excel tips and tricks

Come Together- Merging Text• Concatenate- easier to use than pronounce • Select cell where you want merged text • Click on formula bar or select Insert menu and then Function • In the F

Excel Tips and Tricks

Jon Paul Progressive System Solutions, Inc.

847-295-7179

jpaul@mba1980.hbs.edu

How Cold Was It?

So cold I know someone who slept with 16 sheets on their

bed!

Just Open 1 Sheet!

• Select Tools from Menu Bar

• Select Options

• Select General

• Sheets in new workbook- change to 1

Moving Between Worksheets

• Find arrow buttons in lower left hand side of screen

• Right mouse click on far right arrow button

• You now get list of sheets

• If large number of sheets, select more sheets on the bottom

• Scroll down to find the sheet you want

• Click OK- away you go!

Moving or Copying a Worksheet

• Right mouse click on worksheet name

• Select move or copy

• Choose a workbook you want to send it to

– selects current workbook by default

• Select where in the workbook you want it

• Check Create a copy if you want to copy it

– Otherwise you could be moving and not be

• Can use same technique to add chart

• Deleting- follow same steps only select Delete rather than

Driving With Half a Windshield

• Give yourself a full view of your worksheet

• One way to show the whole width- find Zoom box- on

toolbar and shrink percentage

• Even better

way-– highlight every column in your worksheet

– go to Zoom box on toolbar

– choose Selection

Your Car Has More Than One Window- So Can Your Worksheet

• Window menu- select New Window

• Gives you a second view of your current workbook

• Second window is not sized

• If going back to one window, make sure you are closing

out the second

• Windows will be identified by :1 or :2

Do You Leave Your Doors

Unlocked?

NoBut How About Your Spreadsheets

Is Your Neighborhood Safe?

Protect Your Work!

needed if just protecting against input errors

– Remember your password, or your work goes to

Add the Club to Your Workbook

• Protect Your Whole Workbook

– In Tools menu, select Protection

– Then select Protect WorkBook

– Decide if you want password protection

– Structure- prevents modifying structure

– Windows- prevents opening, closing windows

You “Auto” Save This One!

• Ever have your computer crash

• Ever turned off your computer too quickly

And

• You forgot to save your file!

Your Insurance- AutoSave

• To enable AutoSave

– Go to the Tools menu

– Select Add-ins

– The Add-in dialog box appears

– Check AutoSave and click on OK

AutoSave Options

• AutoSave is now in your Tools menu

• Go to Tools and select AutoSave

• The AutoSave dialog appears

• Select your choices

– save automatically or prompt you – how often to save

Painting Your House With a

Small Paintbrush?

• Excel’s Paintbrush- like a power sprayer

• Select range of cells with format you like

• Click on the Paintbrush button

• Click the cells you want to reformat

• When you release, cells are reformatted

• If you double click on Paintbrush button, you can select

non adjacient cells

Wrap That Text!

• Put long strings of text together neatly in your columns

without having to:

– Run over to the next column

– Make your column super wide

• Select the cell or range (such as column)

• Go to Format menu and select Cells

• Go to Alignment Tab

Does Your Data Make ‘Cents’?

Does anyone have $0.50 that I can borrow for the pop

machine?

No, but I might have 50 cents

Custom Formats- Adding Cents

• Select a cell you want to format

• From the Format menu select Cells

• Choose Number and then Custom

• Select a format for the number portion

• Go to the type box and the right hand side

– For the cent symbol, hold Alt key and type

0162- you see cent symbol on the screen

The Lawyers are Coming!

©SMTM

Make Your Lawyer Happy!

• Copyright-

– type ( c ) and enter

Your Lawyer Is Getting Happier!

Now Your Lawyer Wants You to

Train Their Staff!

• Trademark- much easier

– type ( t m ) and enter

– no spaces inbetween

Come Together- Merging Text

• Concatenate- easier to use than pronounce

• Select cell where you want merged text

• Click on formula bar or select Insert menu and then

Function

• In the Function dialog, choose Text on the left side and

Concatenate on the right

Concatenating Tips

• Remember to include blank spaces inbetween items

• Can refer to cells or put in text, but not at same time

• Can copy concatenation formulas

• Can use text and number results

It’s Time to Concatenate

• Save retyping the same thing

• Allow for automatic updates

• Copying text where only part of the text is the same

If Only the Cubs Could Replace

Their Lineup This Quick!

• Find & Replace

• Select Edit menu, then choose Replace

Replace Only What You Want To

• Highlight what you want to change

• Select Edit menu, then choose Replace

• Enter what you want to find and what you want to replace

it with

• Decide if you want to match case or entire cell

Replacing- Finishing Steps-

Selective Replacement

• Choose option button to the right

• Find Next- when you only want to replace in certain cases-

you control the replacing

• Replace- to go ahead and replace after you have found a

cell you want

• Click Find Next to find the next case

• Click Replace for only those you want

Replacing- Finishing Steps-

Automatic Process

• Use when you are sure you want to replace every instance

in the area you selected

• Activate by choosing Replace All button in right side of

dialog box

• Replaces everything in the area you choose

– cell, cell block, worksheet, workbook

• If you overdid it, go to the Edit menu and select undo (or

Replacing- Some Ways to Use

• When something new is in the air!

• Copying workbook, worksheet or formulas and using

elsewhere

• Changing links, text or formulas

Help- I Can’t Get This Unstuck!

Are you using Superglue when regular Elmers will do?

Pick Your ‘Glue’

Use the Paste Special Button

• To begin, same step as full blown copy

– Highlight area you want to copy

– Go to area you want to paste to

• Then select paste special one of two ways

– Right mouse click or

– Pull down from edit menu

Paste Special Options

They Have It In Rows, But I

Want It In Columns- Transposing

• Changing from rows to columns

• Changing from columns to rows

• When to use

– Change layout on new sheet

– Pull in information from a different layout (like

he has it in columns and I want it in rows!)

I Value Your

Information-Paste Special- Value Option

• You want to capture the value, but:

– don’t need the formula

– can’t use the formula because it won’t work in the new spot

I Like Your Paste Special- Format Option

Layout-• You have a layout you want to copy, but don’t need the

formulas or values

• Particularly good if dealing with a whole block of cells

• Consider the paintbrush button as another way to do this

• Can do with another paste special option

– first do the other option, then do format

I Like Your Formula- But Where

Did You Get That Layout?

• Use the Paste Special- Formula option to just copy the

formula

• Can then format any way you like

• Great to use when you already have your format set up in

your destination and don’t want to override it

I Like Your Formula- But Don’t

Box Me In!

• Paste Special- All Except Borders

• Pastes formulas and formats except for the borders

• Use where you like the formula and formats but have a

different setup for borders

Changing Data- We Won’t Tell

Your Boss How Easy It Is

• Paste Special- Operation option

• Fast way to change data automatically

• Add, subtract, multiply or divide

• Usually use with the value option in Paste Special

How to Operate

• Put change in separate inactive cell

– such as 1.10 to multiply by 10%

• Copy that inactive cell

• Go to where you want to make changes

– this could be a whole range of cells

• Select paste special and the operation

– such as value and multiply

How Many Kids Do You Have?

We have an average size family

2.3 kids

Get A ‘Round’ to This

• Round functions for more meaningful numbers

– 2 or 3 kids, not 2.3 kids

• Changes to whole number so next calculation also makes

sense

– at 10,000 per kid, cost is 20,000 or 30,000

• Round, Roundup or Rounddown

Round to Your Size

• Round- rounds up (5-9) or down (0-4), depending on the

digits being rounded

• Roundup- rounds up, away from zero

• Rounddown- rounds down, closer to zero

• How to do:

– = Round(calculation, decimal places)

– decimal places can be negative number

How Do You Eat at a Buffet?

Do You Take Everything They Offer You?

Rumor Has It That I Do!

You Wouldn’t Build a House

You Don’t Have to Sum

Everything Either

• SUMIF function- choose just what you want to sum

• Enter your criteria

• Click on the cell where you want the sum

• Pull down the Function dialog box

• =SUMIF(Criteria Range,Criteria,Value Range)

More on SUMIF

• Criteria Range- list describing what you want to

sum-– such as rate plan chosen

• Criteria- which item from the list do you want to sum

– such as which rate plan

• Value Range- range which holds the values you want to

sum

– such as monthly bills by rate plan

Okay- How Many Did You

Take?

• COUNTIF- like SUMIF, but instead gives you a count

• Not adding any values, so you only need the Criteria

Range and the Criteria

• =COUNTIF(Criteria Range, Criteria)

• = COUNTIF(A2:A20,Basic Rate Plan)

– counts number of times in A2:A20 that people chose the Basic Rate Plan

How Much or How Little?

Who’s Number

Two?-You Might Care

We Even Like Average Things

Going Around in Circles?

• The dreaded Circ message

• Shows on bottom of screen

• Keeps you from recalculating

• Happens when two formulas refer to each other

Break out of the ‘Circ’

• Find where the Circ is

– If it just says Circ, it is in some other worksheet – If it says Circ F34 for example, you are there – go to the cell it mentions

Fixing the Circ- Next

• Find the link

– use the auditing function if needed

• Check for cross referrals

– such as a=b and b=a

• Remember your last move before the Circ

The Circ Still Won’t Go Away!

or

I Have Grown a Whole Colony!

• How old is your backup of the file?

• Change one formula at a time to values

– when the Circ message goes away, that is the formula you need to fix

• Delete sheets, columns or rows

– when the Circ message goes away, that is the

Make an Auditor Work for You!

• Select tools from the menu bar

• Pull down to auditing

• Select the direction you want to go

– dependents- where this cell links to

– precedents- what links into this cell

• Click on the arrow to go to that link

Other Auditing Tools

• Display formulas instead of values

– Tools menu- select Options

– Choose View tab

– Select formulas in Windows options

• Display information box for a cell

– Tools menu- select Options

Ever See Someone Weigh

Themselves One Limb at a Time?

Weighted Averages in One

Calculation

• Use the sum function

• Sum the first group, but dotn’t close yet

• Multiply times the second group

• Enter the closing parenthesis, but don’t enter yet

• To enter the formula:

– Ctrl + Shift + Enter (all together)

Weighted Average Example

• = sum(c4:c15*d4:d15)

• to enter formula hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter

• now looks like = sum{(c4:c15*d4:d15)}

• if you just hit enter, you will get a Value? error message

• to fix, click on the formula in the formula bar and hit Ctrl +

Shift + Enter

What’s Your Name?

Hi A3, I’m C4

Why Use Names?

Because It’s Easier To:

• Remember names than references

• Write formulas

• Check and debug formulas

• Copy formulas

• Make links

• Protect against broken links

• Do search and replace

Which Formula Is Easier to

Check?

• A3 - A5

• Sales - Costs

How to Add Names- Name Box

• Using the Name box- left of Formula bar

– highlight the cell or range you want to name – click in the box and enter the name (no spaces) – hit enter (otherwise name does not get saved)

Adding Names- With Menu Bar

• Using the Menu- individually define

– highlight the cell or range you want to name

– in Insert menu, select Names

– select Define Names

– give it a name and click OK

• Using the Menu- group define

– highlight the range you want to name

Use Names to Add Constants

• Example: WeekendFee = 9.95

• Suppose you have a value you will use over and over again

in a workbook

• Use names to set up that constant

• Makes sure you always use the same value

• If needs to be changed, can do all at once

• To set up constant, have to use Names menu

Referring to Names in Formulas

• Go to cell and hit = or + to start formula

• From Insert menu, choose Names and Paste

• Select the Name and click OK

• Can also select name by going to Name Box

• Click on down arrow to pull up Name list

• Select the Name and Enter

• A third way- type in Name manually

Multiple Names in Formulas

• You can have multiple names in formulas

• To put in additional name:

– Put in first name

– Add the next part of your formula

– Put in second name

– Continue as needed

Show List of Names

• You can paste a list of all names to a sheet

• Insert new worksheet and call it Names

• From Insert menu choose Names and Paste

• From dialog box select Paste List

• Expand size of column as needed

• Note- new Names not automatically added

– Do paste link again as needed

Let’s Link Up

• Paste Special- Paste Link Option

• Use when you want to have an automatic link to the

original cell

• Only works with pasting all or pasting all except borders

• Great for starting at source and copying to the destination

More Than One Way to Link

• Can also link starting from the destination cell:

– Click on the destination cell

– Enter “+” or “=“

– Go to the source of the information

– Hit enter to complete the link

Can You Name Another Link

• Have you set up Names?

• If so, you have an even better way to link

• Get on the destination cell

• Go to the Insert menu and select Names

• Choose Paste option and select the Name

• You now have a link to a Name range

• Link needs to be in same relative position

Is Your Fence In Good

Shape?-Check Your Links

• In Edit menu, select Links

– If Links is greyed out, you have no links

• Can change source to different workbook

• Open source if you want to check it out

• If Update Source highlighted, may need to click on Update

Now to update

• If source already open, should automatically update

Sherlock Holmes Wishes He Was

Around For This

• Solver- find the answer you are looking for

• Get the right answer right away, rather than having to keep

guessing until you get it

• Solve complex what-ifs very quickly

• Solver is an add-in- to install:

– In Tools menu, select Add-ins

– In Add-in dialog, click on Solver and then OK

Solver Steps

• In Tools menu, select Solver

– if Solver is not a choice, you need to add it in

• Target cell- where your target to solve is

• Equal to- specify value (or min or max)

• By changing cells- cells you want to change to get target to

desired value

• Can add constraints but not needed

Solver Result

• If Solver finds results, you get Solver Results dialog box

– Get choice to keep choice or restore original

• Can also save choice as a scenario

• If there is not a logical choice, Solver will come back and

say it could not find one

– In that case, restore original solution

Can’t Make Up Your Mind-

Then Don’t

With Scenario ManagerYou can see it many ways

Scenario Manager

• In Tools Menu, select Scenario Manager

• Choose Add to add a scenario

• Give scenario a name

• Enter range of cells you want to change

– can do by clicking on each cell or range

– use comma inbetween multiples to separate