Love them or hate them, spreadsheets can make life easier. Microsoft Excel remains the go-to spreadsheet application, plus it is the most powerful. The things you can do with the software you simply can’t do anywhere else. Plus, if you’re part of the Microsoft Office ecosystem you already have the program.
Microsoft has packed in all kinds of little tips and tricks, but they don’t tell you about these features upfront. You often need to dig through the program, take a class, or pick up a book. Chances are you don’t have the time to spend hours (or weeks) pouring through the software. While that is by far the best way to discover these tips and get a feel for the program, you don’t have to. This is why we are here to share with you some of the best Microsoft Excel tips and tricks.
Top 4 Microsoft Excel Tips and Tricks
AutoCorrect
Typically you will have rather generic terms to enter into your Excel spreadsheet. But what happens if you have complex terms that are difficult to type and easy to misspell? You don’t want to constantly go back and forth, checking your spelling and making sure everything is spelled properly. Because if one thing isn’t spelled as it should be, it won’t appear during certain searches. That can turn into a real big pain real fast. Thankfully, Excel has a way for you to avoid this kind of problem.
There is an AutoCorrect feature that will allow you to correct difficult entries without all the painstaking proofreading instantly. To do this, you’ll want to select the “File” option, then choose “Options,” followed by “Proofing” and then “AutoCorrect Options.” You’ll then select an entry that you know is spelled correctly (let’s say it’s a person with a very long last name. Perhaps it’s a foreign name and uses letters, not in the English alphabet). You’ll select this entry and then type in what you’d like to type while inputting entries.
So, let’s say you have Arnold Schwarzenegger as an entry. You don’t want to type that out every time. Instead, you’ll just select his name and then choose “AS” as to how you want to enter it. Now, whenever you enter AS in Excel, it will automatically swap it out and put in the full name. You’ll want to use a term or letters you’re not going to type in regularly (so “as” might not work, but ARS might). Whatever you decide will make going over your spreadsheet and making sure there are no mistakes that much easier.
Switch Data From a Row to a Column
We’ve all been there. We are typing out information, flying through the spreadsheet, everything looks and feels good, and then you realize you typed a row when you should have typed a column. Major headache. It used to be at least, but now you can easily convert a row into a column with just a few clicks.
To do this, you’ll want to copy the row in question, then move your pointer to a blank section on the spreadsheet. From here, choose “Home,” then “Paste,” followed by “Transpose.” Just remember you need to copy the data before it is going to work. You can’t just highlight it (you’ll want to highlight and then press Control/P).
Get Rid Of Blank Cells
When you have blank cells around your spreadsheet, you’ll need to remove them. However, randomly scrolling through, clicking, and hitting delete is time-consuming. Especially if you have a large number of blank cells, you need to remove it. There is a way around this by removing the blank cells with just a few clicks. Instead, you’ll want only to choose the column with the blank cells, then select “Data,” followed by “Filter.” Once the down-facing button appears, you’ll choose “Undo Select All” and then choose the last option given, which is “Blanks.” You can then return to “Home” and then “Delete.” This will remove all those pesky blank cells that are cluttering up your spreadsheet.
Add a Diagonal Line
There might be times where you need to block out a cell for the time being. Perhaps you just want to make sure you don’t enter information into the cell (which can throw some things off if you don’t catch it), or you need to leave it blank because the cell does not apply to a particular entry. Whatever your reasoning, the best way to block it out isn’t to add in random text or numbers, which can throw off some calculations, but instead, you’ll want to input a diagonal line to the cell.
To do this, you’ll want to choose the cells in question, then click “Home”, followed by “Font.” Once the new window appears, choose “Borders,” then click on ‘More Borders.” Here you will have the option of selecting a diagonal line.
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