Excel Tips and Techniques

Compiled by Mike Splane

January 2004
Sources: PC Magazine, Microsoft’s online tutorials, Karen Jolly’s “Excel 97 for Windows”

Formatting:
Move the formatting menus: The font color, border, and background color drop-down menus are
moveable. Left click above the drop down arrow on the menu bar to display the menu palette.
Click on the double lines at the top of the palette and drag.
Format numbers as fractions: To enter a fraction, start with a space. To enter mixed numbers
and fractions into cells: type in the integers, press Spacebar, then type in the fraction. To see the
decimal equivalent of the fraction: click on the cell and look on the Formula bar.
Automatic formatting of dates and time: If you enter a value containing a slash (/) or hyphen (-),
and that value also complies with the Windows standard date format, Excel will interpret your
entry as a serial date value and format the entry accordingly. Similarly, Excel will format any
value that contains a colon (:) as a time value. Or you can follow the time value with an A or P,
representing AM and PM, respectively.

Replace formulas with values: To replace a formula or function with the actual value of a cell,
select the cell, then choose Copy from the Edit menu. Next, from the Edit menu, select Paste
Special, Values. OK.

Wrap text in cells: To prevent text from spilling over into adjacent cells, select a group of cells,
right-click then choose Format Cells. Click on the Alignment tab then check the Wrap Text
option.

Limit types of information entered into a worksheet: To limit information that can be entered
into a worksheet, highlight the cell, column, or row that you wish to limit. Open the Data menu.
Select Validation. Click the Settings tab in the Data Validation dialog box that appears. Click the
down arrow next to the Allow box to select the type of numbers to allow. In the Data box, enter
the range of values to allow. Customize the error box by clicking on the Error Alert tab. Click OK
to save settings.

Adjust column widths when pasting: When you copy a range of data (several columns), you
can't automatically paste the column widths that accommodate your data. You must first select
the data you want to copy and press Ctrl + C. Click a destination cell, and press Ctrl + V to paste
the data to the new range. Right-click the new range and choose Paste Special. Select the Column
Widths option in the Paste section and click OK. When you return to your worksheet, the
columns in the new range will be the same width as the columns in the original range.

To format a cell as a pull down list: Data Menu, Data Validation, Settings tab. For Allow criteria
choose list. In the Source box, type in a list of items separated by commas. Or select a worksheet
range that contains the list.

To remove all custom formatting from a cell or range: Edit Menu, Clear, Formats.

To add color to the worksheet tabs: Right click on a tab. Choose Tab Color. Pick a color.
 Working with Data
To quickly cross-foot data ranges with AutoSum: Select the data with the mouse, including a
blank column or row, or both, adjacent to the range of data. Click the AutoSum button.

Using the IF function: Using comparative signs (equals, greater than, less than) within a formula
produces an output of either ‘true’ or ‘false’. The < or > sign must precede the = sign if both are
used. For example, g6 >= k8 will give values of either true or false, depending on the values in
cells g6 and k8. This type of formula is used as a test condition for the IF function. Depending on
the true/false value of the formula an IF function generates different output.

Utilize Excel's goal seek feature: Select the cell with the formula to be forced to produce a
specific value. Open the Tools menu and choose Goal Seek to display the Goal Seek dialog box.
The active cell will be displayed in the Set Cell text box. In the To Value box, enter the target
value for the formula cell to reach. In the By Changing Cell box, enter the input cell. Click OK
and the Goal Seek process will start and will state whether it found a solution. If it did, the
worksheet values will be changed accordingly.

Select cells while viewing information in a dialog box: To select cells in a worksheet while
viewing information in a dialog box or wizard, click the small grid button with a red arrow in it,
usually to the right of a field box. The dialog box or wizard will then shrink to a single line. Use
the mouse to select a cell or range of cells. Then click the grid button again to restore the dialog
box or wizard.

To select multiple ranges of data in a dialog box:Use the above technique. A new grid
automatically opens for adding additional data ranges.

To link a text box to a worksheet cell: first, create a text box. Next, click inside the text box.
Then, in the Formula bar, type an equal (=) sign. Finally, select the worksheet cell that contains
the data or text you want shown in your text box and press Enter. You may instead choose to type
the reference to the worksheet cell. But remember to include the sheet name followed by an
exclamation point, for example, Sheet1!F2, before pressing Enter. You can add a text box to your
worksheet by using the text box tool on the Drawing toolbar.

To move the cell selector to an edge of a data range. Move your mouse pointer to the edge of a
cell in the data range and double click on the right side or bottom of a cell.

Highlight the data that needs to be

To separate first and last names from one cell into two:
separated. Now go to the Data menu, Text into Columns choice.

To get subtotals of individual categories: Click in the column where you want subtotals. Click on
Data, then Subtotals. Select from the list boxes.

Working with comments: Edit or create a comment in the current cell: Shift-F2.
Move a comment that's being edited: Esc, Arrow keys.
Close a comment that's being edited: Esc, Esc.
Delete a comment: Select the cell with the comment. Edit Menu, Clear submenu, Comments

Transposing ranges of data in a table format: Highlight the range of data, including the titles.
Copy it. Move the cursor to a new location. From the Edit Menu, Paste Special, Transpose, Enter.
Press Escape to clear the marquee around your original table.
To enter data or format into multiple worksheets simultaneously: Hold Control while selecting
multiple worksheet tabs. Changes made in one worksheet will be made in all of the selected
worksheets. Hold Control and click on any worksheet tab when finished.

Printing

To copy print settings from one sheet to another, select the sheet with the settings you want to
copy. Then, hold down the Shift (or Ctrl) key and click on the tab (or tabs) of the other sheet (or
sheets) you want to copy the settings to. At this point, choose File, Page Setup, and click OK. By
doing so, you will copy all the basic print settings from the active sheet to all the others in your
temporary group. (You'll also copy header and footer settings.)

Print column heads on each Excel page: Open the File menu and choose Page Setup. Click the
Sheet tab. Click the Rows to Repeat at Top button and press Enter, then click Print.

To print Workbook or Worksheet names on the hard copy: Right click on any tab and choose
select all sheets. In File menu, Page Setup Submenu, Headers/Footers Tab, select the desired
option from the header pull down box for the Work Book name. Use the footer pull down box to
add the Work Sheet names.

Data Entry

Copy a table from the web: Highlight the data and copy it. In Excel, choose an empty sheet. Paste
in cell A1. If this doesn’t copy your entire table: Undo Control-Z, select the entire worksheet
Control-A, and paste Control V. Click on Ok to clear the “size” error message.

Filling a data range quickly:Highlight a range. Type in first piece of data and press enter. Data
appears in upper left hand cell. Enter additional items of data, pressing enter after each one. The
data entry points moves down, then back to top of range in adjacent right-hand column.

Enter information into several cells: To enter a formula or date into several cells at once, select
the desired range, type the information, then press Ctrl + Enter.

Enter data to multiple sheets. Click on the tabs while holding control. Data entered in one sheet
will appear in all selected sheets. You can enter into more than one cell. When finished, click a
tab to select a specific sheet.

Using AutoFill to enter a data series: Highlight a row of cells containing a series of data. Move
the mouse to the lower right hand corner of the last cell on the right. The AutoFill handle +
appears. Drag the AutoFill handle to the right.

Using AutoFill to the left of the data:Select data as above. When AutoFill handle appears,
drag from right to left, continuing past the starting point of your data.

AutoFormat width or height: Highlight several columns and double clicking to right of the right
hand one. Select rows then double click below the row furthest down the sheet.
“Point and Click” method of entering formulas: Type in =. Click on the cell you are using as a
reference in the formula. To make it an absolute cell reference, select a cell then use the F4 key (it
cycles through options). Type in any required symbols between mouse clicks. Note that odd
shaped sets of individual cells and/or ranges can be separated by a comma. Example:
=sum(a2:d3,c7,g5)

To quickly copy a formula into a column or range: Enter the formula in the upper row of the
range or cell in the column. Highlight the formula and the area below it where you want to copy
the formula. Control-D.

To quickly copy a formula into a row or range: Enter the formula in the left-hand column of the
range or cell of the row. Highlight the formula and the area to the right where you want to copy
the formula. Control-R.

To add a comment (documentation) to a formula: Edit the formula, adding +N (“Your

comment”). Include quotation marks and parentheses. The comment can be read in the formula
box but won’t affect your calculations. For example: =A2+B3 +N(“Sums the values of cells A2
and B3”).

To move ranges of data: Select, drag, and drop.

To copy ranges of data with Mouse: Select, drag, and drop while pressing the Control key

To copy a range of data with keyboard: Select the range then click on upper left corner cell of the
new data range and hit enter.

To copy to multiple areas: Hold down the Control key while repositioning the cursor and
pressing Enter.

To embed data from Excel into an Office application: Copy the data range from the source
document. From the Edit Menu, Choose Paste Special. Click the Paste button. Select Microsoft
Excel Worksheet Object. Click Ok. This is a static copy. Changes to the data in either file do not
affect the date in the other file.

Copy the data range from the source

To link data from Excel into an Office application:
document. From the Edit Menu, Choose Paste Special. Click the Paste Link button. Select
Microsoft Excel Worksheet Object. Click Ok. This is a dynamically updated copy. Changes to the
data in either file will change it in both.

Data Selection:

Data selection of multiple areas: Press the Control key while using the mouse to select multiple
cells, data ranges, columns, rows, or worksheet tabs.

Modify the area of a selected range: If you use the mouse to highlight a range of too many or too
few cells, use the Shift and Arrow keys to modify your selection.
To select a single column: Put the cursor in the column then control-spacebar, or click on the
column letter.

To select a single row: Put the cursor in the row then shift-spacebar, or click on the number.
To select the entire worksheet: Control A or click on the blank cell in upper left corner.

To select a range:Click the cell in the upper left corner. Hold down the shift key. Click the
opposite corner. Using the F8 key instead of Shift also works. Press F8 again when finished.

To select multiple ranges: Press Control then repeat the above procedure in another area.

To select all worksheets: Right click on any tab and choose Select All Sheets.

Move entire columns: Highlight the column letters. Hold down the Shift key. Drag.

Move entire rows: Highlight the row numbers. Hold down the Shift key. Drag.

Keyboard Shortcuts:

Keyboard Formatting

         Control 0 = Hide column

         Control 1 = Format Menu

         Control 2 = Bold

         Control 3 = Italics

         Control 4 = Underline

         Control 5 = Strikethrough

         Control 9 = Hide Row

Enter the date: Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl + ; (semicolon)

Enter the Time: Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl + : (colon)

To move between worksheets: Control + PageUp or PageDown

Copy the value from the cell above the current cell: Ctrl-Shift + " (quotation mark).

Copy the formula from the cell above the current cell: Ctrl + ' (apostrophe).

Create a graph: Select the data range in the worksheet. Press the F11 key.
Open the format dialog box: Press Ctrl + 1. (That's the number 1, not a lowercase L.)

To auto-format data: Type a $, -, decimal point or % sign when entering numbers.

Currency format: Control + Shift + $

General number format: Control + Shift + ~

Comma number format: Control + Shift + !

Percentage number format: Control + Shift + %

Unhide column: Shift + Control + )

Unhide row: Shift + Control + (

AutoSum: ALT + Enter

To apply/remove borders to all cells: Control + Shift + & / Control + Shift + _

To access the Paste Function dialog box: Shift + F3

To trace errors:Select the cell with the formula in question. Press Ctrl + Shift + [
Excel highlights all cells that play into the value of the selected cell.

To apply/remove strike-through formatting to a cell: Control + 5 Example: strikethrough

Charts

Us the xy scatter diagram option to build the chart.

To create a log-log chart:
Right click on the axis and a tab that says scaling becomes available.
This one allows you to check logarithmic on both axes .