Open Paste Special Dialog
To open the Paste Special Dialog after copying or cutting use Ctrl + Alt + v WARNING: This conflicts with a default Evernote clipping shortcut. You can change it in Evernote use Tools > Options > Shortcut keys.
Sorting By Colour in Excel
Yes, you can sort by colour in Excel! This feature makes it easy for you to colour code cells and then place them together at the top of your data set. (more…)
Refresh a PivotTable
The keyboard shortcut to refresh a PivotTable is Alt + F5. PivotTables don't automatically update if the data changes.
Power BI – A Chart
Dashboard Charts are the ultimate goal of most Power BI reports, so let’s dive in. (more…)
Vote For a New UNIQUE Function
The Excel team has a great site that encourages people to post new ideas for Excel. It also encourages people to vote for the new suggested features. I have just posted an idea for a UNIQUE function that extracts unique entries from a list. Currently you have to manually maintain a separate list of entries for a drop down lists. You can't use a list that contains duplicates for a drop down list. What if that list was updated automatically…
You Can Undo After You Save
I amazed how many people are unaware of a change that happened way back in Excel 2007. In Office 2007 and later versions you can use Undo after you have saved the file. In the old days (Excel 2003 and earlier) saving used to clear the undo list - it no longer does. So undo to your heart's content. Remember there is a keyboard shortcut to undo. Ctrl + z
Summing a range with Errors
If you have a column of values with errors, but you want to see what the values add up to, use the AGGREGATE function (added in Excel 2010). If column A has the values and errors use =AGGREGATE(9,6,A:A) The 9 means SUM. The 6 means ignore errors.
Creating a Report in Power BI
In the previous post we extracted the data from a CSV file. Now let’s create a report. It won’t be the greatest report as the data is pretty basic, but at least its a start. (more…)
Custom List Trick
It is common to use Q1 for quarter one. Excel will even cycle through Q1,Q2,Q3 and Q4 when you drag a cell contain Q1. What if you want to use the sequence M1 to M12 for months? Custom Lists to the rescue! (more…)
Power BI – Just starting out
OK I have bitten the bullet and decided to get stuck in to Power BI. I am going to start playing around with Power BI Desktop – it is free after all. I thought I would blog about the experience and share my journey. I have created a Power BI category. I now have a button on my website that will list Power BI posts. (more…)
Power BI Desktop – Download
Microsoft has released Power BI desktop edition for FREE. Power BI allows you to create reports and dashboards from lots of different sources. It is not an add-in to Excel, it is a standalone application. You can download it at the link below. Click the here to go to the Microsoft site to Download Power Bi Desktop It is a straight forward process to install.
Working with Quarters in Excel
You might not know that Excel knows about quarters. That's 3 months, not 25 cents. If you type Q1 in a call and drag the cell with the Fill Handle (bottom right corner of cell) you will see that Excel repeats the sequence Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4. It doesn't do Q5 or above. This works for Qtr1 as well.
Show Horizontal Axis Entries Below the Chart
I learned about a chart Axis option in Excel during a recent webinar – thanks to one of the attendees. You can show the Axis entries below the chart – this is handy for column charts that display negatives. (more…)
Entering Today’s Date in a Range
If you need to enter today's date in a range try this. Select the range and then press Ctrl + ; With the Ctrl held down, press Enter. Done! This will also work on a range in a filtered list.