One of the frustrations with using array syntax is that you always have to type all the entries between the curly brackets. You couldn’t link to cells. Well that has all changed with dynamic arrays.
Category Archives: Excel Blog
Creating a list of files in Excel
Power Query solution
Let’s say that you need to create a list of files in a folder. This is possible using VBA, but it is also possible in Power Query and it’s much easier to do in Power Query.
Excel Slicers Trick
Controlling multiple reports hack
Slicers can control multiple pivot table reports in Excel. The problem is that if you use a slicer on one sheet to filter a report on another sheet it is difficult to see that a filter is in place. This technique also comes with a warning – see bottom of post.
VBA tip – please don’t leave your Next blank
Include the variable
In a For Next loop you don’t have to include the variable in the Next statement. But ….
Text for a week in Excel
Time to TEXT
When working with weeks in Excel you may need to show the start and end date of the week in the same cell. Here’s how you can do that.
Percentage Area Chart in Excel
Conditional Format technique
You can use a pie chart to display a percentage, but it wastes a lot of space. An alternative that takes up less space is an area chart.
Using SEQUENCE with Dates in Excel Part 3
How to highlight specific dates
In this post I finish off the Calendar matrix by adding holidays.
Using SEQUENCE with Dates in Excel Part 2
Time to enter the matrix
The SEQUENCE function returns sequential numbers. Let’s see how we can use it to create a Calendar matrix.
Using SEQUENCE with Dates in Excel Part 1
Date listing
The SEQUENCE function returns sequential numbers. Let’s see how we can use it with a list of dates.
Time to Play with Dynamic Arrays
Let play time begin
Many things that were hard or complex are now much simpler. Creating dynamic drop down lists based on previous selections used to be tricky in Excel. Dynamic arrays make it straightforward.
Switching Rows and Columns is Now Easier
TRANSPOSE rules
With the introduction of Dynamic Arrays in all versions of Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) it is now a lot easier to use the TRANSPOSE function.
Excel Chart Title Hack
Linking to a range
I learned something new recently watching a recorded webinar by Jon Peltier. That’s not unusual, he is a charting legend.
The End of SUMPRODUCT
Dynamic arrays will carry it off in to the sunset
The SUMPRODUCT function has been my favourite function for about 20 years. It is so flexible. Soon it will be redundant thanks to dynamic arrays.
Linking text boxes
A trick to allow copying between sheets
Linking to a text box in a sheet is straightforward, unless you want to copy that linked text box to another sheet and retain the link. Here is how you do it.
Standard Technique
To link to a text box you click the text box and then click in the Formula Bar and press = and then click the cell to link to and press Enter.
This works OK on the sheet but if you copy the text box to another sheet it links to the same cell in the other sheet. If that’s what you want, great. If it isn’t then you need to use this technique.
Text box copy technique
Click the text box click in the Formula Bar and press = then instead of clicking on the current sheet click on another sheet tab and click a cell in another sheet then return to the current sheet and then click the cell you actually want to link to and press Enter.
By doing it this way the sheet name is included in the link and that ensures the link is kept when you copy the text box to another sheet.
You could also manually type the sheet name into the Formula Bar, but using the mouse is much easier.
Adding a message to grouping icons
A SUBTOTAL trick
It is best practice to use grouping to hide and unhide rows in Excel. I recently saw a technique that also displays a message.
Excel Textbox Linking Issue
Format resets
You can easily link a textbox to a cell. If you change the link you may have an issue with the text format used.
Extracting End of Quarter Dates in Excel
Another MOD solution
A few years ago I wrote an article on extracting the end of quarter date from a date. I recently had a query that was related and I tweaked the previous solution to solve it.
Fix dd.mm.yy date format
On a recent Webinar I was asked a question about an unusual date structure that was imported. The structure dd.mm.yy was not recognised by Excel as a date. Here is formula that fixes it.
Below is an example of the date issue.
The formula in cell B2 is
=SUBSTITUTE(A2,".","/")*1
As you can see the dates in column A are left aligned. That is a clue that they are not recognised as dates in Excel. Dates are right aligned.
The SUBSTITUTE function replaces the full stop between the numerals with a / and makes it look like a date.
This isn’t sufficient as the SUBSTITUTE function will return text. The *1 at the end converts the text date in to a real date that Excel recognises.
Note: Power Query can also automatically fix dates like these when it imports data.
Related Posts
Indian Financial Year Month Number in Excel
The Indian Financial Year start on 1 April. Like Australia its Financial Year month numbers can be painful. Here is a formula to sort them out.
Retrofit a Factor to an Excel Budget
Range name technique
It is common to have a Factor in a cell or cells in a budget to allow you to easily tweak the numbers by a percentage. If you want to add a Factor to an existing budget model here is how you can do it.