Tag Archives: formatting

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Free Webinar Recording – Excel Formatting Tips

Feedback score 94% based on 70 responses

In October 2019 I re-ran my Formatting Tips session. The detailed pdf manual and example file can downloaded by using the button below.

Download Materials

This session covers:

  • a format to avoid and the one to use in its place
  • keyboard and mouse shortcuts
  • how to use and create customer number formats
  • about Styles and how they can make your formatting more consistent
  • that colours can be used to filter, sort and even find things in your sheets
  • how to stop zeroes displaying plus other general formatting tips
  • a quick demo of Flash Fill

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.

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Unlocking coloured cells in Excel

Styles and Find solutions

When you create an Excel file that handles inputs it is best practice to colour code the input cells. The colour you choose isn’t important but making sure you use it consistently is. You may need to unlock the input cells if you plan to add sheet protection to the file. Here’s a couple of ways to do that.

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Free Excel Webinar Recording – Custom Number Formats

Feedback score 92%

In April 2019 I demonstrated many of Excel’s Custom Number Formats.

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.

Webinar Materials

In this brand new webinar we examine Custom Number Formats which hide away at the bottom of the Number Format tab. These custom made formats offer some useful techniques.

They can

  • display negatives in red and with brackets
  • format mobile phone numbers correctly
  • display numbers and text together and still perform calculations
  • hide zeroes
  • display rounded numbers to thousands and millions
  • display the day of the week
  • create customised dates
  • be saved and be available in new sheets and files using a Template
  • be saved as a Style

See examples and demonstrations of many different custom number formats and learn how to create your own.

As always I will share a few other tips.

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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.

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Free Excel Webinar Recording – Keyboard Shortcuts

Feedback score 93%

When I ran some face to face training sessions recently I was reminded how much people LOVE keyboard shortcuts. So I decided to update my keyboard shortcut webinar.

In October 2018 I shared lots of keyboard shortcuts. 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.

Webinar Materials

Using the mouse isn’t always the quickest way to perform tasks in Excel. Keyboard shortcuts can speed up your work and save you hunting through screens and dialogs. Some of the keyboard shortcuts you will learn in this session are:

  • wrap text and other useful formats
  • applying row and column grouping
  • selecting a table quickly
  • copying visible cells only
  • apply and remove Freeze Panes
  • returning after following a hyperlink
  • how to avoid an annoying feature of formula and reference dialogs when you press an arrow key to move around
  • get the most out of the Tab key

There will be lots of other shortcuts as well. Even if you prefer using the mouse you might learn a few useful new techniques.

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Free Excel Webinar Recording – What If Techniques

Feedback score 92%

My free Excel webinar for September 2018 covered What If Techniques. 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.

Download Webinar Materials

Content applies to Excel 2010 and later versions. You will need to install the Solver Add-in – instructions in the manual and  video.

  • Goal Seek – simple what-if changes
  • Solver – advanced what-if analysis
  • Scenario Manager – handling different sets of inputs
  • Data Tables – single and double variable sensitivity analysis
  • NEW – Forecast sheet

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Horizontal or Vertical Progress Bar in Excel

Conditional Format or Sparkline take your pick

In a recent webinar on conditional formatting I was demonstrating how to create a horizontal progress bar using conditional formats when someone asked an interesting question about creating a vertical progress bar. It is possible and in this blog post I will explain both techniques.

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Free Excel Webinar Recording – Conditional Formatting

Feedback score 94%

My free Excel webinar for August 2018 covered Conditional Formats. 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.

Download Webinar Materials

Content applies to Excel 2010 and later versions.

This session will take you through the basics, as well as an introduction to formula-based formats.

  • Data bars
  • Creating a progress bar using a Data bar
  • Colour scales – traffic light colours
  • Amending the default settings – getting the result you want
  • Icon sets – icons can be better for colour blind people
  • Cell-based rules – make the most of built-in features
  • Working with dates automatically
  • Formula-based rules – use formulas and functions to gain total control over conditions

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Free Excel Webinar Recording – Copy and Paste Tips and Tricks

Feedback score 93%

My free Excel webinar for June 2018 covered Copy and Paste Tips and Tricks. 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.

Download Copy Paste materials

The session focuses on the Paste Special dialog plus a little known pasting feature that is great for dashboards.

It covers the hows and whys of

  •  Paste Values,  Paste Formulas,  Paste Formats
  •  Converting negative to positives
  •  Fixing Text numbers in-situ
  •  Applying a Factor to a range
  •  Paste Link – how and why to use it
  •  Transpose (switching rows to columns and visa-versa)
  •  Paste Picture Link (great for dashboards)

The session includes lots of keyboard shortcuts. As always, I shared a few other tips during the session.

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