFF

FORMATTING

Remove grid lines or (alt+t)ov(alt+g)[enter]

FORMATTING
ALT + WVG (2007+)
To wrap lines
ALT + HW (2007+)

FORMATTING

Save as
F12

EXCEL OPTIONS

Collapse the ribbon (press again to expand)

EXCEL OPTIONS
CTRL + F1
Opens print preview
CTRL + F2

EXCEL OPTIONS

Maximize the current window

ALT + SPACE X

EXCEL OPTIONS

Activate next window

ALT + TAB

EXCEL OPTIONS

Activate previous window

ALT + SHIFT + TAB

EXCEL OPTIONS

Close an excel workbook

crtl + F4

EXCEL OPTIONS

Split screens
ALT + W + S

EXCEL OPTIONS

Create a pivot table in new sheet (of course after selecting the range)
EVERYTHING ELSE
ALT + DPF
Create a pivot table in the same sheet.
EVERYTHING ELSE
ALT + DPN
Show visual basic editor
ALT + F11

EVERYTHING ELSE

Macro dialog
ALT + F8

EVERYTHING ELSE

Apply/remove filter
ALT + DFF

EVERYTHING ELSE

Keep filter on columns, but show all rows

EVERYTHING ELSE
ALT + DFS
Insert pivot table
ALT + NVT

EVERYTHING ELSE

Turn filter on or of
CTRL + SHIFT + L

EVERYTHING ELSE

Paste values only

ALT + ESV

EDITING

Edit a cell, place cursor at the end

F2

EDITING

Show in-cell drop down with previously entered values

EDITING
ALT + Down arrow
Fills down value from cell above
CTRL + D

EDITING

Add a comment or Edit comment

SHIFT + F2

EDITING

Insert new sheet

SHIFT + F11

EDITING

Insert row
CTRL + +

EDITING

Delete row
CTRL + -

EDITING

Copy
CTRL + C

EDITING

Paste
CTRL + V

EDITING

Cut
CTRL + X

EDITING

Undo
CTRL + Z

EDITING

Get a line break inside the cell

ALT + Enter (while editing the cell)

EDITING

Clear all contents

ALT + EAA

EDITING

Copy
CTRL + insert

EDITING

Paste
SHIFT + Insert

EDITING

Make chart/pivot chart

F11

EDITING

Edit a cell in Apple Macs

CTRL + U

EDITING

Copy the value from the cell above the active cell into the cell or the formula bar
EDITING
CTRL + SHIFT + "
Copies whatever is in the cell to the left of it.
EDITING
CTRL + R
Delete box (cell, row, column)
ALT + ED

EDITING

Insert box (cell, row, column)

ALT + IE

EDITING

Enter current date

CTRL + ;

AUTO COMPLETE

Enter current time

CTRL + :

AUTO COMPLETE

Thanks to the contributors

http://chandoo.org/wp/advanced-excel-skills/
Do you know these Double-click Tricks in Excel?
Posted on June 12th, 2009 in Excel Howtos , Featured , Learn Excel - 124 comments

Most of us think of mastering formulas, learning macros and being supergood with charts when we think of
being productive with spreadsheets. But often learning simple stuff like keyboard shortcuts, using mouse
and working with menus and ribbons can be a huge productivity booster for us. So as part of this
installment of spreadcheats we will learn 7 very cool and effective double click tricks in excel. (as an aside,

try saying double click tricks several times faster

Double Click on the Office Button / Logo to Close Excel

This is simple. Displays do you want to save dialog if the workbook is not saved.
Adjust column widths by selecting multiple columns and double clicking on the separators

This is my favorite. You can use the same trick to adjust row heights too.
Double-click in the corner, just above scroll-bar to include a split

It is surprising that very few people know about split and freeze panes feature in excel. I have often seen
colleagues struggling to freeze top row of a large workbook or include a split so that they can see 2
different things at a time.
You can also create a vertical split by clicking on the little bar shape next to horizontal scroll-bar near
bottom right corner of the excel window.
(If you are wondering where the split would be created, it will be created at selected cells row (or column))
Double click on ribbon menu names to collapse ribbon to get more space

In MS Office 2007 you can double click on the ribbon menus to collapse the ribbon to one line. In Excel

2003, when you double click on the empty space in the toolbar area, it opens up the customize window
(same as Menu > tools > customize)
Auto-fill a series of cells with data or formulas by just double clicking

I have saved countless minutes ever since I learned this little trick. Lets say you have a table where in one
column you have some data and in the next you have written a formula in the first row. Now how would
you copy the formula and paste it in all cells in that column?
Copy the formula (ctrl+c), select all cells, paste the formula.
Well, no more. Just select the formula in first cell, double click in the bottom right corner and see the
magic.
The trick works for formulas, auto-fills (of numbers, dates, what not) as long as the adjacent column has
data.
Jump to last row / column in table with double-click

Just select any cell in the table and double click on the cell-border in the direction you want to go. See the
screencast.
Lock a particular feature and reuse them with double-click

You can lock any repeatable feature (like format painter, drawing connectors, shapes etc.) by just double
clicking on the icon (in Excel 2007 this works for format painter, but for drawing shapes you need to right
click and select lock drawing mode). This can save you a ton of time when you need to repeat same action
several times.

Now its time to test your clicking skills

Turn on the Clipboard pane, Copy paste like there is no tomorrow

We all swear by ctrl+c, ctrl+v. A large part of my MBA case studies were submitted intime thanks only to
the awesome clipboard. But do you know that you can turn on the clipboard feature in Excel 2007 in a full
panel view and use it to speed up the copy paste activity.
Hold Down ALT to see what keyboard shortcuts are available, press key and you will see more

All you have to do is hold the ALT key down. And I can bet that you will learn a fun and simple keyboard
shortcut for something that you use everyday. What more, in Excel 2007 you can use most of the Excel
2003 (and earlier) keyboard shortcuts.
Lock a feature to Boost up your performance, for eg. lock format painter and paste formats everywhere

When you need to perform certain action several times, like for eg. if you want to paste the same
formatting over 40 different cells, you can lock the format painter by double clicking on it. See the
screencast to understand how it works.
(When you can inserting shapes etc, you can use lock drawing mode option from right click menu)

Make your charts and tables go everywhere, copy them as pictures

When you copy a chart / table of cells as picture, they take less space and look lot better when pasted.
Add Invisible / Hidden features to your Quick Access Toolbar

You can add hidden features of excel 2007 like camera tool etc. to the quick access toolbar (the tools that
you usually see next to office button). Just click on the office button > Excel options > Customize and
select commands not in the ribbon. These are the features that are not usually shown on ribbon (some of
them are shown when you lets say select a chart or table or something like that).
Move the Quick Access Toolbar down to save mouse travel time

I think that title says it all. See the image.

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Always save the files in Excel 2003-97 compatible mode

Very useful if your colleagues / clients are still using old versions. Just go to Office button > Excel Options
> Save and change the file type to Excel 2003-97.
Click on the corner of a group of Ribbon Icons to launch its UI

This is not applicable for all groups. But for some groups of icons you see a little squarish icon on the
bottom right corner. Just hit it to launch a friendly office 2003ish looking dialog to make changes to the
settings etc.
Add chart related options to Quick Access Toolbar to save time

If you make a lot of charts, then it pays to add the chart related options like adding error bars, adding
axis etc. to the quick access toolbar. Then you can press ALT+number to activate this feature and work
with it without even moving your mouse.

11

Create a named range quickly by typing the name in the corner of formula bar

You can quickly create a named range by selecting a bunch of cells and typing the name in the formula
bars left hand corner where usually cell address is displayed.
See the screencast.
BONUS: Enable Developer Ribbon Toolbar in Excel 2007

If you in to mochas and trying to explore macros, then this one is for you. Enable the Developer toolbar
from Excel options > Popular and you can play with all those form controls and macros.

15 MS Excel Tips to Make you a Productivity Guru

Posted on October 16th, 2008 in Featured , Learn Excel - 32 comments

We all like to customize things, to personalize them so that we feel better, faster and smarter using them.
Microsoft Excel is a perfect example of highly customizable software. It is simple to learn and use, and at
the same time it is relatively easy to change the way it works for you.
Here is a list of 15 useful excel tweaks that can make you hyper-productive. Happy Thursday
1. Change the order in which you edit cells
We all know that when you hit enter on a cell excel usually takes you to the next cell in that column for
editing. But what if you need to go to next cell in that row? Of course you can use tab. But you can also
customize the cell edit order when you are typing out that large list of entries so that you need not change
your habits for the software. Just go to Menu > Tools > Options > Edit tab and set the move selection
after enter to whatever direction you like.

12

2. Change the number of default sheets on open from three

Whenever you open a new workbook, excel shows 3 spreadsheets by
default. Most of the times we need one or two of them. And when we are
sharing the project plan or sales report (or whatever else the excel file
has) with colleagues, we remove the other 2 sheets. You can save the
trouble by telling excel to create only one sheet by default and let you
add more if you need it. In Menu > Tools > Options > General Tab
change the sheets in new workbook
from 3 to 1.
3. Customize excels standard font to Arial to your favorite

Each one of us have our own favorite fonts. I like Verdana better than Arial. May be you like Georgia
compared to Arial. But when you set out to create that gantt chart for your new project you have to
manually change the font from Arial to Georgia everytime. No longer. Tell excel to change the default font
from Arial to your favorite. In Menu > Tools > Options > General Tab set the Standard font to what you
like. You can set the font size as well.
4. Hack auto-fills using custom lists

Excel has few built-in lists that it uses for auto-filling cells when you drag that little pointer across. For eg.
you can write Monday in 1st cell, Tuesday in 2nd cell and select these two and drag that over the next few
cells by clicking in the corner and excel would fill rest of the weekdays in that range. This is a very useful
feature. But what if you do repetitive typing your company products or annual holidays ? Of course you
can tell excel to use your own lists for auto-fills. Just go to Menu > Tools > Options > Custom Lists and add
your own lists by typing them or pointing to a location where they are.
5. Change the colors to something bold and better

13

Excel (2003 and earlier) has a limitation of 56 colors. We all have been living with that for a while now. But
what if you need to tweak the colors to suit your companys color scheme without spending too much time
on it. Simple. Just change the colors for the current workbook by going to Menu > Tools > Options > Color
and define your own RGB values for each of the colors. Alternative you can try this hack to get more colors
in your charts.
6. Configure thousands separator and decimal symbols

Excels number formatting is pretty intelligent. It can get your country locale information from the system
you are using and thus format the numbers (the thousands separators symbol and decimal point symbol)
based on that. This is a very useful feature since you dont have to worry how the numbers are shown. But
what if you are in US but your reports needs to show numbers according to some other countrys format?
You can change the thousands separator and decimal point symbols to suit your preference. In the Menu >
Tools > Options > International Tab, uncheck the use system separators and enter your own.
7. Bugged with annoying error checking options? Turn them off forever
Excels formula error checking options are both useful and annoying. For eg. Excel would tell me if there is
an inconsistent formula in region. Very useful feature to spot omissions. But what if you already know
what you are doing and you need to omit few cells in that region in that formula? Still excel would bug you
to correct that error. It may be better to turn off this error checking option that silence it every time. Go to
Menu > Tools > Options > Error Checking Tab and uncheck error checking rules that you dont want excel
to apply.
8. Reduce your typing by using auto correct

We have come to rely on features like spell check, undo, auto correct so much that our productivity would
drop 50% if these features were to vanish tomorrow. But do you know that you can use auto-correct
feature to be even more productive? You can set your own auto correct rules in Excel (Word, PowerPoint as
well) and this little tweak can help you reduce typing. For eg. while writing blog posts I often write PHD to
convey Pointy Haired Dilbert. Instead of actually typing Pointy Haired Dilbert every time, I can define an
auto-correct rule that says replace PHD with Pointy Haired Dilbert. Imagine how much of typing you can

14

reduce by defining simple replacements for several day to day words you type. Define your own auto
correct rules in Menu > Tools > Auto Correct Options > Auto Correct Tab.
9. Tell excel to show full menus, Always!
One of the smart features of MS Office is that the menus learn what options you use often and show only
them when you click on the menu. But this gets in the way of being productive if your work involves using
various options all the time. Fortunately you can turn off this feature and tell Excel (and other office apps)
to show Full menus always. Just go to Menu > Tools > Customize > Options Tab and check Always show
full menus option.
10. Reduce the workbook size by compressing pictures

Whenever you are sharing the workbooks with colleagues either through mail or by uploading to a server,
it is recommended to keep the size of workbooks low in order to let the receivers quickly get the file.
Sometimes excel files can be very huge depending on the number of sheets and formulas you have used.
There is one trick to reduce the size of excel files with images. You can tell excel to compress the images
for web viewing. This will force saving the images at lower resolution of 96dpi instead of standard 200dpi.
In the Menu > File > Save As dialog box, click on Compress pictures option and adjust the resolution in
the change resolution area.
11. Tell excel how to calculate your formulas

Often when you are working on spreadsheets with lots of formulas it can be a bit inconvenient to have
excel recalculate every formula at each key stroke. Especially if the formulas involve a large range then
excel can take quite a while to perform the calculations hogging system resources. Of course there is a
way to force excel to calculate formulas when you choose to (by hitting F9). In Menu > Tools > Options >
Calculation tab set the calculation to Manual or Automatic except for tables.
12. Save time by using templates

15

Every organization / individual has their own tastes on how a status report, project plan, gantt chart or
grade table should look like. And often we spend hours touching up that spreadsheet / document to make
sure it complies with standard styles / fonts / layouts. There is a simple work around that could reduce the
time spent on formatting in Excel. Next time you make a project plan, save it as a template and use it
whenever you need a project plan and edit the stuff you need to. Saves time for other nicer things like..
mmm, sipping coffee or reading Pointy Haired Dilbert.
13. Use paste special when copying charts to PowerPoint, it saves space as well

Ok, this is pretty common, we design charts, tables in Excel and then paste them in to PowerPoint. But
somehow the formatting is not preserved or the file is too huge. Here is a simple hack that you may
already know. Use paste specialwhenever you are pasting the charts / tables to PowerPoint / word or
outlook and select enhanced meta file option. This makes sure you have a good quality chart that looks
slick when projected (or printed) while taking up less space.
14. Remove any personal information from the spreadsheet with one click

Often when you make a spreadsheet about that vacation plan or to share party expenses and send it to
others you may want to remove your personal information from the excel file, just to make sure the file is
harmless even if it is posted on the cloud. In Menu > Tools > Options > Security tab, check the Remove
personal information from file properties on save to make sure your company name, last name etc. are
removed from the excel file properties.
15. Bored with Excel menus? Create your own
Finally, how would you like your own menu with your own shortcuts ? This can be super-productive if you
spreadsheet a lot and need to access all those nifty features with one click. Here is a clue on how to get
your own menus. Go to Menu > Tools > Customize > Commands Tab and add your menu to the list. How?
That is your home work. After all you are a spreadsheet customization guru now.

16

That is all. So go ahead and tweak that spreadsheet

software and have fun in all the time you have just
saved.
Note: all tips are tested on MS Excel 2003. Let me know
if you face any difficulties.
10 Tips to Make Better and Boss-proof Excel Spreadsheets
Posted on November 3rd, 2009 in Excel Howtos , Featured , Learn Excel - 55 comments

We all have atleast one story of how that one time the boss / co-worker / classmate / cat ruined the
carefully crafted excel spreadsheet by mucking up the formulas or disturbing the formatting. There are 3
very easy solutions to prevent this problem,
1.

2.
3.

Write an unleash_a_pack_of_wild_cats_when_someone_messes_with_the_file () macro: It is not an

elegant solution, and cats are not very consistent, but it can work.

Move to marketing department, you dont need to send excel files any more, just ppts.
Or, read this post and learn 10 awesome tips on how to boss proof your excel files.

So here is the list of 10 tips to make better excel spreadsheets. I suggest using all these tips for a perfect
boss proof workbook.
Restrict The Work Area Few Columns and Rows
Not all spreadsheets have 256 columns and 65000 rows of data. So why show the entire grid when you
can, say, just show the 44 rows and 23 columns in which the sales report is presented.

17

To restrict the work area,

Select the first column you dont want to see (24th column) and press CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW.
Now Right click and select Hide option.
Select the first row you dont want to see (45th row) and press CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW. Now
right click and select Hide option.
Lock Formula Cells And Protect The Worksheet
Formulas are the most vulnerable part of an excel sheet. You accidentally edit something, say in payroll
sparesheet, and you just gave 3200% bonus to someone in the organization. That is alright if that
someone is a CEO of a bailed-out bank, but in all other cases, you end up spending a sweet afternoon
trying to figure out what went wrong.

So, it is better to lock the workbook formulas and protect the worksheet so that no one accidentally erase
the formulas or mess with them. To do this follow the steps in the illustration above.
You can use the same trick to lock the charts and other worksheet objects.

18

Freeze Panes So that Your boss Knows what she is Reading

Freeze panes is a very useful feature. It locks the important items on the top so even when you scroll down
you still see them. (You can do the same for columns, thus seeing the first few column even when scrolling
left).
Bonus tip: Use excel tables (new feature in Excel 2007) so that you dont need to freeze panes. Learn more.
Hide Un-necessary / Calculation Sheets
It is fairly common for excel workbooks to have tens worksheets, some with data, some with calculations,
some with intermediate stuff and only one or two sheets with actual outcome (like a dashboard or a
report).

There is no reason to think that all these worksheets should be visible all the time to the boss. While it
makes sense to have the data and calculations visible so that someone can audit the worksheet, I am sure
you dont want your boss to waster her time doing that. So here is a handy tip:

Select all the worksheets other than the output sheets and hide them.
Hide Rows / Columns
If for some reason, hiding worksheets is not possible, you can still try hiding rows and columns. This is a
very good way to prevent someone from accidentally messing a with a row of really big and complicated
formulas.

19

Just select the rows / columns you want to hide and right click and select the hide option.
Include Cell Comments / Help Messages
We all know bosses have a busy mind. They dont have time to remember (or know) every little thing.
Heck, sometimes they dont even know what somethings are.

I suggest using cell comments and help messages to give right information / guidelines to the spreadsheet
end user, like enter your age in this cell. They are easy to implement and totally non-intrusive.

To include a cell comment, select the cell and press SHIFT+F2 and write the comment.
To include a cell message, select the cell, go to data validation, go to input message tab and type what
you want.
Data Validations, Error Messages
Spreadsheets are complicated things that are carefully crafted with umpteen pre-conditions and
assumptions. I am sure there is at least one excel file out there that will only work if a cat enters the input.
But we are not talking about cats, the point is, it is important that right data is fed to the worksheet before
the formulas (or charts or payroll macro etc.) can work. That is where data validation can help.

20

It is very easy to set up data validation in excel. Just select the cell and go to data validation (in Data
ribbon / menu). There are several ways in which you can set up data validations,

You
You
You
You
You

can
can
can
can
can

show an incell drop down box and ask users to pick from a list
specify the type of data allowed (dates, times, numbers, text)
specify the length of data
specify the conditions on data (like between 2 numbers, less than a given date etc.)
even use formulas to make your own data validations [example]

There are several examples of using data validation in this site. Go check.
Use Consistent Colors And Schemes
Anything looks better when it is consistent, even when it is internally screwed up. That same rule applies
to excel workbooks as well. It will make your boss feel comfortable and relaxed to see an excel workbook
with consistent colors and (simple) schemes.

I suggest using excel cell styles to define the styles for your workbooks. This ensures consistency and you
dont have to spend after hours formatting the worksheets. Read more about cell styles.
Name and Color Worksheet Tabs Appropriately
It doesnt matter if you have designed an awesome excel dashboard, your boss can be still pissed because
the sheet name is Sheet 69. That brings us to the last and final point.

21

Use appropriate names (and may be tab colors) for the worksheet tabs. This makes the navigation easy
and boss proof.
Learn how to color excel worksheet tabs.
Before Closing The Workbook, Select Cell A1 On The Correct Sheet
Just before you finally save the workbook and e-mail it to the boss, make sure you are on the right
worksheet (ie the dashboard or the report) and selected cell A1. The ensures that when the boss opens the
workbook, she sees the right tab with right information, not some calculations or formulas.
That is all, you have just learned a handful of trick to impress your boss.
Excel can be Exciting 15 fun things you can do with your spreadsheet in less than 5 seconds
Posted on August 1st, 2008 in All Time Hits , Featured , hacks , ideas , Learn Excel - 105 comments

Who said Excel takes lot of time / steps do something? Here is a list of 15 incredibly fun things you
can do to your spreadsheets and each takes no more than 5 seconds to do.
Happy Friday
1. Change the shape / color of cell comments

Just select the cell comment, go to draw menu in bottom left corner of the screen, and choose change auto
shape option, select a 32 pointed star or heart symbol or a smiley face, just wow everyone

2. Filter unique items from a list

22

Select the data, go to data > filter > advanced filter and check the unique items option.
3. Sort from Left to Right

What if your data flows from left to right instead of top to bottom. Just change the sort orientation from
sort options in the data > sort menu.
4. Hide the grid lines from your sheets

Go to Options dialog in tools menu, uncheck the grid lines option to remove gridlines from your
worksheets. You can also change the color of grid line from here (not recommended)
5. Add rounded border to your charts, make them look smooth

Just right click on the chart, select format chart option, in the dialog, check the rounded borders. You can
even add a shadow effect from here.

23

6. Fetch live stock quotes / company research with one click

Just enter the stock symbol (MSFT, GOOG, AAPL etc.) in a cell, alt+click on the cell to launch research
pane, select stock quotes to see MSN Money quotes for the selected symbol. You can fetch company
profiles in the same way. Learn more.
7. Repeat rows on top when printing, show table headers on every page

When you are on the sheet view, just hit menu > file > page setup, go to the last tab, specify rows to
repeat. You can repeat columns while printing as well from the same menu.
8. Remove conditional formatting / all formatting with one click

Just go to Menu > Edit > Clear > All to remove all the formatting from selected cell / range.
9. Auto sum cells with one click

Select a bunch of cells and click on the Sigma symbol on the standard tool bar. Alternatively you can use
Alt+=keyboard shortcut.

24

10. Find width of a column with formula, really!

Just use =cell("width") to find the width of the column to which that formula cell belongs. Width is returned
as the nearest integer.
11. Find total working days between any two dates, including holidays

If you work on project plans, gantt charts alot, this can be totally handy. Just type =networkdays(start
date, end date,list of holidays) to fetch the number of working days. In the above sample you can see the
number of working days between New years day and September first of this year (labor day).
12. Freeze Rows / Columns in your sheet, Show important info even when scrolling

Select the cell diagonally beneath the row / columns you want to freeze (for eg. if you wan to freeze row
1&2 and columns A&B, click in C3), go to menu > window and click on freeze panes.
13. Split sheets in to two, compare side by side to be more productive

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Just click on this little vertical bar on the bottom right corner of the sheet (see below) and drag it to create
a vertical split. You can do the same way for a horizontal split as well

14. Change the color of various sheet name tabs

Right click on sheet and select Tab color option to change the worksheet tab colors. Group them with
similar colors if you have lot of sheets, it looks nice.
15. Insert a quick organization chart

Click on menu > insert > diagram to open the above dialog, just select the organization chart option, enter
node values and you have a pretty organization chart. Alternatively learn how to create org charts in excel.

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So what do you say now? Isnt Excel Exciting?

Beyond If and Sum, 15 really useful excel formulas for everyone
Posted on August 13th, 2008 in All Time Hits , Featured , ideas , Learn Excel - 106 comments

Excel formulas can always be very handy, especially when you are stuck with data and need to get
something done fast. But how well do you know the spreadsheet formulas?
Discover these 15 extremely powerful excel formulas and save a ton of time next time you
open that spreadsheet.
1. Change the case of cell contents to UPPER, lower, Proper
Boss wants a report of top 100 customers, thankfully you have the data, but the customer names are all in
lower cases. Fret not, you can Proper Case cell contents with proper() formula.
Example: Use proper("pointy haired dilbert") to get Pointy Haired Dilbert
Also try lower() and upper() as well to change excel cell value to lower and UPPER case
2. Clean up textual data with trim, remove trailing spaces
Often when you copy data from other sources, you are bound to get lots of empty spaces next to each cell
value. You can clean up cell contents with trim() spreadsheet function.
Example: Use trim(" copied data ") to get copied data
3. Extract characters from left, right or center of a given text
Need the first 5 letters of that SSN or area code from that phone number? You can command excel to do
that with left() function.
Example: Use left("Hi Beautiful!",2) to get Hi

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Also try right(text, no. of chars) and mid(text, start, no. of chars) to get rightmost or middle characters.
You can use right(filename,3) to get the extension of a file name
4. Find second, third, fourth element in a list without sorting
We all know that you can use min(), max() to find the smallest and largest numbers in a list. But what if
you needed the second smallest number or 3rd largest number in the list? You are right, there is a
spreadsheet function to exactly that.
Example: Use SMALL({10,9,12,14,26,13,4,6,8},3) to get 8

Also try large(list, n) to get the nth largest number in a list.

5. Find out current date, time with a snap
You have a list of customer orders and you want to findout which ones are due for shipping after today. The
funny thing is you do this everyday. So instead of entering the date every single day you can use today()
Example: Use today() to get 08/13/2008 or whatever is todays date
Also try now() to get current time in date time format. Remember, you can always format these date and
times to see them the way you like (for eg. Aug-13, August 13, 2008 instead of 08/13/2008)
6. Convert those lengthy nested if functions to one simple formula with Choose()
Planning to create a gradebook or something using excel, you are bound to write some if() functions, but
do you know that you can use choose() when you have more than 2 outcomes for a given condition? As
you all know, if(condition, fetch this, or this) returns fetch this if the condition is TRUE or or this if the
condition is FALSE. Learn more about spreadsheet if functions like countif, sumif etc.
Where as choose(m, value1, value2, value3, value4 ...) can return any of the value1,2.., based on the
parameter m.
Example: Use CHOOSE(3,"when","in","doubt","just","choose")
to get doubt
Remember, you can always write another formula for each of the n parameters of choose() so that based
on input condition (in this case 3), another formula is evaluated.
7. Repetitively print a character in a cell n number of times
You have the ZIP codes of all your customers in a list and planning to upload it to an address label
generation tool. The sad part is for some reason, excel thinks zip codes are numbers, so it removed all the
trailing zeros on the leftside of the zip code, thus making the 01001 as 1001. Worry not, you can
use rept() the extra needed zeros. You can also custom format cell contents to display zip codes, phone
numbers, ssn etc.
Example: Use zipcode & REPT("0",5-LEN(zipcode)) to convert zipcode 1001 to 01001
You can use REPT("|",n) to generate micro bar charts in your sheet. Learn more about incell charting.

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8. Find out the data type of cell contents

This can be handy when you are working off the data that someone else has created. For example you
may want to capitalize if the contents are text, make it 5 characters if its a number and leave it as it is
otherwise for certain cell value. Type() does just that, it tells what type of data a cell
is containing.
Example: Use TYPE("Chandoo") to get 2
See the various type return values in the diagram shown right.
9. Round a number to nearest even, odd number
When you are working with data that has fractions / decimals, often you may need to find the nearest
integer, even or odd number to the given decimal number. Thankfully excel has the right function for this.
Example: Use ODD(63.4) to get 65
Also try even() to nearest even number and int() to round given fraction to integer just below it.
Example: Use EVEN(62.4) to get 64
Use INT(62.99) to get 62
If you need to round off a given fraction to nearest integer you can use round(62.65,0) to get 63.
10. Generate random number between any 2 given numbers
When you need a random number between any two numbers, try randbetween(), it is very useful in cases
where you may need random numbers to simulate some behavior in your spreadsheets.
Example: Use RANDBETWEEN(10,100) may return 47 if you keep trying
11. Convert pounds to KGs, meters to yards and tsps to table spoons
You need not ask Google if you need to convert 156 lbs to kilograms or find out how much 12 tea spoons
of olive oil actually means. The hidden convert() function is really versatile and can convert many things to
so many other things, except one currency to another, of course.

Example: Use CONVERT(150,"lbm","kg") to convert 150 lbs to 68.03 kgs.

Use CONVERT(12,"tsp","oz") to findout that 12 tsps is actually 2 ounces.
12. Instantly calculate loan installments using spreadsheet formula
You have your eyes on that beautiful car or beach property, but before visiting the seller / banker to
findout of the monthly payment details, you would like to see how much your monthly / biweekly loan
payments would be. Thankfully excel has the right formula to divide an amount to equal payment
installments over given time period, the pmt() function.

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If your loan amount is $125,000,

APR (interest rate per year) is 6%,
loan tenure is 5 years and
payments are made every month, then,
Use PMT(6%/12,5*12,-125000) which tells us that monthly payment is $ 2,416 if you keep trying
Also, if you want to find out how much of each payment is going for principle and how much for the
interest component, try using ppmt() and ipmt() functions. As you can guess, even though EMIs or loan
installments remain constant, the amount contributed to principle and interest vary each month.
13. What is this weeks number in the current year ?
Often you may need to find out if the current week is 25th week of this year. This is not so difficult to find
as it may seem. Again, excel has the right function to do just that.
Example: Use WEEKNUM(TODAY()) will get 33
14. Find out what is the date after 30 working days from today ?
Finding out a future date after 30 days from today is easy, just change the month. But what if you need to
know the date thirty working days from now. Dont use your fingers to do that counting, save them for
typing a comment here and use the workday() excel funtion instead.
Example: Use WORKDAY(TODAY(),30) tells that Sep 24, 2008 is 30 working days away from today.
If you want to find out number of working days between 2 dates you can use networkdays() function, find
out this and a 14 other fun things you can do with excel.
15. With so many functions, how to handle errors
Once you get to the powerful domain of excel functions to simplify your work, you are bound to have
incorrect data, missing cells etc. that can make your formulas go kaput. If only there is a way to find out
when a formula throws up error, you can handle it. Well, you know what, there is a way to find out if a cell
has an error or a proper value. iserror() MS Excel function tells you when a cell has error.
Example: Use ISERROR(43/0) returns TRUE since 43 divided by zero throws divide by zero error.
Also try ISNA() to findout if a cell has NA error (Not applicable).
Give these functions a try, simplify your work and enjoy
**
Creating a Drop Down List in Excel

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How to Create a Drop Down List in Excel.

Drop Down List Overview
Excel's data validation options include creating a drop down list that limits the data that can be entered
into a specific cell to a pre-set list of entries.
The benefits for using a drop down list for data validation include:

making data entry easier

preventing data entry errors

restricting the number of locations for entering data

List and Data Locations
The items that are added to the list can be located on
Quickly Create a Drop Down List
To create the drop-down list shown in the image above the steps are:

1.

Click on cell D2 - the cell where the drop down list is located

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Click on the Data tab of the ribbon

Click on Data Validation to open the drop down menu of options
In the menu, click on Data Validation to bring up the Data Validation dialog box
Click on the Settings tab in the dialog box
From the Allow menu choose List
Click on the Source line in the dialog box
Highlight cells A1 - A4 in the worksheet to add them to the list
Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the worksheet

10.

A down arrow should appear next to cell D2 indicating the presence of the drop down list

11.

When you click on the arrow the drop down list should open to display the four cookie names
Excel Drop Down List Step by Step Tutorial
For those who crave a more detailed explanation and step by step instructions on how to create the drop
down list shown in the image above, follow the steps starting on page 2.
Photo Credit: Ted French
Opening the Data Validation Dialog Box

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Data Validation in Excel.

SPREADSHEETS CATEGORIES
Entering the Tutorial Data
To follow all the steps in this tutorial, enter the data below into cells A1 to C1 of an Excelworksheet as seen
in the image above.
Ads
The drop down list will be added to cell D2.
Enter the following data into the cells indicated:
A1 - Gingerbread A2 - Lemon A3 - Oatmeal Raisin A4 - Chocolate Chip C2 - Cookie Type:
Opening the Data Validation Dialog Box
All data validation options in Excel, including drop down lists, are set using the data validation dialog box.
Tutorial Steps
As shown in the image above, the steps for opening the dialog box are:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Click
Click
Click
Click

on
on
on
on

cell D2 to make it the active cell - this is where the drop down list will be located.
the Data tab of the ribbon menu above the worksheet.
the Data Validation icon on the ribbon to open the drop down menu.
the Data Validation option in the menu to open the Data Validation dialog box.

The selections made and the data and/or cell references entered into the dialog box set the parameters for
data validation in cell D2.

Selecting a Type of Data Validation

As shown in the image above, there are a number of options for data validation in Excel in addition to a
drop down list. These options can be used to control or limit the type of datathat can be entered into
specific cells in a worksheet.
In this step we will choose the List option as the type of data validation to be used for cell D2 of
the worksheet.
Tutorial Steps
1.
1.

Click on Settings tab in the dialog box

Click on the down arrow at the end of theAllow line to open the drop down menu.

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2.

Click on List to choose a drop down list for data validation in cell D2 and to activate theSource line
in the dialog box
3.
In the next step we will add the cell references for our list items as the source for our list items
Changing the Drop Down List Items
To keep the drop down list up to date with changes in our data, it may be necessary to periodically change
the choices in the list.
Since we entered the cell references (A1:A4) for our list items into the dialog box rather than the actual list
names, changing the cookie names in cells A1 to A4 immediately changes the names in the drop down list.
If the data is entered directly into the dialog box to make changes to the list you need to go back into
the dialog box and edit the data source.
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1.
2.
3.

Click on cell A3 (Oatmeal Raisin) to make it the active cell

Type Shortbread into cell A3 and press theEnter key on the keyboard
Click on the down arrow for the drop down list in cell D2 to open the list

4.

Item 3 in the list should now read Shortbreadinstead of Oatmeal Raisin

Excel Goal Seek. Ted French

Excel's Goal Seek feature allows you to alter the data used in a formula in order to find out what the
results will be.
The different results can then be compared to find out which one best suits your requirements.
Example Using Excel's Goal Seek feature:

1.

This example first uses the PMT function to calculate the monthly payments for a loan.
It then uses Goal Seek to lower the monthly payment by altering the loan period.

2.

Enter the following data into the cells indicated:

Cell - Data
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5

Loan Repayment
Rate:
# of Payments:
Principal:
Payment:

E2 - 6%
E3 - 60
E4 - $225,000

33

3.

Click on cell E5 and type the following formula:

= pmt ( e2 / 12 , e3 , -e4 )
and press the ENTER key on the keyboard

4.

The value $4,349.88 should appear in cell E5. This is the current monthly payment for the loan.
Altering the monthly payment using Goal Seek

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Click on the Data tab.

Choose What-If Analysis from the ribbon to open the drop down list.
Click on Goal Seek... in the list to bring up the Goal Seek dialog box.
In the dialog box, click on the Set cell: line.
Click on cell E5 in the spreadsheet since we are interested in altering the monthly payments for this
loan.

6.
7.
8.
9.

In the dialog box, click on the T0 value: line.

Type 3000 since we would like to lower the monthly payment to $3000.00.
In the dialog box, click on the By changing cell: line.
Click on cell E3 in the spreadsheet since we want to change the monthly payment by altering the
total number of payments to be made.
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1.

Click OK.

2.

At this point, Goal Seek should begin searching for a solution. If it finds one, theGoal Seek dialog
box will inform you that a solution has been found.
3.
In this case, the solution is to change the number of payments in cell E3 to 95.25.
4.
5.

To accept this solution, click OK in the Goal Seek dialog box and Goal Seek will alter the data in cell
E3.

To find a different solution, click Cancel in the Goal Seek dialog box. Goal Seek returns the value in
cell E3 to 60. You are now ready to run Goal Seek again.
Related Tutorials

http://spreadsheets.about.com/od/advancedexcel/

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