Excel Tips

March 5, 2018

There is a useful key in Excel that leads a secret double-life. Most people know that F4 is famous for adding dollar signs to your formula references. But do you know what F4 does when you are not in Edit mode?

I Will Sometimes Merge a Cell to Create a Really Wide Sparkline »

March 3, 2018

Merged cells in Excel are evil. You should never merge a cell. The Center Across Selection option will give you the same look without the evil of merged cells. Saturday confession: I merge cells to create really long sparklines.

17 or 15 digits of precision »

March 2, 2018

There is an ugly calculation error that has been appearing in Excel. It seems that the problem goes deep into the Excel calculation engine and won't be easy to fix.

Filter by Selection in Excel »

March 1, 2018

Microsoft Access offers the awesome Filter by Selection icon. Choose a field that contains "Widget", click Filter by Selection, and you see all Widgets. You can further filter by choosing a field that contains Brown and filtering again. Excel secretly offers the same functionality.

Updating Excel Worksheets while Mobile using OneDrive »

February 28, 2018

Perhaps one of the best uses for Excel on your phone is keeping lists synchronized with your office computer. Create a list on your main computer and then save it to One Drive.

Excel 2019 and the Insert Cells Dilemma »

February 27, 2018

If you are planning on upgrading to the perpetual release of Excel 2019, the Keep the Copy feature might annoy you. The problem is worse if you continue to use the legacy Excel shortcut keys.

Entering a Formula using the Arrow Keys »

February 26, 2018

To be fast in Excel, you need to stop reaching for the mouse. Today, an amazingly fast way of entering formulas that will save you six trips to the mouse.

I Still Use a Plus Sign for Entering Formulas »

February 24, 2018

I recently asked people for a list of the worst rookie Excel mistakes they've seen. I had to wince when one of those "rookie" mistakes is something I still to do this today: start a formula with =+.

Calculation Bug When Changing VLOOKUP Table »

February 23, 2018

There is an odd bug that can cause calculation errors in Excel when you make changes to the lookup table. Given that the Excel team's motto is "Recalc or Die", I am not sure why they won't patch this bug.