Microsoft Excel Tips and Tracks

7/30/2019 Microsoft Excel Tips and Tracks

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Microsoft Excel - Tips

AUTHOR:

[email protected]

DECLARATION:

I hereby declare that this document is based on my own personal experience while working with

Microsoft Excel. This document does not contain any material that infringes the copyrights of any

other individual or organization including the customers of TCS to the best of my knowledge.

ABSTRACT:

This document describes the use of various Excel customization tips.

TARGET READERS:

This document will be very useful for all the users who use Microsoft Excel.

Prerequisite

Basic computer knowledge.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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1. CELL CUSTOMIZATION.........................................................................................................................3

1.1SET UP A CELL TO ALLOW ONLY NUMBERS .............................................................................................31.2SET UP A CELL TO ONLY ALLOW A CERTAIN NUMBER OF CHARACTERS ...................................................41.3SET UP A CELL TO ALLOWONLYTEXT/CHARACTERS ..............................................................................51.4TOROTATE TEXT IN A CELL .....................................................................................................................71.5TOWRAP THE TEXT IN A CELL .................................................................................................................71.6TO CREATE A DROPDOWN LIST & RESTRICTING ENTRIES IN A RANGE TO THOSE VALUES .........................8

2. TO PROTECT A CELL IN EXCEL ........................................................................................................9

3. TO FORMAT CELLS...............................................................................................................................11

4. HIDE FORMULAS FROM APPEARING IN THE EDIT BAR IN EXCEL .......................................12

5. SHOW OR HIDE GRIDLINES ON A WORK SHEET .........................................................................13

6. SHADING ..................................................................................................................................................14

6.1SHADING ALTERNATE ROWS ................................................................................................................146.2SHADING ALTERNATE ROWS USING FORMULAS ....................................................................................14

7. PRINTING OPTIONS..............................................................................................................................15

7.1TOPRINT COMMENTS ............................................................................................................................157.2.PREVENTING CHARTS FROM BEING PRINTED IN MICROSOFT EXCEL ......................................................15

8. PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED OPENI NG OF WORK BOOK ............................................................168.1.TO PROTECT CELLS CONTAINING FORMULAS IN AN UNPROTECTED SHEET,USING VALIDATION:...........179.3SELECTING CELLS IN HORIZONTAL ORVERTICAL RANGES....................................................................199.4FASTCOPYING &PASTING RIGHT OR DOWN IN A ROW.........................................................................209.6TOCOUNT THE NUMBER OF WORDS IN A CELL IN MICROSOFT EXCEL ....................................................219.7ENTERING THE CURRENTTIME INTO A CELL .........................................................................................219.8EXTRACT THE FIRST WORD IN A CELL IN MICROSOFT EXCEL .................................................................229.9TOPREVENT DUPLICATES WHILE ENTERINGDATA ..............................................................................229.10TOSEPARATE FIRST AND LASTNAMES WITHOUT USINGFORMULAS..................................................239.11JOININGTWOTEXT COLUMNSFIRST NAME LAST NAME WITH CONCATENATION ...............................249.12DISPLAY COMMENT INDICATOR NEXT TO CELLS WITH COMMENTS IN EXCEL .......................................25

10. LOOKUP FUNCTION............................................................................................................................25

10.1VLOOKUP............................................................................................................................................2510.2HLOOKUP.........................................................................................................................................2610.3VLOOKUP BETWEEN TWO EXCEL FILES ...............................................................................................29

11. CONTROL STRUCTURES...................................................................................................................33

11.1SIMPLE IF.........................................................................................................................................3311.2NESTED IFFUNCTIONS ........................................................................................................................33

12. BASIC EXCEL SHORTCUTS...............................................................................................................35

13. REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................38


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1. Cell Customization

1.1 Set up a cell to allow only Numbers

Step 1: Select the cells that you wish to restrict to enter a certain number of characters.

Step 2: Select the Data tab in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Then in the Data Tools group,

click on the Data Validation drop-down and select Data Validation.Step 3: When the Data Validation window appears, set up your criteria. In this example, we've

setup the cells to allow a number between 4000 and 5000. Next, click on the Error Alert tab.

Step 4: Enter an Error message to appear when data entered does not conform to the validation

rules.

Step 5: Now if a value is entered in one of those cells and is not in range 4000 to 5000, the

following error message will appear:


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Output:

1.2 Set up a cell to only allow a certain number of characters

Step1: Select the cells that you wish to restrict to a certain number of characters.

Step2: Select the Data tab in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Then in the Data Tools group,

click on the Data Validation drop-down and select Data Validation. When the Data Validation

window appears, set up your criteria. In this example, we've setup the cells to allow a text length

of less than or equal to 10.Step3: Next, click on the Error Alert tab. Enter an Error message to appear when data entered

does not conform to the validation rules. Now if a value is entered in one of those cells and is

longer than 10 characters, the following error message will appear:


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Output:

1.3 Set up a cell to allow Only Text/Characters

Step1: From the Data Menu SelectValidation Settings Tab

Step2: From the Allow dropdown list select Custom

Step3: In theFormulabox enter =NOT (ISNUMBER (A1:A5)). Changecell range as required

Step4: Select Input Message Tab Enter Title & Message if special message is required onselecting the cells from A1 to A5.

Step5: SelectErrorAlert Tab Enter Title & Message if special message is required
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Output:

1.4 To Rotate text in a cell

Step1: Select the cell(s) that you wish to rotate the text.

Step2: Right-click and then select "Format Cells" from the popup menu.

Step3: When the Format Cells window appears, select the Alignment tab. Then set the number of

degrees that you wish to rotate the text. This value ranges from 90 degrees to -90 degrees.

Now when you return to your spreadsheet, the text should be rotated.


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1.5 To Wrap the text in a cell

Step1: Select the cells that you wish to wrap text in. Right-click and then select "Format Cells"

from the popup menu.

Step2: In Format Cells window, select the Alignment tab. check the Wrap text" checkbox.

Step3: Now when you return to the spreadsheet, the selected text should be wrapped.

Output:

1.6 To create a dropdown list & restricting entries in a range to those values

Step1: Select the range that is to contain the validation dropdown list box. This may be either a

single cell or a larger range, such as an entire column.

Step2: From the Data menu, choose Validation.

Step3: On the Settings tab, in the Allow dropdown list, select List.


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Step4: The Source box can refer to a range of cells for its values, or it can contain them directly.

o A direct list:You may type the source list directly in the Source box.

In this example, the list is simply days of the week, separated by commas. Notice there is no

quotes around the text.

o a referenced list :Click in the Source box, and then either type a range reference manually [preceded by an

=(equals) sign] or use the mouse to select a range on the same worksheet that has the

source list of possible entries. Include named ranges too.

2. To Protect a cell in ExcelStep 1: First, un-protect all of the cells of worksheet. To do this, select all of the rows and

columns and right-click and then select "Format Cells" from the popup menu.

Step 2: When the Format Cells window appears, select the Protection tab. Un-check the "Locked"

checkbox. Click on the OK button.


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Step 3: Next, select the cell(s) to protect. Right-click and then select "Format Cells" from the

popup menu.

Step 4: When the Format Cells window appears, select the Protection tab. Check the "Locked"

checkbox. Click the OK button.

Step 5: For the locking of the cells to take effect, you must also protect the worksheet. To do this,

select Protection and then "Protect Sheet" under the Tools menu.

Step 6: Enter a password to protect the sheet in "Protect Sheet" window. The password is

optional. Check the Select Locked Cells and Select Unlocked Cells. Click on the OK button.

Step 7: Then try to edit the cell, it will show the below warrning message.


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3. To Format cells

Step1: Select the cells that you wish to format. Right-click & select "Format Cells" from the

popup menu.

Step2: In the Format Cells window, select the Number tab. In the Category list box, select your

format. A sample of your text will appear on the right portion of the window based on the format

that you've selected. Click the OK button when you are done.

To display in Date format:

To display in a customized format:


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4. Hide formulas from appearing in the edit bar in Excel

Step1: Un-protect all the cells in the worksheet. To do this, select all the rows and columns in

your sheet. Right-click on then select "Format Cells" from the popup menu.

Step2: In Format Cells window, select the Protection tab. Uncheck the "Locked" checkbox. Click

OK button.

Step3: Next, select the cell(s) to hide the formulas for. Right-click and then select "Format Cells"

from the popup menu.

Step4: In Format Cells window, select the Protection tab. check the "Hidden" checkbox. Click

OK button.

Step5: For the formulas to be hidden, we also protect the worksheet. To do this, select Protection

and then "Protect Sheet" under the Tools menu.

Step6: In "Protect Sheet" window, under the "Password to unprotect sheet" textbox. You may

enter a password to protect the sheet if you wish. The password is optional. Click OK button.

Now when you view your spreadsheet, the formula will no longer appear at the formula bar when

the cell is selected.


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5. Show or hide gridlines on a worksheet

Gridlines are displayed by default on a worksheet (worksheet: The primary document that

you use in Excel to store and work with data. Also called a spreadsheet. A worksheet

consists of cells that are organized into columns and rows; a worksheet is always stored in

a workbook.), but you can hide and show them as needed.

1. Select one or more worksheetsA single sheet Click the sheet tab.

If you don't see the tab that you want, click the tab scrolling buttons

to display the tab, and then click the tab.

Two or more adjacent

sheets

Click the tab for the first sheet, and then hold down SHIFT and click

the tab for the last sheet.

Two or more

nonadjacent sheets

Click the tab for the first sheet, and then hold down CTRL and click

the tabs for the other sheets.

All sheets in a

workbook

Right-click a sheet tabs, and then clicks Select All Sheets on the

shortcut menu.

If sheet tabs have been color-coded, the sheet tab name will be underlined in a user-specified

color when selected. If the sheet tab is displayed with a background color, the sheet has not been

selected.

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.2. On the View tab, under Window options, clear or select the Gridlines check box tohide or show the gridlines.

6. Shading

6.1 Shading Alternate Rows

Use conditional formatting to shade alternating rows on the worksheet.

Step1: Click the Select All button, above the Row 1 button, to select all the cells on the

worksheet.

Or
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Select the range you want to format.

Step2: Choose Format Auto Format

Step3: Click the preview image of theList1or List2autoformat

Step4: If you don't want to apply all aspects of the autoformat, click the Options tab, and then

clear the check boxes for the types of formatting you don't want.

Step6: Click OK

6.2 Shading Alternate Rows using Formulas

Use conditional formatting to shade alternating rows on the worksheet.

Step1: Select the range to be formatted in the worksheet.

Step2: Choose Format Conditional Formatting

Step3: From the first dropdown, choose Formula Is

For the formula, enter =MOD (ROW (), 2)

Step4: Click the Format button.

Step5: On the Patterns tab, select a color for shading

Step6: Click OK

7. Printing Options

7.1 To Print Comments

We can print comments as displayed on the worksheet, or print them at the end of the worksheet

To print as displayed:

Step 1: On theFilemenu, clickPage Setup, and then click theSheet tab.

Step 2: On the Sheet tab, from the Comments dropdown, choose 'As displayed on sheet'.


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(Or) On the Sheet tab, from the Comments dropdown, choose 'At end of sheet'.Step 3: Click Ok

Step 4: Choose File Print (or click the Print button)

7.2. Preventing charts from being printed in Microsoft Excel

Step 1: Select a chart, and right-click. From the shortcut menu, select Format Chart Area.

Step 2: Select the Properties tab, and clear the checkbox beside Print Object.

Step 3: Click OK.

8. Prevent Unauthorized Opening of Workbook

Step 1: From the Tools menu, select Options, and then select the Security tab.

Step 2: Enter passwords in Password to open and Password to modify boxes and click OK.


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Try to open a protected workbook:

8.1. To protect cells containing Formulas in an unprotected sheet, using Validation:

Step1: Select cells that containing formulas.

Step2: Press F5 to display the Go To dialog box.


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Step3: Click Special, and then select the Formulas option.

Step4: Click OK.

Step 5: Validation:

1. From the Data menu, select Validation.

2. Select the Settings tab, and select Custom from the Allow dropdown list.

3. In the Formula box, type ="", and then click OK.


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Try to change the formulas,

Note: Though this seems to protect the formula, it will not throw error message when the user

clears the cell, as we are merely adding a blank cell validation.

9. Excel Manipulation

9.1 To prevent mov ing to the next cell after typing:Press Ctrl+Enter (instead of Enter).

9.2 To change the move selection after pressing Enter:1. From the Tools menu, select Options and then the Edit tab.

2. From the Move selection after Enter Direction dropdown list, select the desired direction


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9.3 Selecting Cells in Horizontal or Vertical Ranges

To select a range of cells:

Vertically from top to bottom, press Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow.

Vertically from bottom to top, press Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow.

Horizontally from left to right, press Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow.

Horizontally from right to left, press Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow.

To select cells one after another:

Press Shift+Arrow.

Using the mouse

Select a cell in a range, press the Shift key and double-click the edge of the selected cell when the

mouse image changes to four directional arrows.

9.4 Fast Copying & Pasting Right or Down in a Row

To copy to the right or down:

To the right:

First you have to select the cell which has the value to be copied.

Select a range of cells to the right and press Ctrl+R.

Down:

Select the cells in the row(s) under the list and press Ctrl+D.

9.5 To hide cells containing values/text before printing

Hiding a column(s) and/or row(s):

To hide a column(s), select it and press Ctrl+0.

Note : That number pad to the right of the keyboard will not work. Only the keys with special

char and numbers mapped alone will work.

Output :


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To hide a row(s), select it and press Ctrl+9.

Output :

9.6 To Count the number of words in a cell in Microsoft Excel

Enter the following text in cell A1: Are you going to Disneyland?

Use the following function:

=IF(LEN(A1)=0,0,LEN(TRIM(A1))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(A1)," ",""))+1)

The result: 5

9.7 Entering the Current Time into a Cell

To enter the current time into a cell:

Select a cell and press Ctrl+Shift+;

To enter the current time into a cell by using a formula that returns the current date and time:

Enter the formula: =NOW ()

Save the xls and open it again, then it will be


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Note : The difference between these two methods is, when Now() function is used, then it shows

the current system time whenever we opened the xls. So it gets updated automatically. But when

Ctrl+Shift+; is used, it shows the time whenever it is entered last.

9.8 Extract the first word in a cell in Microsoft Excel

Enter the following text in cell A1:

Are you going to Disneyland?

Use the following function:

=IF(ISERR(FIND(" ",A1)),A1,LEFT(A1,FIND(" ",A1)-1))

The result: Are

9.9 To Prevent Duplicates While Entering Data

Step1: Select a range of cells, for example, A19:A30.

Step2: From the Data menu, select Validation.

Step3: Select the Settings tab.

Step4: From the Allow dropdown list, select Custom.

Step5: In the Formula box, enter the following formula:

=COUNTIF ($A$19:$A$30, A19) =1

Step6: Select the Error Alert tab.

Step7: In the Title box, enter Duplicate Entry.

Step8: In the Error message

Box, enter "The value you entered already appears in the list above".

Step9: Click OK.


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9.10 To Separate First and Last Names without Using Formulas

Step1: Select a Column or the range of cells containing the list of names.

Step2: From the Data menu, select Text to Columns.

Step3: In Step 1 of 3, select Delimited.

Step4: In Step 2 of 3, select the Space checkbox.

Step5: In Step 3 of 3, in the Destination box, select cell C23, and then click Finish


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Output :


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9.11 J oining Two Text Columns First Name Last Name with Concatenation

This can be done using Concatenation Excel Formula

This function allows you to join one or more strings together

Syntax

Concatenate(String1,String2,.StringN)

9.12 Display comment indicator next to cells with comments in Excel

Step1: Under the Tools menu, select Options.

Step2: In Options window, select the View tab. Select the option called "Comment indicator

only".

Step3: Now return to the Excel spreadsheet, the comment indicator is displayed. The comment

indicator is the red triangle positioned in the top right corner of the cells that contain comments.

10. Lookup Function

10.1 VLookUp

The V in vlookup stands for vertical and lookup is self explanatory. This function

allows you to look up values in a table that are listed in column format. Excel also has a sister

function calledHLOOKUP(H =horizontal) that can be used to look up values in rows.

VLOOKUP searches for a value in the leftmost column of a table, and then returns a

value in the same row from a column you specify in the table. Use VLOOKUP instead of

HLOOKUP when your comparison values are located in a column to the left of the data you want

to find.

Vlookups format looks like the following:

=vlookup(lookup value, table where values reside, column #where values are located, false)

The first thing that goes into the vlookup function is the thing you know and that will be used to

lookup other values.

Next, we need to know the location of the table where our values reside.

Next, we need the column number where the values are located.


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Finally, the last attribute that vlookup takes is either true or false. false force the vlookup to

return the first exact value it finds. If that value isnt found, then vlookup conks out and returns

#N/A.

If it is true, then rather than always looking for the exact value, vlookup will return the exact

value if it exists, or the closest one to it that doesnt exceed the key. (If you use true, you will

need to sort your data in ascending order before using vlookup.)

To want to know age of Philip : =VLOOKUP("Philip",A2:C7,2,FALSE)

10.2 HLOOKUP

We use this when the table is oriented left to right, rather than top to bottom. Here is an example:

=HLOOKUP("Moorthy",B1:G3,3,FALSE)

MATCH

MATCH is used to find the position of an item within a range. Use MATCH instead of one of the

LOOKUP functions when you need the position of an item in a range instead of the item itself.

Syntax

MATCH(lookup_value,lookup_array,match_type)

Lookup_value is the value you use to find the value you want in a table.


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Lookup_value is the value you want to match in lookup_array. For example, when youlook up someone's number in a telephone book, you are using the person's name as thelookup value, but the telephone number is the value you want.

Lookup_value can be a value (number, text, or logical value) or a cell reference to anumber, text, or logical value.

Lookup_array is a contiguous range of cells containing possible lookup values. Lookup_arraymust be an array or an array reference.

Match_type is the number -1, 0, or 1. Match_type specifies how Microsoft Excel matcheslookup_value with values in lookup_array.

If match_type is 1, MATCH finds the largest value that is less than or equal tolookup_value. Lookup_array must be placed in ascending order: ...-2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., A-Z,FALSE, TRUE.

If match_type is 0, MATCH finds the first value that is exactly equal to lookup_value.Lookup_array can be in any order.

If match_type is -1, MATCH finds the smallest value that is greater than or equal tolookup_value. Lookup_array must be placed in descending order: TRUE, FALSE, Z-A,...2, 1, 0, -1, -2, ..., and so on.

For example, to know how far down in the list of names Gowda is:

=MATCH("Gowda",A2:A7,0)

The return from a MATCH function is always a number.

INDEX

INDEX is the opposite of MATCH in a way, because it tells what the nth value in a range is. For

example, who is in position 5 in the list :

=INDEX(A2:A7,5)

Combination of Index & Match


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=INDEX(A2:A7,MATCH("Mysore",C2:C7,0))

To create a new table from the Master table with some criteria :

Master Table:

Master table consists of set of employees number, name & age. To find a set of employee name

using the employee #field, here we used the Vlookup functionality.

Resultant Vlooktable for the selected employeeslist in the same sheet:

=VLOOKUP(H2,A1:B12,2,FALSE)


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10.3 Vlookup between two Excel files

The below example shows the project details of the employees for the February month.

Master Report.xls


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Feb report.xls

To find the project details of the employee who worked in February month.

Step1: Insert the column Project in the sheet were you want the project details.

Step2: Select the cell you want to do Vlookup and click Insert Function

Step3: Select Vlookup Function


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Step4: Select Empno column as the Lookup_value

Step5: Select the Master data.xls and select the column for the Table_array as shown below:

Step6: Click the Col_index_num.

Note: If your vlookup is correct then the resultant excels should get selected by automatically.

Here the Feb report.xls is shown automatically.

Step 7: Enter 5 in the Col_index_num field.Step8: Enter False in the Range_lookup field and click OK


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Step9: Double click on the selected cell and the Vlookup gets applied to the whole column. And

the resultant output should be like this :


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11. Control Structures

11.1 Simple I F

Thesyntax for the If function is:

If( condition, value_if_true, value_if_false)

=IF(A1>10, "Larger", "Smaller")

Output Smaller

=IF(A1=20, "Equal", "Not Equal")

Output Not Equal

=IF(A3="Welcome", 12, 0)

Output 12

11.2 Nested IF Functions

The syntax for the nesting the IF function is:

IF( condition1, value_if_true1, IF(condition2, value_if_true2, value_if_false2 )

This would be equivalent to the following IF THEN ELSE statement:

IF condition1 THEN

value_if_true1

ELSEIF condition2 THEN

value_if_true2

ELSE

value_if_false2

END IF

=IF(A1=100,1,IF(A1=200,2,IF(A1=300,3)))

Output 1


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=IF(A2=100,1,IF(A2=200,2,IF(A2=300,3)))

Output 2

=IF(A3=100,1,IF(A3=200,2,IF(A3=300,3)))

Output 3

=IF(A1=100,"Blue",IF(A1=200,"Green",IF(A1=300,"Yellow")))

Output Blue


Output Green


Output Yellow

=IF(A1="10*10",100,IF(A1="8*8",64,IF(A1="6*6",36)))

Output 100

=IF(A2="10*10",100,IF(A2="8*8",64,IF(A2="6*6",36)))

Output 64

=IF(A3="10*10",100,IF(A3="8*8",64,IF(A3="6*6",36)))

Output 36


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Shift +F2 Insert / Edit CommentsShift +F3 Insert FunctionShift +F4 Cell Al SelectedShift +F5 FindShift +F10 Right clickShift +F11 Insert WorksheetShift +F12 Save As

Shift +Home Select to beginning of rowShift +Spacebar Select rowShift +Enter Move up through a selection

Ctrl +Shift +F3 Create NamesCtrl +Shift +F4 Go to HomeCtrl +Shift +F6 Previous WindowCtrl +Shift +F10 File Menu BarCtrl +Shift +F12 Print

Ctrl +Shift +_ Border lines offCtrl +Shift +& Border lines on

Alt +F1 Insert ChartAlt +F2 Save AsAlt +F4 Close the WorksheetAlt +F8 MacroAlt +F11 Microsoft VB Editor

Alt + Style boxAlt File Menu

Ctrl +Alt +Shift +F2

Print

Ctrl +Alt +Shift +F4

Close the Worksheet


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13. References

Microsoft Office Help Guide www.exceltips.com www.office.microsoft.com
http://www.exceltips.com/http://www.exceltips.com/http://www.office.microsoft.com/http://www.office.microsoft.com/http://www.office.microsoft.com/http://www.exceltips.com/

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Microsoft Excel Tips and Tracks