The column Autofit on the whole sheet is a great Excel feature. But if you have a few columns that have lots of text it can make using it problematic as you need to manually adjust those wide columns. Here’s a macro to make it easier.
Increasing Excel Formula Bar Font Size
Good for training
I recently saw a good post on Linkedin from Leila Gharani MVP on increasing the Excel Formula Bar font size. It seems useful for training, so I wrote a simple macro to simplify the process.
Stop Sentences Moving to the Next Page in MS Word
Default setting pain
I recently had to re-install Office and I found an annoying Microsoft Word default setting. The setting causes a sentence to go to the next page for no valid reason. Here is the setting to change.
Handling plurals with the IF function
Singular or plural?
Sometimes when creating text you need to handle plurals correctly. The IF function makes it easy.
Unique Entries in Excel via a Conditional Format
Filtering to the rescue
Excel’s Conditional Formatting feature has a built-in unique option. Its unique option only identifies entries that are not repeated. This is different to the Advanced Filter Unique option which lists each unique item from a range once. To filter by entries only appearing once you can use Conditional Formatting with filtering. No formulas required.
Free Excel Webinar Recording – Format As Table Features
Feedback score 93%
In February 2019 I demonstrated how to use the Format as Table feature in Excel, including some advanced techniques.
CPD note – if you are claiming CPD for watching this recording you need to keep your own records. People who attend the live sessions receive an annual listing of attendances.
Many of Excel’s features and functions work seamlessly with formatted tables. They can help you improve the structure and reliability of your spreadsheet files.
Formatted tables can allow you to create powerful reports like those in a relational databases.
Topics covered
- advantages and limitations of formatted tables
- keyboard shortcuts
- using formatted tables with formulas
- solutions to some of the limitations of formatted tables
- using range names with formatted tables
- using formatted tables with data validations
- creating a running total
- using PivotTables
- Relationships (Data tab)
As always there will are a few more tips and tricks shared in the session.
PivotTable Grouping
Create your own categories
Grouping of dates in Excel’s PivotTables is fairly common and in the most recent versions of Excel, automatic. Many people don’t realise that you can perform other types of grouping in Excel.
Allocate based on start date and number of months
EDATE to the rescue
Let’s say you want to allocate a value across multiple months based on a start date and how many months you want to allocate. The monthly allocation will be averaged based on the number of months. The solution isn’t that hard.
Improved Data Structure
Tables rule
I ran a webinar in January 2019 where I presented and explained a budget challenge file I had submitted in November 2018. I mentioned during the session that I didn’t like the layout of the Data tab. Well someone asked how should it look? So here is how I would have arranged it.
Free Excel Webinar Recording – Budget Challenge
Feedback score 93%
In January 2019 I presented a webinar that examined a solution to a 4 dimension budget challenge. Download the materials using the button below and watch the video.
CPD note – if you are claiming CPD for watching this recording you need to keep your own records. People who attend the live sessions receive an annual listing of attendances.
NOTE: This is not a beginner’s session.
This webinar is based on a budget scenario which you need to read before the session starts. It is only 3 pages long and included in the materials.
Topics covered include
- using INDEX-MATCH (better alternative to VLOOKUP)
- 3-D formulas and techniques to make using them easy
- using a reporting template
- validations
- extracting sheet names
- automating reports
As always there will are a few more tips and tricks shared in the session.
The rain falls on all the fields, but crops grow only in those that have been tilled and sown.
Chinese saying
Data Validation Shortcut
Two options
The Data Validation dialog allows you to limit or control what a user enters into a cell. There are two keyboard shortcuts to open it.
I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the songs I came to sing remain unsung.
Rabindranath Tagore (1864-1941)
Excel Formula Week Starting with a Monday
The WEEKDAY function has options
Let’s say you have a weekly roster. You have a date and you need to identify the Monday start date for the week that contains that date. The formula is fairly easy.
Make a Dent
Do you use Indenting in reports? Example below.
If you do, you make like this keyboard shortcut.
To increase Indenting press Alt H 6 pressed in sequence, not held down.
To decrease Indenting press Alt H 5 (is that an Outdent?)
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Plan for the future because that’s where you are going to spend the rest of your life.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Reduce typing with variables in Excel VBA
Use a Constant variable
Sometimes when writing code you use the same text string in multiple places in your code. To make things easier you should capture that text string in a variable.
Extracting entries from a slicer
A simple hack
There is a complicated way to extract the entries from a slicer but there is also an easy way to do it.
Be curious, not judgmental.
Walt Whitman
Sort by value ignoring the sign
An absolutely simple function to the rescue
I recently received an unusual request about sorting. They wanted to sort in ascending order but they wanted to ignore the sign of the values. So -44 would be next to 44.