# Excel TV > An Excel community focused on tips, tutorials, analytics, training, charts and data visualization. --- ## Pages - [Best Excel Courses on Udemy (2025)](https://excel.tv/best-excel-courses-udemy/): Exploring the vast array of Excel courses available on Udemy revealed just how significant Excel’s role is in today’s workplace.... - [Best Excel Courses (2025)](https://excel.tv/best-excel-courses/): Excel isn't just a spreadsheet tool; it's the Swiss Army knife of data analysis, financial modeling, and daily business tasks.... - [Contact](https://excel.tv/contact/): We’re here to help At Excel. TV, we value your feedback, questions, and suggestions, and we’re committed to providing you... - [Home](https://excel.tv/): Discover Excel.TV, the ultimate resource for Excel professionals and enthusiasts. Access expert tutorials, online courses, and tools to master Excel reporting and more. - [Free Guide: 24 Proven Microsoft Excel Tips](https://excel.tv/p/guide-24-microsoft-excel-tips/): Free Guide: 24 Proven Microsoft Excel Tips Spending too much time navigating Excel? This free guide is designed to help... - [Promo](https://excel.tv/p/): - [About Us](https://excel.tv/about/): About Excel. TV Excel Together At Excel. TV, we believe in growing together, helping professionals like you save time, build... - [Terms and Conditions of Use](https://excel.tv/terms-and-conditions/): CRG Media Ltd. Terms and Conditions of Use These Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms”) shall apply to CRG Media... - [Excel TV Blog](https://excel.tv/blog/): Follow Excel TV blog as we bring you updates, secret tips and tricks that will make you become a data hero in your workplace. Are you ready to hear from us? ## Posts - [Is Google Sheets the same as Excel? Key Differences for Financial Modeling and Data Analysis](https://excel.tv/is-google-sheets-the-same-as-excel/): Many people ask me questions like "Is Google Sheets the same as Excel?" and I am going to answer that in this article. - [The 9 Best Keyboards for Excel (2025)](https://excel.tv/best-keyboard-excel/): Keyboards are essential tools for office work. This is especially true for data entry and spreadsheet management. Excel users often... - [Excel VBA: Disable Pop up Messages (Remove Auto Syntax Popup)](https://excel.tv/excel-vba-disable-pop-up-messages/): We all love Excel and looks like there is no need any introduction for what is Visual Basic programming. As... - [How-to Turn Off Cell Background Error Checking with VBA or without VBA](https://excel.tv/turn-off-cell-background-error-checking-with-vba/): When I'm all done with my Excel application, I'll usually want to flip off background error checking - that is,... - [Data Parsing in Excel Using LEN and SUBSTITUTE function](https://excel.tv/data-parsing-in-excel-using-len-and-substitute-function-hot-tips/): Analyzing and parsing data in Excel is really a tedious task. If it is not done smartly, then we end... - [How To Add "Change Case" to Excel Ribbon](https://excel.tv/how-to-add-change-case-to-excel-ribbon/): We all know the Excel Ribbon is packed with tools that make our lives easier. With tabs like Home, Insert,... - [Custom Data Validation in Excel with Wingdings](https://excel.tv/custom-data-validation-in-excel-with-wingdings/): Did you know you can indicate whether the user of your file is putting in the right information or not?... - [The 15 Best Excel Books (2025 Update)](https://excel.tv/best_excel_books/): Excel remains one of the most powerful tools for data analysis, business productivity, and personal efficiency. Whether you're a beginner,... - [Monte Carlo Simulation Excel: Formula Tutorial & Example Download](https://excel.tv/monte-carlo-simulation-excel-tutorial-download/): This Tutorial Explains Monte Carlo Simulation Formula In Excel. Video Tutorial and Download Are Included - [Excel Option Button: Guide to Enhanced User Interaction](https://excel.tv/better-excel-option-button-controls/): The Excel Option Button is a handy tool for creating a user-friendly interface. It allows users to select a single... - [How to Color Code in Excel for Enhanced Data Visualization](https://excel.tv/how-to-color-code-in-excel/): Color coding in Excel is a powerful tool that can transform how you see and interpret data. By using various... - [Make Your Excel Spreadsheet into a Bitmap Image With This Excel Magic Trick](https://excel.tv/creating-a-bitmap-image-from-within-microsoft-excel/): Turn any image into an Excel file? Ever think about turning your face or that picture of your neighbor's dog... - [Q&A with Mr Excel - Bill Jelen Answers Questions](https://excel.tv/qa-with-mr-excel-bill-jelen-answers-questions/): Bill Jelen Microsoft Excel book author and Mr. Excel blog joins Excel TV host Rick Grantham and cohosts Microsoft Excel... - [B2B Marketing Budget Allocation Template](https://excel.tv/marketing-budget-allocation-template/): A Proven Framework for Marketing Budget Allocation in B2B One of the most daunting tasks for a global marketing leader... - [How to Sort Multiple Columns/Table with Excel VBA](https://excel.tv/excel-vba-sort-multiple-columns/): We all know the power of harnessing Excel VBA to dynamically sort tables, columns, and dashboards based on user input.... - [How to Build Sparkline Charts in Excel – MS Excel Tutorials](https://excel.tv/how-to-build-sparkline-charts-in-excel-ms-excel-tutorials-2/): Sparklines allow quick and easy visualization of data. These charts do not require you to go through the hassle of... - [How to Create a Relative File Path in Power Query](https://excel.tv/how-to-create-a-relative-file-path-in-power-query/): In this blog post, we'll talk about how to create a relative file path. I'm sharing this because it's a... - [Microsoft Excel Visio Data Visualizer Add In for Excel: A Quick Guide](https://excel.tv/microsoft-excel-visio-data-visualizer-add-in-for-excel-a-quick-guide/): Introduction I wanted to let you know about a really cool new add in for Microsoft Excel. This is one... - [How to Use Power Query in Excel](https://excel.tv/how-to-use-power-query-in-excel/): Streamline Data Processing and Analysis with Power Query in Excel Power Query in Excel is a game-changing tool for data... - [Advanced VLOOKUP Tutorial – VLOOKUP() Speed in Excel](https://excel.tv/advanced-excel-tutorial-vlookup-speed-in-excel-excel-tv-episode-54/): Optimizing Efficiency for Large Excel Datasets with VLOOKUP VLOOKUP is a powerful Excel function that can save you time and... - [Every Excel LOOKUP Explained](https://excel.tv/all-excel-lookups-explained/): Master All Lookup Functions in Excel Excel's LOOKUP function is a powerful tool for finding and retrieving data in spreadsheets.... - [How to Align Numbers in Excel](https://excel.tv/right-align-indent-numbers-in-excel-excel-tips/): Clean presentation is one of the marks of an Excel expert. If you know you’re good, why let sloppy presentation... - [Poisson Distribution in Excel: Monte Carlo Simulation](https://excel.tv/monte-carlo-simulation-excel-poisson-distribution/): Howdy Folks.   It's great to be back. One of our most popular blog posts and Youtube videos (by far)... - [How to Create Dynamic Drop Down Lists Using Excel Tables](https://excel.tv/how-to-create-dynamic-drop-down-lists-using-excel-tables/): Updating spreadsheets can be a pain, especially when you have to change all the Data Validation dropdown menus manually. Of... - [CONVERT function in Excel - Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius and more - Excel Tips](https://excel.tv/convert-function-in-excel-convert-fahrenheit-to-celsius-and-more-excel-tips/): Are you converting your measurements like a chump? This happens all the time. You get a data dump from your... - [How To Use ChatGPT with Excel](https://excel.tv/how-to-use-chatgpt-with-excel/): Artificial intelligence (AI) technology advancements have improved efficiency in different work environments. This has dramatically impacted productivity and economic growth through increased profits and reduced prices of business products and services. - [Microsoft Excel World Championship 2024 Agenda](https://excel.tv/microsoft-excel-world-championship-2024-agenda/): 🎉 Exciting News! The agenda for the highly anticipated Active Cell Training Camp is now live! 🗓️ Join the community... - [ExcelTV Partners with the Financial Modeling World Cup](https://excel.tv/exceltv-partners-with-the-financial-modeling-world-cup/): Excel. TV is excited to announce our renewed partnership with Excel World Championship Financial Modeling World Cup for this year’s highly... - [How To Disable Close Button in Excel: Getting a Handle on hWnd](https://excel.tv/getting-a-handle-on-hwnd/): Sometimes, you'll want to programmatically take advantage of Windows outside the capabilities readily available through Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).... - [How to Remove Apostrophe in Excel the Quick Way](https://excel.tv/how-to-remove-apostrophe-in-excel-the-quick-way/): Have you ever encountered a problem in Excel where a column of numbers or dates is preceded by an apostrophe, making it impossible to perform calculations or sort the data? - [How to Cut Text in Excel: 7 Techniques](https://excel.tv/how-to-cut-a-cell-value-in-excel-7-techniques/): Are you tired of manually editing text & words within your Excel spreadsheet data? Do you want to speed up your data processing and analysis tasks? Then you need to know how to cut cell values in Excel! - [How to Unsort in Excel: Get Back to Your Organized Spreadsheet in No Time](https://excel.tv/how-to-unsort-in-excel-get-back-to-your-organized-spreadsheet-in-no-time/): Excel is an incredibly powerful tool, allowing users to organize and manipulate data in ways that were previously unimaginable. - [What Does Ctrl-E Do In Excel?](https://excel.tv/what-does-ctrl-e-do-in-excel/): Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool used for organizing, analyzing, and manipulating data. While Excel is equipped with numerous features and functions, there are some keyboard shortcuts that can significantly speed up the data entry process. - [How to Angle Cells in Excel: Tips and Tricks for Making Your Data Stand Out](https://excel.tv/how-to-angle-cells-in-excel-tips-and-tricks-for-making-your-data-stand-out/): Are you tired of staring at a boring Excel spreadsheet? Do you want to add some flair to your data? - [How To Customize the Excel Ribbon](https://excel.tv/how-to-customize-the-excel-ribbon/): Excel is a powerful spreadsheet software that has been around for decades and is used by millions of people all... - [Longest Running Excel MVP - 006 VBAExpress Forums Challenge](https://excel.tv/longest-running-excel-mvp-006-vbaexpress-forums-challenge/): Hey Folks! How are you doing? Excel TV is back again with new Excel Challenge. Excel Author Jordon Goldmeier is... - [How-to: Use Excel Formulas in Word](https://excel.tv/edit-excel-formulas-in-word-spreadsheet-tips-and-tricks/): Can you use Excel formulas in Word? Yes! We all use Excel Spreadsheet and Microsoft Word document every time and... - [Highlighted Timeline Chart in Excel Without VBA: Raw and Uncut](https://excel.tv/highlighted-timeline-chart-in-excel-without-vba-raw-and-uncut/): Introduction I built a chart that let’s you highlight a series from a smaller chart (take a look at that... - [Excel Data Visualization: Presidential Approval Ratings with Slicers & Power Query – Chart Tricks](https://excel.tv/excel-data-visualization-presidential-approval-ratings-with-slicers-power-query-chart-tricks/): - [Excel Tutorial Concat Function in Excel with TEXTJOIN – Excel.TV](https://excel.tv/excel-tutorial-concat-function-in-excel-with-textjoin-excel-tv-episode-53/): And we're back... We took a brief hiatus for the holiday season here in the United States (Passover, Easter, and... - [How to Create Running Totals & Rankings in Microsoft Excel Power Query](https://excel.tv/52-how-to-create-running-totals-rankings-in-microsoft-excel-power-query/): Let's say Hi to Szilvia! This week Szilvia shows us some awesome Power Query tips in the context of something... - [Budgets vs Actuals Target Chart in Microsoft Excel – Excel TV](https://excel.tv/budgets-vs-actuals-target-chart-in-microsoft-excel-excel-tv-episode-50/): In this week's episode of Excel. TV, we show you how to build a budget vs. actuals chart. Really, though,... - [001: Build a Map in Excel with Conditional Formatting](https://excel.tv/001-build-map-excel-conditional-formatting/): This isdesigned to help you end the week on a high note, with tips, tricks, comedy, interviews and more.  Tell... - [UNPIVOT WITH POWER QUERY](https://excel.tv/unpivot-power-query/): Isn’t it just frustrating to receive a copy-paste summary table that requires analysis? Yes, we’d rather have the data source,... - [Kari Finn of Microsoft MVP Program](https://excel.tv/kari-finn-microsoft-mvp-program/): Kari Finn, Manager of Microsoft MVP program joins Excel TV host Rick Grantham and cohosts Microsoft Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier... - [Intersection Operator with Named Ranges - Excel Tips and Tricks](https://excel.tv/intersection-operator-with-named-ranges-excel-tips-and-tricks/): Hello All! We all are aware that VLOOKUP allows us to find the intersecting value of ranges or lists. It... - [Inquire - Workbook Analysis in Excel](https://excel.tv/inquire-workbook-analysis/): Troubleshooting Excel workbooks of others can be mind-numbing, if not excruciating. There are various tools that VBA experts have developed... - [How to Change Comment Formatting - Excel VBA Coding Tips](https://excel.tv/how-to-change-comment-formatting-excel-vba-coding-tips/): Excel MVP Jordan is continuing the Excel VBA Coding tips. While coding comments play an important role. Comments explain what... - [Games in Excel and In Excel Training - Gamification with Spreadsheets](https://excel.tv/games-in-excel-and-in-excel-training-gamification-with-spreadsheets/): For all the gaming aficionados out there, this week’s topic will surely hit it out of the park. Together with... - [Excel File Naming Conventions - Name Style Rules](https://excel.tv/excel-file-naming-conventions-name-style-rules/): Naming your Excel files is something which doesn’t get any coverage of any of the Excel blogs out there. And... - [Command + T To Cycle Through Excel Cell References On A Mac](https://excel.tv/command-t-to-cycle-through-excel-cell-references-on-a-mac/): As frequent Excel users, we know the importance of absolute and relative references. On Windows operating system, one can use... - [Creating Random Data in Excel using RANDBETWEEN and CHOOSE](https://excel.tv/creating-random-data-in-excel-using-randbetween-and-choose/): Many times we are in need of random data. Suppose, if you are doing some tutorial on Excel formulas, then... - [Excel Prevent Buttons, Shapes and Objects from Resizing](https://excel.tv/excel-prevent-buttons-shapes-and-objects-from-resizing-excel-tricks/): Are you fond of using Dashboards in Excel? I know you would say “Yes” and why not everyone likes it.... - [Weird Things You Can Do In Excel](https://excel.tv/weird-things-you-can-do-in-excel/): Excel is a data analysis and visualization tool. But is this all there is to Excel? We will let our... - [Index Function In Excel To Move Columnar Lists To A Grid](https://excel.tv/index-function-in-excel-to-move-columnar-lists-to-a-grid/): Sometimes we have analyze or sort through data all of which is in a single column. The problem occurs when... - [Fonts That Make Bars Look Filled & Complete - Excel Challenges](https://excel.tv/fonts-that-make-bars-look-filled-complete-excel-challenges/): Hey folks! Welcome. Excel TV wishes you a very happy new year. Excel Author Jordan Goldmeier is ready with the... - [Auto Resizing an Excel Spreadsheet For Your Dashboard](https://excel.tv/auto-resizing-an-excel-spreadsheet-for-your-dashboard/): Do you know that Excel allows us to zoom to a specified area in your work sheet? Yes, you heard... - [How to Create Excel Training Courses with Mynda Treacy](https://excel.tv/how-to-create-excel-training-courses-with-mynda-treacy/): Microsoft Excel Video Course Diva and Excel MVP Mynda Treacy, who runs the successful online Excel Training program (at http://myonlinetraininghub.... - [How To Make Radio Buttons Larger With Excel VBA](https://excel.tv/how-to-make-radio-buttons-larger-with-excel-vba/): Microsoft Excel allows you to create the form with radio buttons, text boxes, check boxes and everything needs to complete... - [Change Text Color & Font In Excel - "How To" Tutorial](https://excel.tv/change-text-color-font-in-excel-how-to-tutorial/): Have you ever thought to change text color and font in Excel? Till now, we are only aware of how... - [What Function Helps You Determine Monthly Loan Payments - Excel Challenge](https://excel.tv/what-function-helps-you-determine-monthly-loan-payments-excel-challenge/): This time Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier comes up with the Financial functions in Excel. This proves that Excel is useful... - [Using Named Formulas In Excel - Like Yesterday()](https://excel.tv/using-named-formulas-in-excel-like-yesterday/): What if there is a way to define new formulas in Excel without using VBA? One would be very skeptical... - [Enlarging Form Control Option Buttons](https://excel.tv/enlarging-form-control-option-buttons/): In a previous tip, I had complained about form control option buttons. I had argued they suffer because you can’t... - [VLookup To The Left With The Choose Function – Excel Tips](https://excel.tv/vlookup-to-the-left-withthe-choose-function-excel-tips/): We all know that VLOOKUP works to the right (of the column with the lookup value). But what if we... - [Number Of Period Required To Pay Off Debt - Excel Finance Function Challenge](https://excel.tv/number-of-period-required-to-pay-off-debt-excel-finance-function-challenge/): Hundreds Of Millions Guess Wrong In our last episode, Jordan poses the question: Which Version of Excel has the Hall... - [Excel Programmers and IT Alliances - Excel Topics](https://excel.tv/excel-programmers-and-it-alliances-excel-topics/): Being Excel gurus in your offices or Excel consultants to many different companies, you are always assumed to be at... - [How To Run Macros In Protected Worksheets - Excel VBA Tips](https://excel.tv/how-to-run-macros-in-protected-worksheets-excel-vba-tips/): We know that human error often messes up complicated calculations or elegant models set up in Excel. For this reason,... - [How To Concatenate In Excel – Ampersand Shortcut](https://excel.tv/how-to-concatenate-in-excel-ampersand-shortcut/): Using Ampersand Formula In ExcelExcel MVP Jordan Goldmeier notes that although this quick tip if fairly straightforward, a lot of... - [Excel Chart Drop Down – Video Tutorial & Sample Download](https://excel.tv/excel-chart-drop-down/): There are times when there is a need to cut down on the available data to have a focused view... - [Factorials In Excel - How To Calculate](https://excel.tv/factorials-in-excel-how-to-calculate/): Have you ever tried to form a band but found it difficult to figure out what possible combinations could be... - [Convert Function In Excel - Video Tutorial](https://excel.tv/convert-function-in-excel/): There Are Advantages And Disadvantages To Using The Convert Function In Excel. This Video Tutorial Show How To Use The Function - [Role of Excel Users in Business - Excel Topic](https://excel.tv/role-of-excel-users-excel-topic/): The analytics landscape is changing at a fast pace in this ‘bring-your-own-tools’ world. The universe of data technologies has grown... - [DAX Function Name Different than Excel Name - Excel Challenge](https://excel.tv/dax-function-name-different-than-excel-name-excel-challenge/): We are fresh off the heels of our greatest Excel Challenge ever.  In the previous challenge we asked our viewers... - [Standard Deviation in Excel - Video Tutorial and Download](https://excel.tv/standard-deviation-in-excel-tutorial-and-download-excel-tips/): This doesn't have to be difficult. It doesn't have to be hard. No need to stick your head under the... - [What Have You Conquered with Excel - Excel Topics](https://excel.tv/what-have-you-conquered-with-excel-excel-topics-2/): Getting stuck with having to learn new software for complex problems affects all of us. But have you ever wondered... - [Cleaning Name Suffixes with Array Formulas](https://excel.tv/cleaning-name-suffixes-with-array-formulas/): Have you ever wondered how to sort lists using 2nd word in each cell? Sounds a bit tricky, doesn’t it?... - [Oz's Memories from PASS BAC 2015](https://excel.tv/ozs-memories-from-pass-bac-2015/): Before the memories of the PASS Business Analytics Conference 2015 completely fade away, I want to thank the people who... - [Cult Movie with 30 Year Anniversary - Excel Challenge](https://excel.tv/cult-movie-with-30-year-anniversary-excel-challenge/): In our last episode, Jordan asked... "Before they were called Excel Tables, what name did they go by? " There... - [PASS BA 2015 Excel.TV Presentations Preview](https://excel.tv/pass-ba-2015-excel-tv-presentations-preview/): 2015 PASS BA ConferenceThe PASS BA Conference will be held on April 20-22, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. PASS was... - [PASS BA Conference Primer with SQL Server MVP Denise McInerney](https://excel.tv/pass-ba-conference-primer-with-sql-server-mvp-denise-mcinerney/): About Denise Based out of Mount View, California.  Denise is a data architect for Intuit, you may be aware of... - [Spruce up you Color Palette in Excel - ColorBrewer - Excel Design Tips](https://excel.tv/spruce-up-you-color-palette-in-excel-colorbrewer-excel-design-tips/): Tired of the same old color palette in Excel? You know what I mean. Its either Excel Green, Word Blue... - [What Makes a Great Analyst? - Excel Gurus Discuss](https://excel.tv/what-makes-a-great-analyst-excel-gurus-discuss/): How Do You Solve Problems? What are the intangibles? Passion? Learning a foreign language? Being a retired football coach? In... - [Mr Excel's Logo Name? - Excel.TV Challenges](https://excel.tv/mr-excels-logo-name-excel-tv-challenges/): Hello All! Hope you all are doing well. Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier is back with the interesting Excel Challenge.  But... - [Play Sound with Excel VBA – .wav files in Excel Video Tutorial](https://excel.tv/wav-files-excel-play-wav-files-excel-toolbar-excel-tips/): Learn How To Play Sound With Excel VBA With This Video Tutorial. Includes Sample .wav Files For Download - [Excel News – Spreadsheet1, Kevin Lehrbass and Excel Books – Week ending 2015-01-30](https://excel.tv/excel-news-spreadsheet1-kevin-lehrbass-excel-books-week-ending-2015-01-30/): Excel. TV News & Articles We released our new website.  What do you think?  We are currently in the process... - [Conditional Formatting to Clean Your Spreadsheet - Excel Tips](https://excel.tv/conditional-formatting-clean-spreadsheet-excel-tips/): Nick Green of http://EchoXL. com shows you how he uses conditional formatting to create a clean looking worksheet for his... - [How to Excel VBA Import CSV: Quickly importing and working with CSV files (part 2)](https://excel.tv/how-to-excel-vba-import-csv/): This is part 2 in which I explain how I solved the problem. Make sure to read the previous blog... - [Mastering IF Statements for Efficient Data Analysis](https://excel.tv/mastering-if-statements-for-efficient-data-analysis/): In case you missed it, my new book, Advanced Excel Essentials, was released in early November. Many early readers have... - [Number of Worksheet Functions in Excel 2013 - 009 VBAExpress Forums Challenge](https://excel.tv/number-of-worksheet-functions-in-excel-2013-009-vbaexpress-forums-challenge/): Hello every one. Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier is here with VBA Express Weekly Challenge. Looks like you all will like... - [Zoom Size for Regions in Excel - 007 VBAExpress Forums Challenge](https://excel.tv/zoom-size-for-regions-in-excel-007-vbaexpress-forums-challenge/): Hello Excel TV Lovers! Excel MVP Jordan is here with us with new Excel TV Challenge. This is one more... - [Me vs Bill Jelen on the value of Option Explicit](https://excel.tv/me-vs-bill-jelen-on-the-value-of-option-explicit/): Watch me argue it out with the wise and venerable (but ultimately incorrect) Bill "Mr. Excel" Jelen on the topic... - [Excel Enable Grayed Out Form Controls - 004 VBAExpress Forums Challenge of the Week](https://excel.tv/excel-enable-grayed-out-form-controls-004-vbaexpress-forums-challenge-of-the-week/): Hey Guys! How are you doing? Welcome to Excel TV. Are you waiting for this week’s Excel Challenge? Yo! Excel... - [It’s time to say “Goodbye,” to Hungarian Notation](https://excel.tv/its-time-to-say-goodbye-to-hungarian-notation/): Most of us code using the Hungarian notation style when writing VBA code. Basically, that’s when you prefix an abbreviated... - [Effective means of display in Excel](https://excel.tv/effective-means-of-display-in-excel/): There are many great articles and tutorials on how to build interactive data displays in Excel. However, there are few... - [Excel Holiday Card](https://excel.tv/excel-holiday-card/): Wishing everyone a happy holiday and a terrific new year! Download file: Happy Holidays. xlsm - [100+ Best Excel Resources And Websites](https://excel.tv/excel-resources/): I went to ALL the Excel Discussion Groups on the internet and asked all the Excel Gurus, MVPs etc one... - [Miami Valley XL User Group](https://excel.tv/miami-valley-xl-user-group/): Based on the great reception Rob Collie has had in Cleveland, I am attempting to create an XL User Group... - [Creating a Spreadsheet-Based Wizard](https://excel.tv/creating-a-spreadsheet-based-wizard/): First of all, happy spreadsheet day! It was on this date today that VisiCalc was first shipped to the masses.... - [A Dynamically Linked Checkbox Matrix with Microsoft Excel](https://excel.tv/a-dynamically-linked-checkbox-matrix-with-microsoft-excel/): Edit: sorry for some of the squashed images you see in this and other posts. I’m still working on my... - [The two WORST Excel Errors EVER](https://excel.tv/the-two-worst-excel-errors-ever/): In my opinion, these are the two worst Excel errors ever: Code execution has been interrupted, and There was a... - [Excel Fortune Cookie (…in bed?)](https://excel.tv/excel-fortune-cookie-in-bed/): Here’s a fun little fortune cookie program. The fortunes are generated from a list of random words. I developed four... - [The Excel Lab: Soundex Search](https://excel.tv/the-excel-lab-soundex-search/): Every once in a while, I have a spreadsheet that sits in my ‘lab’ for way too long. At a... - [Directly link Excel form controls to backend data with dynamic references](https://excel.tv/directly-link-excel-form-controls-to-backend-data-with-dynamic-references/): Form controls are great for reporting information about groups of items, like a list of programs or accounts. They are... - [Handling Rollover Clicks Without Using the Worksheet_SelectionChange Event](https://excel.tv/handling-rollover-clicks-without-using-the-worksheet_selectionchange-event/): You probably noticed a "bug" while playing around with my Interactive Periodic Table of Elements in Excel. When you click... - [Interactive Periodic Table of Elements in Excel](https://excel.tv/interactive-periodic-table-of-elements-in-excel/): I've been on a real rollover kick lately. I'm really trying to figure out if it can be useful. Earlier today... - [How to: highlighting cells using the rollover technique in Excel](https://excel.tv/how-to-highlighting-cells-using-the-rollover-technique-in-excel/): In my last post I used my patented rollover technique to create an effect similar to the one shown below:Neat, huh?... - [Easy One-Way Sensitivity Analysis on Weighted Sum Models in Excel (Part 1)](https://excel.tv/easy-one-way-sensitivity-analysis-on-weighted-sum-models-in-excel-part-1/): This article describes what I like to call "Easy One Way Sensitivity Analysis" in Excel.  I've used it before in... - [Change the Font Size, Color, and Style of an Excel Form Control Label](https://excel.tv/change-the-font-size-color-and-style-of-an-excel-form-control-label/): Anyone who has used a Form Control Label likely knows its limitations: you can't increase the font-size, -color, or style.... - [Numbering Grouped Data for Pivot Tables](https://excel.tv/numbering-grouped-data-for-pivot-tables/): We've all had some experience with Excel's automatic numbering.  For example, if you have a simple list and you would... - [Truncating Long Text to Fit into Cells](https://excel.tv/truncating-long-text-to-fit-into-cells/): Have you had a list of names but found your cell width too small to show every name?  Take a... - [A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel (part 2)](https://excel.tv/a-dynamic-dashboard-for-project-durations-and-costs-in-excel-part-2/): In the last post, A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel, we talked about using VLOOKUP as means to... - [A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel](https://excel.tv/a-dynamic-dashboard-for-project-durations-and-costs-in-excel/): Make sure to checkout A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel (part 2) for the example file! Let’s say... - [Toward a Proper Excel Filename Style](https://excel.tv/toward-a-proper-excel-filename-style/): Most importantly, use your wordsAn ideal Excel filename should be two or three succinct words and contain few numbers. Current... - [One Size Fits All Excel Dashboard](https://excel.tv/one-size-fits-all/): Anyone who has a made a dashboard in Excel before has probably experienced this problem: a dashboard that fits nicely... - [How to Create a Rollover Effect in Excel: Execute a Macro When Your Mouse is over a Cell](https://excel.tv/how-to-create-a-rollover-effect-in-excel-execute-a-macro-when-your-mouse-is-over-a-cell/): "Rollover B8 OV1" (like Rollover Beethoven... ? get it? )Update 17 July 2011: This blog entry was featured in Chandoo's... --- # Detailed Content ## Pages ### Best Excel Courses on Udemy (2025) - Published: 2025-01-06 - Modified: 2025-01-25 - URL: https://excel.tv/best-excel-courses-udemy/ Exploring the vast array of Excel courses available on Udemy revealed just how significant Excel’s role is in today’s workplace. This platform hosts courses that range from beginner levels to advanced data analysis, offering me an opportunity to enhance my spreadsheet skills efficiently.  Finding the right course could save both time and resources while providing practical skills applicable to real-world tasks. As I scrolled through the options, I noticed courses led by experienced instructors, ensuring quality learning experiences. Whether you're looking to master basic functions or tackle advanced features like pivot tables and VBA, the courses cover everything I need to excel, pun fully intended. Discovering the best courses can unlock new capabilities in managing and analyzing data effectively. Best Excel Courses: Udemy Top Picks Understanding Excel Skills in the Age of GPTs and LLMs https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=oB1ZaBLHmxk Despite the rapid advancements in AI, including GPTs (Generative Pre-trained Transformers) and large language models (LLMs), Excel skills remain indispensable in today’s workplace. While AI tools can assist with generating insights or automating repetitive tasks, the ability to manage, analyze, and present data effectively through Excel is a foundational skill that underpins many AI-driven processes. Why Excel Skills Are Still Essential Even with the advent of AI, Excel provides a unique combination of control, customization, and flexibility that automated tools cannot fully replicate. Excel enables professionals to: Organize and Analyze Data: Excel is the go-to tool for creating tailored reports, performing complex calculations, and managing data in ways that AI tools may not intuitively address. Build Custom Solutions: Using formulas, functions, and macros, Excel empowers users to create highly specific workflows and processes that integrate seamlessly with AI outputs. Maintain Data Accuracy and Auditability: Unlike AI models, which may generate errors or hallucinations, Excel offers a transparent framework for validating and cross-checking data inputs and outputs. In essence, Excel acts as both the foundation for effective data management and the platform for refining AI-generated insights into actionable reports and strategies. Common Applications of Excel in an AI-Driven World Excel complements AI technologies in many fields by bridging the gap between raw data and decision-making: Budgeting and Forecasting: Excel’s formulas, pivot tables, and data visualization tools help refine AI-generated forecasts into clear, actionable plans. Sales and Marketing Analysis: Excel organizes large datasets into digestible dashboards, supporting AI-driven recommendations with detailed trends and performance tracking. Project Management: While AI tools can suggest project schedules, Excel remains indispensable for real-time resource tracking, progress monitoring, and creating tailored visual dashboards. Education and Research: In academic settings, Excel helps structure data for research analysis and grading systems, often serving as a reliable intermediary for AI-processed data. Why Excel Complements AI, Not Competes with It AI can generate suggestions, but Excel enables professionals to validate, customize, and act on those outputs. By mastering Excel, you gain the skills to leverage AI tools more effectively, turning raw machine-generated insights into polished, actionable results. In the modern workplace, Excel isn’t just a tool—it’s the essential framework that powers informed decision-making in an increasingly AI-driven world. Excel skills ensure you stay in control, even as technology evolves. Read more, How to Use ChatGPT with Excel. How to Evaluate Udemy Course Content https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=dUSwrHSYw0U When looking at Excel courses. A comprehensive course should cover both basic and advanced features, such as Excel formulas, PivotTables, and VBA for automation. Courses that might be particularly useful typically break down complex topics into manageable segments with clear learning outcomes. A thorough course often includes hands-on projects or case studies. These help reinforce the material and provide practical experience. I appreciate courses that offer a well-structured syllabus that you can view before enrolling. Clear organization and detailed outlines are a plus for understanding what you'll learn. Instructor Qualifications The expertise of the instructor greatly impacts the quality of the course. I look for instructors with relevant professional experience and teaching certifications. Instructors who have worked in roles that heavily use Excel, like data analysis or finance, tend to bring invaluable real-world insights to their teaching. In many cases, top courses are led by individuals who have developed other successful courses or have taught at reputable organizations. Checking their profiles can reveal their teaching style and expertise. I also value instructors who are responsive and engage with students through Q&A sections as it shows commitment to student success. Student Reviews and Ratings Reading student reviews and rating scores is crucial for getting a feel of the course's actual effectiveness. I consider courses with high ratings and positive feedback on practical applicability as winning choices. It's helpful to scan for comments about whether the course met expectations and was worth the investment. I also look for feedback mentioning updates or enhancements to the course, which indicate ongoing instructor involvement and a commitment to quality. Reviews often reveal insights about the difficulty level and any areas where the course might lack depth. This first-hand feedback is invaluable in making the right choice. Frequently Asked Questions https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=G-_EcHrYhv4 I've compiled some of the most common questions around the best Excel courses on Udemy to help you decide which course might be right for you. Whether you're just starting out or you want to refine advanced skills, there's a suitable course available. What are the comprehensive excel courses for beginners on Udemy? For beginners, "Excel Essentials: The Complete Excel Series - Level 1, 2 & 3" is a popular choice. It covers the basics and gradually introduces more complex topics. This course provides a solid foundation in Excel, making it ideal for new learners. Which Udemy courses are best for advanced Excel skills? For advanced skills, "Data Modeling in Excel Masterclass: Excel Formulas" is excellent. It goes deep into formulas and techniques. "Excel Xtreme Pivot Tables" is another great option for mastering data analysis features like pivot tables. How long does it typically take to master Excel through an Udemy course? The time it takes varies depending on the course and your pace. For example, some courses like "Excel Essentials" take approximately 7 total hours to complete. It's important to practice regularly to fully grasp the concepts and features. Are there any free Excel courses on Udemy that offer certificates upon completion? While many Udemy courses are paid, there are a few free ones. However, these free courses often do not include a certificate upon completion. For certification, consider paid courses which usually offer certificates that can be added to a LinkedIn profile or resume. What is the value of Excel certification from Udemy in the job market? Excel certifications from Udemy can boost your resume by demonstrating a commitment to improving your skills. It's recognized by many employers, though its impact can depend on the industry and the level of Excel proficiency required for the job. What are the latest Excel courses on Udemy that include Power Query? "Introduction to Excel Power Query" is a course that focuses on using Power Query for data analysis and transformation. This course helps in learning how to handle large data sets and automate tasks within Excel using Power Query. --- ### Best Excel Courses (2025) - Published: 2024-11-20 - Modified: 2025-01-25 - URL: https://excel.tv/best-excel-courses/ Excel isn't just a spreadsheet tool; it's the Swiss Army knife of data analysis, financial modeling, and daily business tasks. Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your skills, the right training can transform how you work. In this guide, we've curated top-tier Excel courses to help you find the perfect match for your learning journey. Best Excel Course Providers at a Glance Course ProviderBest ForPriceReviewXelPlusPower BI, analytics$$$Read reviewExcel CampusVBA, automation$$Read reviewMiss ExcelBeginners, creatives$$$Read reviewExcel UniversityAccountants, CPAs$$Read reviewExcel. TV AcademyAdvanced users$$$Read review Choosing the right Excel course is all about matching it to your skill level, career ambitions, and how you like to learn. The table below offers a handy overview of the top choices, but be sure to scroll down for detailed reviews to help you pick the course that’s just right for you. In-depth Excel Course Reviews We’ve dug into each course to spotlight its strengths, key focus areas, and standout features. Use the jump menu above to dive straight into the details of the course that catches your eye. XelPlus Review Excel Campus Review Miss Excel Review Excel University Review Excel. TV Academy Review Who Should Take These Courses? These Excel courses cater to a wide range of learners: Beginners: Start from scratch with accessible and engaging lessons. Advanced Users: Dive deep into VBA, automation, Power Query, and Power BI. Finance Professionals: Gain industry-specific Excel skills for accounting and data analysis. Business Users: Get certified and boost your career prospects. --- ### Contact - Published: 2023-08-07 - Modified: 2025-01-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/contact/ We’re here to help At Excel. TV, we value your feedback, questions, and suggestions, and we’re committed to providing you with the support you need. Whether you have a query about our courses, need assistance with a technical issue, or simply want to share your thoughts on our content, we’d love to hear from you. Excel. TV2544 Douglas Rd #201Burnaby, BC V5C 5B4Canada support@excel. tv (604) 330-4563 Send us a message #ShareASale --- ### Home > Discover Excel.TV, the ultimate resource for Excel professionals and enthusiasts. Access expert tutorials, online courses, and tools to master Excel reporting and more. - Published: 2023-07-24 - Modified: 2025-01-25 - URL: https://excel.tv/ Excel at Excel Master Microsoft Excel and elevate your career with a trusted resource for analysts, data enthusiasts, and professionals worldwide. At Excel. TV, we’re more than a learning platform—we’re a community of Excel experts and learners dedicated to solving real-world problems, improving workflows, and unlocking your potential. From free tips and expert interviews to advanced courses, we provide the tools and knowledge you need to excel. Read Excel Course Reviews Join thousands of professionals who trust Excel. TV to level up their Excel game and advance their careers. Rick Grantham, CBIPFounder at Excel. TV Latest Posts Stay Ahead with Our Latest Blog Articles Dive into our latest articles to master Excel, explore cutting-edge analytics, and stay informed on the newest trends in data analysis. Whether you're looking for quick tips, advanced tutorials, or career advice, our blog is packed with resources to help you succeed. Lorem ipsum amet elit morbi dolor tortor. Expert Reviews Excel mastery starts with the right tools and resources. Our reviews section is your trusted guide to navigating the best courses, books, tools, and accessories tailored for Excel users. Backed by insights from industry professionals and our expert community, we help you make informed decisions to enhance your skills and productivity. From top-rated training programs to must-have tools, every recommendation is curated to address real-world challenges and empower your Excel journey. Whether you're seeking to streamline workflows, dive into advanced analytics, or simply find the right tools to boost efficiency, Excel. TV has you covered. Recent ReviewsExcel Tips and Tricks Discover a wealth of Excel knowledge and inspiration with the Excel. TV blog! Whether you're a beginner looking to sharpen your skills or a seasoned pro aiming to stay ahead of the curve, our blog offers a rich variety of content tailored to your needs. Dive into expert tips, advanced techniques, and insights that cover everything from --- ### Free Guide: 24 Proven Microsoft Excel Tips - Published: 2023-05-08 - Modified: 2024-12-22 - URL: https://excel.tv/p/guide-24-microsoft-excel-tips/ Free Guide: 24 Proven Microsoft Excel Tips Spending too much time navigating Excel? This free guide is designed to help professionals and students save hours on reporting, improve accuracy, and use Excel like a pro. From simple shortcuts to powerful functions, these 24 tips will transform how you use Excel. Inside the free guide,Master PivotTables Create PivotTables to quickly summarize and analyze data. Named ranges simplify formulas, making them easier to manage and understand. Avoid Mistakes Data Validation prevents input errors, while IFERROR ensures calculation issues are handled smoothly. Deliver Better Results Business Professionals Simplify data analysis and improve accuracy in your reports. Students Enhance your academic projects with polished and professional spreadsheets. Managers & Team Leaders Standardize workflows and improve collaboration within teams. Excel Isn’t Just a Tool—It’s the Key to Getting Ahead Whether you’re managing data, creating reports, or analyzing trends, Excel skills are essential for staying competitive. In fact, 78% of middle-skilled jobs require Excel expertise, and mastering its features can: Save you hours of work each week. Help you create error-free reports with confidence. Make you the go-to person in your office for problem-solving. If you’re tired of struggling through spreadsheets, this free guide gives you the tools to take control. --- ### Promo - Published: 2023-05-08 - Modified: 2025-01-04 - URL: https://excel.tv/p/ --- ### About Us - Published: 2019-03-31 - Modified: 2024-11-21 - URL: https://excel.tv/about/ About Excel. TV Excel Together At Excel. TV, we believe in growing together, helping professionals like you save time, build skills, and achieve career goals in analytics, business intelligence, and data science. With free expert content, practical tips, and courses covering everything from Pivot Tables to Data Science, we’re here to support your journey—because together, we can Excel. I bring a passion for analytics and data that spans over two decades. Everything from financial modeling to the use of Excel for Operations Research optimization models. Rick Grantham, CBIPFounder at Excel. TV Our Journey Excel. TV began in 2014 as an ambitious idea by Rick Grantham and Jordan Goldmeier, who connected over LinkedIn with a shared vision to create a platform for Excel users. Starting as a web series featuring unconventional insights and expert interviews, the show quickly gained traction, bringing together voices like Chandoo, Mynda Treacy, and Bill Jelen. The founders sought to make learning Excel engaging, with Jordan envisioning a blend of entertainment and education akin to NPR’s "Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me. " Alongside their early collaborator Oz du Soleil, the team produced over 45 episodes across three seasons, establishing Excel. TV as a unique voice in the Excel and data community. Over the years, Excel. TV evolved into a comprehensive knowledge hub for data analysts. Beyond their popular web series, they developed five targeted courses, including their flagship program, Excel Dashboard Pro, based on Jordan’s acclaimed Free content that goes above and beyond Excel as a tool Training, both online and onsite Consulting, both remote and onsite Career coaching, from resume help to interview tips At the end of the day, we’re professionals just like you. Be a part of our dynamic community of experts. Check out a free webinar, sign up for one of our courses, or just explore our blog. Thanks, and welcome to Excel TV. Rick Grantham, CBIP – Founder at Excel. TV --- ### Terms and Conditions of Use - Published: 2013-03-11 - Modified: 2023-05-08 - URL: https://excel.tv/terms-and-conditions/ CRG Media Ltd. Terms and Conditions of Use These Terms and Conditions of Use (“Terms”) shall apply to CRG Media Ltd. Including all of its subsidiaries and affiliates including, but not limited to, CRG Media LTD. dba “Excel. TV” (collectively “CRG Companies”). 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Key Differences for Financial Modeling and Data Analysis > Many people ask me questions like "Is Google Sheets the same as Excel?" and I am going to answer that in this article. - Published: 2025-01-31 - Modified: 2025-01-29 - URL: https://excel.tv/is-google-sheets-the-same-as-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks As a financial analyst and Excel expert, I've spent countless hours working with both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. Many people have asked me questions like "Is Google Sheets the same as Excel? " While Google Sheets and Excel share many similarities, they are not the same and have key differences that can impact your work. Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet tool that's part of Google Workspace. It shines in collaboration and real-time editing. Excel, on the other hand, is Microsoft's powerhouse spreadsheet software, known for its robust data analysis capabilities and advanced functions. For most everyday tasks, Google Sheets can handle what Excel does. But when it comes to complex functions and large datasets, Excel often performs better. The choice between them depends on your specific needs, budget, and work environment. Key Takeaways Google Sheets excels in collaboration, while Excel offers more advanced data analysis tools Excel handles larger datasets more efficiently, but Google Sheets is free and accessible from any device Both platforms have unique strengths, and the best choice depends on your specific needs and workflow Understanding Spreadsheets: Excel and Google Sheets Fundamentals As a seasoned financial analyst and data scientist, I've worked extensively with both Excel and Google Sheets. These powerful tools form the backbone of modern data analysis and financial modeling. Let's dive into their core functionalities and key differences. Core Functionalities in Spreadsheet Tools Excel and Google Sheets share many essential features. Both offer: Cell-based data entry and manipulation Formula creation for calculations Data sorting and filtering Chart and graph generation Pivot tables for data summarization I often use INDEX-MATCH or Real-time collaboration in Google Sheets is seamless. I can see my team's cursors moving and cells updating live. This is invaluable during financial modeling sessions or when we're crunching numbers for quarterly reports. Excel Online now offers similar functionality. However, I find it's not quite as smooth as Google Sheets. There can be slight delays in updates, which can be crucial when working on time-sensitive financial data. Both platforms allow comments and suggestions. I use these features extensively for peer reviews of financial models. It's much more efficient than emailing spreadsheets back and forth. One area where Excel still has an edge is in advanced features. When I'm building complex financial models, I sometimes need Excel's more powerful tools. But for day-to-day collaboration, I often lean towards Google Sheets for its ease of use. Data Analysis and Advanced Capabilities Excel and Google Sheets offer powerful tools for data analysis, but they differ in their advanced capabilities. I'll explore how these platforms handle complex analytical tasks and financial modeling. Pivot Tables and Advanced Data Analysis Tools Excel's pivot tables are more robust and feature-rich than those in Google Sheets. I can create multi-level pivot tables in Excel with ease, applying complex filters and calculations. Excel's Power Pivot add-in takes data analysis to the next level, allowing me to work with millions of rows and create complex data models. Google Sheets has improved its pivot table functionality, but it still lags behind Excel. I find Google Sheets adequate for basic pivot operations, but it struggles with large datasets and complex aggregations. Excel's What-If Analysis tools are unmatched, letting me perform scenario and sensitivity analyses quickly. These features are invaluable for financial modeling and decision-making under uncertainty. Financial Modeling and Statistical Analysis Techniques For serious financial modeling, I always turn to Excel. Its robust formula library and advanced statistical functions make it ideal for complex financial calculations. I can easily perform regression analyses, time series forecasting, and Monte Carlo simulations in Excel. Google Sheets offers basic financial functions, but it lacks the depth needed for sophisticated modeling. I find its statistical toolset limited compared to Excel's comprehensive offering. Excel's ability to integrate with external data sources and BI tools enhances its analytical power. This integration is crucial when I'm working on large-scale financial models that require real-time data updates. Automation and Efficiency Automation and efficiency are key differentiators between Google Sheets and Excel. I'll explore how each platform leverages macros, scripting, and advanced formulas to streamline workflows and enhance productivity. Macros and Google Apps Script for Workflow Automation In Excel, I rely heavily on Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to create powerful macros. These automate repetitive tasks, saving hours of manual work. For instance, I've built macros that automatically format financial reports and update data connections with a single click. Google Sheets uses Google Apps Script, which is based on JavaScript. While it has a steeper learning curve than VBA, I find it incredibly versatile. I can create custom functions, build add-ons, and even integrate with other Google services. One advantage of Google Apps Script is its cloud-based nature. I can trigger scripts to run on a schedule, even when I'm not actively using the spreadsheet. This is perfect for automating daily data imports or sending automated financial updates to my team. Utilizing Advanced Formulas and Functions Both platforms offer a wide array of formulas and functions, but Excel edges out in sheer quantity and complexity. I frequently use Excel's data analysis features for financial modeling and advanced statistical calculations. Google Sheets has been catching up, though. Its QUERY function is a game-changer for data analysis. With a single formula, I can perform complex data manipulations that would require multiple steps in Excel. Excel's Power Query is unmatched for data transformation tasks. I use it to clean and reshape large datasets before analysis. Google Sheets lacks a direct equivalent, but its IMPORTRANGE function allows me to pull data from multiple sheets, which is useful for consolidating financial data across departments. Visualization and Reporting Excel and Google Sheets offer Google Workspace ecosystem, which I find invaluable for team projects. I can easily share Sheets files with my project managers and have them update data in real-time. The ability to collaborate on financial models simultaneously is a game-changer for remote teams. Excel has made strides with Microsoft 365, but I find its cloud features less intuitive. However, for enterprise-level data analysis, Excel's Power BI integration is unmatched. I use it regularly for creating interactive dashboards from large datasets. Accessibility and User Experience Google Sheets and Excel offer distinct approaches to accessibility and user experience. I'll break down key differences in design, performance, and security that impact how users interact with these tools. User-Friendly Design and Learning Curve Considerations Google Sheets boasts a simpler, more intuitive interface compared to Excel. I find its clean layout reduces the learning curve for new users. Excel's interface is more complex, with a wealth of advanced features that can overwhelm beginners. For experienced Excel users, the transition to Google Sheets is usually smooth. However, power users may miss some of Excel's advanced capabilities. Both platforms offer helpful free for individuals, making it an attractive option for those on tight budgets. However, I caution against basing decisions solely on upfront costs. Excel's advanced features can potentially save time and improve accuracy, leading to long-term savings. I've seen freelancers boost productivity by 20% using Excel's macros and data analysis tools. Here's a quick comparison: Google Sheets: $0 for basic use Excel: $8+ per month or $160+ one-time purchase I advise small businesses to consider their growth trajectory. While Google Sheets may suffice initially, Excel often becomes necessary as data needs expand. Licensing and Subscription Models I find that licensing models greatly impact long-term costs. Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) offers Sheets as part of its bundle, starting at $6 per user monthly. This can be cost-effective for businesses already using Google's ecosystem. Excel's pricing is more complex: Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6/user/month Microsoft 365 Apps for Business: $8. 25/user/month One-time purchase: $159. 99 for Excel only I recommend businesses project their needs over 3-5 years. While subscription models offer flexibility, one-time purchases can be more economical for stable teams. For larger organizations, I suggest negotiating enterprise agreements. I've seen companies save up to 30% through volume licensing with Microsoft. Frequently Asked Questions Google Sheets and Excel have distinct strengths and limitations in data analysis, functionality, and financial modeling. I'll explore key differences in capabilities, exclusive features, collaboration tools, and cost implications. What are the key differences in data analysis capabilities between Google Sheets and Excel? Excel offers more advanced data analysis tools. I find its Power Query and Power Pivot features especially useful for handling large datasets. Google Sheets has simpler data manipulation options, but excels in real-time collaboration and cloud-based accessibility. Which functions are exclusive to Excel that are absent in Google Sheets? Excel has several unique functions for complex financial modeling. I rely on its Data Tables, Goal Seek, and Solver tools for scenario analysis. Google Sheets lacks these advanced features, which can limit its use for intricate financial calculations. How do the collaboration features in Google Sheets compare with those available in Excel? Google Sheets shines in real-time collaboration. I find its simultaneous editing and commenting features superior to Excel's. Excel has improved its collaboration tools, but Google Sheets still leads in this area, especially for remote teams. What limitations exist when using Google Sheets as opposed to Excel for complex financial modeling? Google Sheets has limitations for complex financial models. I've noticed it struggles with large datasets and lacks some advanced functions. Excel's VBA macros and Power Query allow for more sophisticated modeling, making it my preference for intricate financial analysis. Can you perform the same level of advanced analytics with Google Sheets as you can with Excel, and if not, why? Excel outperforms Google Sheets in advanced analytics. I use Excel's Data Analysis ToolPak for regression analysis and forecasting. Google Sheets has basic statistical functions but lacks the depth needed for complex predictive modeling and time series analysis. What are the financial implications of choosing Google Sheets over Excel in terms of software cost and productivity? Google Sheets is more cost-effective for small teams. It's free for individual use and affordable for businesses. Excel can be pricier, especially for larger organizations. However, I find Excel's advanced features can boost productivity for complex tasks, potentially offsetting its higher cost in some scenarios. --- ### The 9 Best Keyboards for Excel (2025) - Published: 2025-01-14 - Modified: 2025-01-14 - URL: https://excel.tv/best-keyboard-excel/ - Categories: Excel Gifts Keyboards are essential tools for office work. This is especially true for data entry and spreadsheet management. Excel users often spend long hours typing numbers and formulas. A good keyboard is crucial for their productivity and comfort. The right keyboard can speed up work, reduce errors, and prevent strain on hands and wrists. For Excel work, a keyboard with a full number pad is a must. This feature allows for quick entry of numerical data without moving your hands from the main typing area. Some keyboards also offer programmable keys. These keys can be set up for common Excel functions, saving time on repetitive tasks. When picking a keyboard for Excel, pay attention to key travel, tactile feedback, and ergonomics. These factors affect typing speed and comfort during long work sessions. We tested several keyboards to find the best options for Excel users. Our focus was on efficiency and ease of use. Our Buying Guide Criteria Choosing the best keyboard for Excel can boost your productivity. We'll cover key factors to consider when shopping for one. Remember to check user reviews for real-world experiences with Excel use. This can give you valuable insights beyond product specs. Best Keyboards for Excel We've researched and tested many keyboards to find the top options for Excel users. Our list includes keyboards with features that make spreadsheet work faster and easier. These keyboards offer the best mix of comfort, efficiency, and Excel-specific functions. Choosing the right keyboard can make a significant difference in your productivity and efficiency when working with Excel. Whether you prioritize tactile feedback, ergonomic design, or customizable shortcuts, the options listed above cater to a variety of preferences and budgets. By investing in a keyboard tailored to your workflow, you'll not only improve your comfort but also streamline your Excel tasks. Bonus: Must-Haves for Every Excel/Finance Pro Now that we’ve covered the top keyboards for Excel enthusiasts, it’s time to take your Excel game even further with some exciting extras! In this BONUS section, we’ll explore accessories designed to complement your keyboard and boost your productivity. From handy shortcut guides to innovative tech that enhances your workflow, these recommendations will help you work smarter, not harder. Get ready to unlock the full potential of Excel with these additional resources tailored for power users and beginners alike! 1. Excel Shortcuts Mouse Pad This one's our favorite! This Check out the Price on Amazon2. LVNTA Adjustable Laptop Stand Keep your workspace organized and ergonomic with the LVNTA Adjustable Laptop Stand. Its sturdy design and adjustable angles make it perfect for long sessions of data analysis, helping you maintain better posture and reducing neck strain. Why You Need It: Elevates your laptop for improved ergonomics Enhances airflow for device cooling Compact and portable for any desk setup Check out the Price on Amazon3. PowerBear 13-in-1 Docking Station The PowerBear 13-in-1 Docking Station is a productivity powerhouse for finance and Excel pros. With 5 USB ports, 4K HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, and even wireless charging, this multiport adapter ensures all your devices are seamlessly connected, letting you focus on your work without interruptions. Why You Need It: Expand connectivity with 13 versatile ports Supports 4K UHD for dual-screen setups Includes wireless charging for devices This all-in-one hub is perfect for professionals who juggle multiple devices and need a clean, organized workspace with maximum efficiency. Check out the Price on AmazonShare Our List! Frequently Asked Questions Choosing the right keyboard for Excel can boost productivity and comfort. Let's address some common questions about keyboards for Excel users. What features should I look for in a keyboard for financial modeling in Excel? We recommend keyboards with a full number pad for quick data entry. Programmable macro keys can help automate repetitive tasks. Also, look for comfortable, responsive keys to reduce fatigue during long Excel sessions. Which keyboards are preferred by professionals for extensive Excel use? Many Excel pros favor ergonomic keyboards to prevent strain. The Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic and Logitech Ergo K860 are popular choices. These models offer good wrist support and efficient key layouts for number-heavy work. Are mechanical keyboards suitable for everyday office work, including Excel? Mechanical keyboards can be great for Excel work. They offer tactile feedback and durability. Some users find them more comfortable for long typing sessions. Just be mindful of noise levels in shared office spaces. Can gaming keyboards be effective for Excel tasks, and what advantages do they offer? Gaming keyboards can work well for Excel. They often have customizable keys for macros. Many gaming keyboards also have fast response times and durable builds. These features can speed up Excel workflows and handle heavy use. What advantages do Logitech MX series keyboards provide for Excel users? Logitech MX keyboards offer multi-device connectivity. This lets users switch between computers easily. They have comfortable keys and customizable functions. Some models have a low-profile design that many find comfortable for long Excel sessions. How does keyboard size impact productivity in Excel? Keyboard size can affect Excel productivity in several ways. Full-size keyboards include number pads, which speed up data entry. Compact keyboards save desk space but may lack dedicated number keys. Consider your workspace and how often you input numbers when choosing a size. --- ### Excel VBA: Disable Pop up Messages (Remove Auto Syntax Popup) - Published: 2025-01-09 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-vba-disable-pop-up-messages/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video We all love Excel and looks like there is no need any introduction for what is Visual Basic programming. As we all know VB programming allows us to automate tasks and we can do a lot more in Excel with it. But, have you observed the pop-up shown when you make any syntax error while doing Visual Basic programming? It somewhat made us feel comfortable and most of us do not like it. If you are one among them and want to remove auto syntax popup in Visual Basic programming, then Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier unfolds the tip showing to remove auto syntax popup. How-to Disable Pop up Messages in Excel VBA In order to open Visual Basic Editor, you need to have ‘Developer’ tab enabled in your Spreadsheet. So, let us see how to enable ‘Developer’ tab and other steps to remove auto syntax popup. 1 – Enable Developer Tab Once you open the Excel Spreadsheet, click on ‘File’ and select ‘Options’. In ‘Excel Options’ dialog box, click on ‘Customize Ribbon’ on the left side. Check the option ‘Developer’ on the right side and click ‘Ok’. This would show the ‘Developer’ tab in your Excel Spreadsheet. 2 – Open the Visual Basic Editor To open Visual Basic editor, click on ‘Visual Basic’ icon under ‘Developer’ tab. This would open the ‘Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications’ window where you can start writing the Visual Basic programs. 3 – Auto Syntax Popup When you make any syntax error, then it would show the dialog box with ‘Compile error:’ message. It also shows the line with syntax error with the red color. Actually, whenever you hit enter, it would auto check the syntax and if there is any error it throws the pop up as shown. 4 - Remove Auto Syntax Popup If you do not want to have the auto syntax checks and wants to remove auto syntax popup, then click on ‘Tools’ and then click on ‘Options’ Now, in ‘Options’ dialog box, uncheck the option ‘Auto Syntax Check’ and click on “Ok” button.   From now on, when there is any syntax error, then it would be shown in red colored syntax and there would be no more auto syntax popup. What’s next? Jordan has introduced us the very good and useful tip. Give it a try and let us know your opinion or suggestion on it. If you have anything to add, please do share with us through comments. --- ### How-to Turn Off Cell Background Error Checking with VBA or without VBA - Published: 2025-01-09 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/turn-off-cell-background-error-checking-with-vba/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Tags: optionexplicitvba When I'm all done with my Excel application, I'll usually want to flip off background error checking - that is, I'll tell Excel to stop showing those little green triangles that appear in cells. Why Disable Error Checking? For a polished, professional workbook, those green triangles can detract from the clean look you’re going for. By disabling error checking, you can prevent Excel from unnecessarily second-guessing your work. Don't get me wrong, those little green alerts can be useful - but they are rarely so in a finished product where I know my layout and formulas are correct. I just want to tell Excel, "thanks for the help, but stop annoying me already! " Indeed, these green alerts appeared on other computer screens when users opened my Periodic Table of elements file, which I found annoying. How-to Turn Off Cell Background Error Checking with VBA Excel VBA Code to Ignore Error in Cell The problem is that while I can tell those green triangles to go away on my instance Excel by going into Excel Options (or simply by clicking "ignore"), that won't fix the problem when my file is loaded onto other computers. The way around this is some VBA and the workbook open and close events.   So, in my ThisWorkbook object in the VBA window, I wrote this: Option Explicit Private Sub Workbook_Open     Application. ErrorCheckingOptions. BackgroundChecking = False End Sub Private Sub Workbook_BeforeClose(Cancel As Boolean)     Application. ErrorCheckingOptions. BackgroundChecking = True End Sub There are actually several types of background error checking that go on in a workbook. How to Disable Error Checking in Excel with VBA Excel allows you to disable these separate error checks by themselves if don't want to disable everything. Specifically, you can modify background checking options for empty cell references, error calculations, inconsistent formulas, and omitted cells, among others. For example, you might simply write: Application. ErrorCheckingOptions. OmittedCells = False If you only want Excel to stop monitoring for formula patterns that appear to omit cells that Excel thinks should be included in the formula. This will work so long as BackgroundChecking is still True. If you set BackgroundChecking to False like in the example above, Excel will cease all attempts to second guess your work (which can make your life easier, sometimes).   To read more, see: The ErrorCheckingOptions Object How to Disable Error Checking in Excel Without VBA Excel’s green error triangles can be helpful when catching mistakes, but they often feel more like an annoyance—especially when you’re confident your formulas and layout are correct. Fortunately, you can disable error checking without resorting to VBA. Here’s how to do it. Turn Off Error Checking the Easy Way 1 – Open Excel Options The first step is to access the settings that control error checking: Go to the File tab. Click Options to open the Excel Options dialog box. 2 – Navigate to Error Checking Settings In the Excel Options window, select Formulas from the menu on the left. Scroll down to the Error Checking section. 3 – Disable Background Error Checking Uncheck the box for Enable background error checking. This will stop Excel from displaying those pesky green triangles across all cells in the workbook. Bonus: Disable Specific Error Types If you don’t want to turn off all error checking, you can disable specific types instead: Stay in the Formulas section of Excel Options. Click the Error Checking Rules button. Uncheck the rules you want to disable (e. g. , "Formulas that omit cells in a region" or "Inconsistent calculated column formula in tables"). This way, Excel will still alert you to critical issues while ignoring the less relevant ones. No VBA needed—just a few clicks, and you're good to go. If you change your mind, you can always re-enable error checking by following the same steps. Happy Excel-ing! --- ### Data Parsing in Excel Using LEN and SUBSTITUTE function - Published: 2025-01-09 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/data-parsing-in-excel-using-len-and-substitute-function-hot-tips/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video Analyzing and parsing data in Excel is really a tedious task. If it is not done smartly, then we end up in doing lot of mess. For example, say you have list of email addresses in Excel and you want to extract the extensions of those email addresses. Most of us think of using Text to Columns option and if we proceed using that, then it creates lot of mess. But, Excel expert Oz has a different approach to make it easy for us. Data Parsing in Excel Using LEN and SUBSTITUTE Functions Excel MVP Oz explained us the easy way to extract extensions of emails addresses is by using the technique of data parsing using LEN and SUBSTITUTE functions. Let us see, how it can be done step by step. 1 – Finding the Number of Periods As we all know, LEN is used to count the number of characters in a cell and SUBSTITUTE is used to substitute the occurrence of a specific text with the other text you pass to the function as per following syntax, SUBSTITUTE (text, old_text, new_text, ) Text - Text where the substitution should take place old_text - Text which needs to be replaced new_text - Text which needs to be placed in the place of old_text - It is optional. If specified, that instance of old_text will be replaced. If not specified, all occurrences of old_text will be replaced To find the number of periods present in email addresses, select the cell B2 and use the formula =LEN(A2)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE (A2,". ","")) and hit enter. Now, you can see the number of periods present in email addresses. Value in cell ‘B2’ specifies the position of last occurrence of period. 2 – Substitute the last occurrence of period (. ) with “^” In this step, we try to substitute the last occurrence of period (. ) with “^”. This is also done using the SUBSTITUTE , but this time we need to specify the last occurrence (Value in ‘B2’) of period to get it substituted. Now, select the cell D2, paste the formula =SUBSTITUTE(A2,". ","^",B2) and hit enter. You can see the formatted text in D2 and drag below to get below cells filled in the same manner. 3 – Find the Position of character “^” In this step, we will use the FIND to find the position of the character “^” which we used to substitute period in the previous step. So, select ‘E2’ and use the formula =FIND("^",D2) and hit enter. This would give the position of “^” for the text present in column ‘D’. 4 – Extract the extension This is the final step of extracting the extensions from the email addresses. We use RIGHT here which meets our requirement. RIGHT Syntax, RIGHT (Text, ) Text - string containing the text from which you want to extract the characters num_chars - Optional. Specifies the number of characters you want to extract from text from the right end. Select cell ‘F2’, use the formula =RIGHT(D2,LEN(D2)-E2) and hit enter. You could see the extensions being extracted. Here, LEN(D2)-E2 gives the number of characters which we want to extract from the right end. What’s next? Hope you liked it! Let us know your opinion about this tip. This is really the easy way to parse data in Excel using LEN and SUBSTITUTE functions. If you have anything to add, please do share with us through comments. --- ### How To Add "Change Case" to Excel Ribbon - Published: 2025-01-09 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-add-change-case-to-excel-ribbon/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video We all know the Excel Ribbon is packed with tools that make our lives easier. With tabs like Home, Insert, Data, and Review, we can format, analyze, and manage data with just a few clicks. But did you know you can customize the Ribbon to add new functionality, like a handy "Change Case" button? Yes, you heard that right! With a few simple steps, you can add this feature to save time and effort. Let’s dive into this Excel tip and learn how to customize your Ribbon with Jordan "Jlookup" Goldmeier's knack for making Excel fun and easy. How To Add "Change Case" to Excel Ribbon 1 - Let’s Get Started with Adding "Change Case" Did you ever wish Excel had a built-in "Change Case" feature like Word? While Excel doesn't natively support case changes, you can create your own button to toggle between uppercase, lowercase, and proper case directly from the Ribbon! Take a look at the image. The "Change Case" command now appears in the Home tab of the Ribbon, ready for action. Let’s see how to do it step by step. 2 – Enable the Developer Tab Before we create the macro, make sure the Developer tab is visible in the Ribbon: Click on File > Options > Customize Ribbon. On the right-hand side, check the box for Developer. Click OK to save and return to Excel. 3 – Create a Change Case Macro Now let’s write the macro: Go to the Developer tab and click on Visual Basic to open the VBA editor. In the editor, click Insert > Module. Copy and paste the following macro code: vbaCopy codeSub ChangeCase Dim rng As Range Dim cell As Range Dim caseType As Integer ' Prompt the user to select the case type caseType = Application. InputBox("Enter 1 for UPPERCASE, 2 for lowercase, 3 for Proper Case", "Change Case", Type:=1) If caseType < 1 Or caseType > 3 Then MsgBox "Invalid selection. Please enter 1, 2, or 3. " Exit Sub End If ' Loop through the selected cells On Error Resume Next Set rng = Selection For Each cell In rng If Not IsEmpty(cell. Value) And VarType(cell. Value) = vbString Then Select Case caseType Case 1: cell. Value = UCase(cell. Value) Case 2: cell. Value = LCase(cell. Value) Case 3: cell. Value = Application. WorksheetFunction. Proper(cell. Value) End Select End If Next cell On Error GoTo 0 End Sub Close the VBA editor and return to Excel. 4 – Add the Macro to the Ribbon Click File > Options > Customize Ribbon. In the right-hand panel, select the tab where you want to add the button (e. g. , Home). Click New Group to create a custom group (you can rename it to "Text Tools"). In the left-hand panel under Choose Commands From, select Macros. Find your "ChangeCase" macro and click Add>> to add it to your custom group. Click OK to save your changes. 5 – Test Your "Change Case" Button Choose 1 for UPPERCASE, 2 for lowercase, or 3 for Proper Case in the pop-up. Select some text in Excel. Click your newly added "Change Case" button in the Ribbon. How To Change the Case of Tabs in the Excel Ribbon We all know that 2 – Go To Customize Ribbon You could achieve the above target to change the text on tabs of Excel Ribbon by going to Customize Ribbon option. First, click on “File” and select “Options”. It opens up “Excel Options” and on the left side, select “Customize Ribbon”. You could see the one as specified on the image placed below. 3 – Rename the Text on Tabs Now, it’s time to change the text on Tabs as we want. Click on the tab which you want to rename and select “Rename” button at the bottom. Now, it asks you to enter the new text you want. Once you enter the text, click “Ok” of the Rename box. Then, click “Ok” again as specified in the image. Now, you could see the text of the tab being replaced with the text you entered. Repeat same steps if you want to change the text remaining tabs in Excel Ribbon. What’s next? Jordan has shown us how simple it is to make Excel work the way you want it to. Now it’s your turn! Add "Change Case" to your Ribbon, and try it out on your next project. Don’t forget to share this tip with your friends and colleagues. Let us know in the comments if you’ve tried it or if you have more ideas for customizing Excel. --- ### Custom Data Validation in Excel with Wingdings - Published: 2025-01-09 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/custom-data-validation-in-excel-with-wingdings/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Did you know you can indicate whether the user of your file is putting in the right information or not? Without using the ‘Data Validation’ tool or ‘Conditional Formatting’? Sounds unbelievable, but it can definitely be done with custom data validation in Excel . And the advantages are straight-forward as well. Firstly, you do not have to use volatile conditional formatting anymore. Secondly, you can make your spreadsheet more user-friendly. And we have Jordan “Jlookup” Goldmeier here to teach us all this. How to Insert a Green Check Mark and Red X in Excel for Data Validation 1 – The Setup The picture below shows what you could potentially end up with. Yes, this is in Excel, and the check and cross marks are dynamic. The first step is very simple. Enter a formula based on your input cells that will return TRUE or FALSE. For example, the green tick actually sees if the ‘Project Name’ is four characters long or not. Similarly, the cross checks if the ‘Project Budget’ is a number above $100,000. You guessed it right! We will convert those TRUE and FALSE into green checks and red crosses, respectively. 2 – Trick 1 This trick is extremely simple, yet very people know about it. If a formula in a cell yields TRUE or FALSE, just wrap it in brackets and put “--“ outside. Yes, that’s a double minus. What it does is that it will convert TRUE to 1 and FALSE to 0. For example, observe the image below. Alternatively, you can simply write an IF function which returns a 1 or a 0 instead if this trick doesn’t seem to stick with you. 3 – Trick 2 ‘Custom’ format these cells and type the following: "P";"Ð" An illustration is shown in the picture. You might be wondering what these “P” and “Д have to do with everything. The answer is very simple: once you have applied this format, select the cells and choose their font to be ‘Wingdings 2’. Yes, these two letters represent a check and a cross, respectively, in this font. Excel Wingdings Explained There might be two more questions lingering around still. We will answer those here. What are these “Color50” and “Color3” doing? It is a little known fact that one can specify color the text within a cell should take within ‘Custom’ format. This is exactly what “Color50” (green) and “Color3” (red) are doing. Note that this is also why we do not need to use Conditional Formatting for your checks and crosses. How did we get “P” and “Д? These symbols under ‘Wingdings 2’ translate to a check and a cross. To use other symbols, the procedure is very simple: Just go under ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Symbol’. Now select ‘Wingdings 2’ from the dropdown menu and browse through symbols you like. When you find them, select them and click on ‘Insert’. Once you are done, just select the cell where you inserted these symbols and set a regular font (such as Calibri). Now you can use the regular version of the symbols you liked instead of P or Ð. What’s next? What Jordan taught us is actually very cool. Practice these out! If you add your own personal touches to it, be sure to share it with us in the comments section below. And do not forget to share this “awesomeness” with your friends and colleagues. --- ### The 15 Best Excel Books (2025 Update) - Published: 2025-01-02 - Modified: 2025-01-25 - URL: https://excel.tv/best_excel_books/ - Categories: Excel Gifts Excel remains one of the most powerful tools for data analysis, business productivity, and personal efficiency. Whether you're a beginner, an advanced user, or someone looking to dive into automation, there’s an Excel book tailored to your needs. Here’s our refreshed list of the best Excel books for 2025, updated with modern recommendations for today’s Excel user. I encourage you to leave your comments below if you think I missed a book that you have found valuable.   Unless you are some troll trying to sell life insurance to my readers --- I WILL approve your comments.   And if the book is good --- it will be added. Lastly, as a point of full-disclosure.   Many of these links go to Amazon.   As I am writing this, they don't go to any affiliate links.   But they may eventually be affiliate links that buy me a bagel or some coffee if you buy a book.    I don't think that's a big deal, but as a fellow Excel user I wanted you to know in advance -- because I value honesty and transparency.   You know --- because my name is all over this website :). Also, this is for users of Excel.  Excel... Not Word, or Powerpoint. Separated by function and version.  So dive in. Best Excel Books We've compiled a list of the top Excel books to help you master this powerful spreadsheet software. These books cover a range of skill levels and topics, from basics for beginners to advanced techniques for data analysis and visualization. Our picks will help you boost your Excel skills and productivity. When choosing an Excel book, consider factors like the author's expertise, the book's publication date, and whether it covers the most recent version of Excel. Look for books with clear explanations, plenty of examples, and practice exercises to reinforce your learning. We spent hours researching and reviewing popular Excel books to find the ones that offer the most value for different skill levels. Excel 365 Bible Excel Book: Excel 365 Bible We recommend this comprehensive guide for anyone looking to master Excel 365. Pros Covers a wide range of Excel topics Clear, easy-to-follow instructions Includes practical examples Cons Large book size may be overwhelming Some content may be too basic for advanced users Print quality concerns reported by a few readers The Excel 365 Bible is a hefty resource that lives up to its name. We found it packed with information on almost every Excel topic imaginable. From basic table creation to advanced pivot charts, this book has it all. We appreciated the straightforward approach to explaining Excel features. The instructions are easy to follow, even for beginners. The authors use plenty of real-world examples, which helped us grasp complex concepts quickly. At over 1,000 pages, this book isn't for the faint of heart. But don't let its size scare you off. We found the index very helpful for quickly finding specific topics. It's a great reference to keep on your desk when you need to look up Excel functions or features. Check Pricing on Amazon Excel All-in-One For Dummies Excel Book: Excel All-in-One For Dummies We believe this comprehensive guide is a must-have for anyone looking to master Excel's many features and functions. Pros Covers a wide range of Excel topics Easy-to-follow explanations Suitable for beginners and intermediate users Cons Text size may be small for some readers Lacks practice files for exercises Can be overwhelming for complete novices This Excel guide packs a punch with its 784 pages of in-depth content. We found the book to be a valuable resource for both newcomers and those with some Excel experience. The explanations are clear and easy to follow, making complex topics more digestible. One thing we really liked was how the book breaks down Excel's many features into manageable chunks. It covers everything from basic formulas to more advanced topics like pivot tables and macros. This makes it easy to find the specific information you need without getting lost in the details. We were impressed by the book's practical approach. It doesn't just tell you what Excel can do; it shows you how to use these features in real-world situations. This hands-on style really helped us grasp the concepts and put them into practice right away. The book's structure is user-friendly, with each section building on the previous ones. We found this helpful for learning Excel step-by-step. It also works well as a reference guide - we could quickly look up specific topics when we needed them. While the book is great for self-study, we did miss having practice files to work with. Creating our own examples was fine, but ready-made files would have been nice for following along with the exercises. Check Pricing on Amazon Excel Beginner's Guide Excel Book: Excel Beginner's Guide We recommend this book for Excel newcomers seeking a comprehensive introduction to the software's key features and functions. Pros Clear, step-by-step instructions Includes bonus materials and templates Covers a wide range of Excel topics Cons Some typographical errors Print quality issues in some copies Instructions may not apply to all Excel versions This guide offers a solid foundation for those new to Excel. We found the step-by-step approach helpful for building skills from the ground up. The book covers essential formulas, functions, and practical examples that can boost productivity. We appreciated the inclusion of bonus materials, such as templates and video tutorials. These extras provide added value and help reinforce the concepts covered in the book. The large font size makes it easy to read and follow along. While the content is generally good, we noticed some inconsistencies. There are occasional typos and formatting issues that can be distracting. Some readers might find the black and white printing disappointing, especially for screenshots and diagrams. It's also worth noting that certain instructions may vary depending on your Excel version. Check Pricing on Amazon Excel Mastery Guide Excel Book: Excel Mastery Guide We recommend this Excel guide for beginners and intermediate users looking to boost their spreadsheet skills efficiently. Pros Clear explanations for all skill levels Covers essential functions and formulas Includes practical examples Cons Print quality issues reported Book doesn't lay flat when open Some content may be too basic for advanced users We found this Excel guide to be a solid choice for anyone wanting to improve their spreadsheet skills. The book starts with the basics, which is great for total beginners. It then moves on to more advanced topics, making it useful for intermediate users too. The chapters on formulas were particularly helpful. We liked how the book breaks down complex Excel functions into easy-to-understand steps. This approach made it simple to follow along and practice on our own spreadsheets. One thing we really appreciated was the inclusion of practical examples. These real-world scenarios helped us see how to apply Excel skills in everyday situations. It's not just theory - the book shows you how to use Excel to solve actual problems you might face at work or in personal projects. We did notice a few drawbacks. Some readers reported issues with print quality, saying the pages looked blurry. The book also doesn't lay flat when open, which can be annoying when you're trying to follow along on your computer. For very advanced Excel users, some of the content might feel too basic. Check Pricing on Amazon Office 365 Bible Excel Book: Office 365 Bible We think this comprehensive guide is a must-have for anyone looking to master Microsoft Office 365 applications. Pros Covers all major Office 365 apps Easy-to-follow instructions Suitable for beginners and advanced users Cons Large book size may be overwhelming Some sections could be more in-depth Digital version navigation can be tricky We found the Office 365 Bible to be an excellent resource for learning the ins and outs of Microsoft's productivity suite. The book covers Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other apps in great detail. We liked how it starts with basics and builds up to more advanced topics. The step-by-step instructions are clear and easy to follow. We tested out some Excel formulas and PowerPoint design tips, and they worked great. The book also includes helpful screenshots that match what we saw on our screens. While the book is thorough, its size might scare off some readers. We felt a few sections could go even deeper for power users. The digital version can be hard to flip through quickly. But overall, we think this guide will help most people boost their Office skills. Check Pricing on Amazon Excel in 7 Days We recommend this book for Excel beginners who want a quick, visual guide to master the basics. Pros Clear illustrations Step-by-step approach Designed for absolute beginners Cons May lack depth for advanced users Limited coverage of complex features Some users found explanations too brief This Excel guide caught our eye with its promise of mastery in just a week. We found the 200 clear illustrations really helpful for visual learners. The step-by-step format made it easy to follow along, even for those of us who've never opened Excel before. We liked how the book covers formulas, charts, and other key features. It's a solid starting point for newcomers. The 100+ exercises gave us plenty of practice to reinforce what we learned. While great for beginners, we noticed it might not satisfy more experienced users looking for advanced techniques. Some topics felt a bit rushed, and we wished for more in-depth explanations at times. Still, for those just starting out with Excel, this book offers a quick and accessible introduction to the basics. Check Pricing on Amazon Excel Formulas Quick Guide Excel Book: Excel Formulas Quick Guide We recommend this laminated guide for Excel users looking for a handy reference to common formulas and functions. Pros Compact and durable Covers many useful formulas Easy to read layout Cons Small font size Not comprehensive Pricey for a single sheet This laminated Excel formulas guide packs a lot of info into a small package. We found it really useful to keep nearby while working in Excel. The layout is clean and makes it easy to find formulas quickly. One downside is the font size. It's pretty small to fit everything on one sheet. We had to squint a bit to read some parts. But the tradeoff is having tons of formulas at your fingertips. The guide covers the most common formulas and functions. It's great for jogging your memory or learning new tricks. But it's not a complete Excel manual. We still needed to look things up online sometimes for more complex tasks. At around $10, it's a bit pricey for a single laminated sheet. But we think the durability and convenience make it worth it for regular Excel users. It's saved us time digging through menus and Googling formulas. Check Pricing on Amazon 101 Excel Formulas Guide Excel Book: 101 Excel Formulas Guide We think this book is a valuable resource for Excel users looking to boost their formula skills. Pros Clear explanations of popular formulas Suitable for beginners and intermediate users Covers a wide range of Excel functions Cons May be too basic for advanced users Some formulas could use more context Print quality could be better We found this guide to be a handy reference for Excel users of all levels. The book covers 101 of the most commonly used Excel formulas, making it a great tool for those looking to expand their spreadsheet skills. The explanations are easy to follow, even for beginners. We liked how each formula is broken down step-by-step, with examples that show how to apply them in real-world situations. This hands-on approach helped us grasp complex concepts quickly. While testing the book, we noticed it's especially useful for quick lookups when working on spreadsheets. Instead of searching online, we could flip to the right page and find the formula we needed. This saved us a lot of time and made our work more efficient. We think this book is best suited for beginners and intermediate users. Advanced Excel users might find some parts too basic, but it's still a good refresher. The wide range of formulas covered means there's likely something new for everyone to learn. One thing we wished for was more context for some of the more complex formulas. A few extra examples or use cases would have been helpful. Also, while the content is solid, the print quality could be better. Excel Bible for Beginners Excel Book: Excel Bible for Beginners We recommend this book for Excel novices looking to quickly build foundational skills through visual, step-by-step tutorials. Pros Includes many helpful images and screenshots Covers new Excel features and updates Easy-to-follow instructions for beginners Cons Some grammatical errors and typos May be too basic for intermediate users Occasional formula mistakes This Excel guide aims to teach the basics in just minutes per day. We found the abundant screenshots and visuals very useful for following along. The step-by-step format breaks down complex features into digestible chunks. We appreciated the focus on newer Excel features and updates. This sets it apart from older Excel books that may be outdated. The instructions are clear enough for complete beginners to grasp. While helpful for novices, we noticed a few issues. There are some grammar mistakes and typos throughout. We also spotted occasional errors in the suggested formulas. More advanced users may find the content too elementary. Still, for those brand new to Excel looking for a quick visual guide, this book offers a solid starting point to build skills. Excel 101 Fast Track Excel Book: Excel 101 Fast Track We recommend this book for anyone looking to quickly improve their Excel skills through practical, bite-sized lessons. Pros Daily 10-minute lessons Includes custom templates Exclusive GPT access Cons May be too fast-paced for some Requires consistent practice Limited coverage of advanced topics Excel 101 Fast Track lives up to its name. We found the book's approach of 10-minute daily lessons very effective. It's perfect for busy professionals who want to boost their Excel skills without spending hours at a time studying. The custom templates included are a great bonus. They let us put what we learned into practice right away. We especially liked the templates for budget tracking and project management. They saved us time and helped us see how Excel can be used in real-world situations. One of the standout features is the exclusive GPT access. It's like having a tutor on call. We used it to get quick answers to our Excel questions. This feature alone makes the book worth buying. The book covers a wide range of topics, from basics to more advanced functions. We appreciated the clear explanations and step-by-step instructions. The actionable exercises at the end of each lesson helped cement our learning. While the fast-track approach works well, it might be too quick for complete beginners. Some users may need more time to grasp certain concepts. The book also doesn't go into depth on very advanced topics, so expert users might not find much new information. Excel Beginner's Guide Excel Book: Excel Beginner's Guide We recommend this book for Excel beginners who want to learn key skills quickly through simple examples. Pros Easy to follow instructions Includes helpful videos Covers basics and intermediate skills Cons May be too basic for advanced users Some users reported typos Limited coverage of advanced features This Excel guide offers a great starting point for newcomers. We found the step-by-step instructions clear and easy to follow. The book breaks down complex topics into bite-sized chunks, making it simple to grasp new concepts. One thing we really liked was the inclusion of video tutorials. These were super helpful for visual learners. The videos complemented the written content well, giving us a more complete learning experience. The real-life examples in the book were spot on. We could see how to apply Excel skills to actual situations, which made the learning process more relevant. The templates provided were also a nice bonus, giving us a head start on creating our own spreadsheets. Excel Tips & Tricks Book Excel Book: Excel Tips & Tricks Book We recommend this comprehensive Excel guide for users of all skill levels looking to boost their spreadsheet prowess. Pros Covers a wide range of Excel topics Easy-to-follow explanations Suitable for beginners and intermediate users Cons Black and white images lack clarity Some screenshots are faded May be overwhelming for complete novices This book surprised us with its depth of content. At over 500 pages, it's packed with useful Excel tips and tricks. We found the layout clear and easy to navigate, making it simple to find specific topics when needed. The explanations are straightforward and easy to follow. We appreciated how the book caters to both beginners and more experienced users. It covers basics but also dives into more advanced techniques that can really speed up your Excel work. One drawback we noticed is the black and white format. Some images and screenshots are hard to see, especially when they reference colors. This can make it tricky to follow along with certain examples. Despite this issue, we still found the book very helpful in our day-to-day Excel tasks. We liked how the book serves as a quick reference guide. When we got stuck on a formula or needed a shortcut, it was easy to flip to the right section and find a solution. The tips have already saved us time at work. For Excel beginners, this book might feel a bit overwhelming at first. There's a lot of information to take in. But we think it's worth sticking with it. As you use Excel more, you'll find yourself coming back to different sections and learning new skills. Office 365 Beginner's Guide Excel Book: Office 365 Beginner's Guide This book offers a solid introduction to Office 365 for newcomers, but may not satisfy more experienced users looking for advanced tips. Pros Easy-to-follow explanations Covers all major Office applications Step-by-step instructions Cons Too basic for intermediate users Lacks advanced features Some info can be found online for free We found this guide to be a great starting point for those new to Microsoft Office 365. The book breaks down each application in simple terms, making it easy to grasp the basics of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. The Power Query, and DAX formulas. While comprehensive, the pace may be quick for true beginners. We noticed a few typos, but they didn't impact our learning. More hands-on exercises would help reinforce concepts. Still, this book offers solid value for those wanting to boost their Excel prowess quickly. Frequently Asked Questions Excel books come in many varieties to suit different learning needs and skill levels. Let's address some common questions about Excel books. What are the top-rated books for learning Excel as a beginner? "Excel 2019 All-in-One For Dummies" by Greg Harvey is great for beginners. It covers basics and offers step-by-step guides. "Excel 2019 Bible" by Michael Alexander and Richard Kusleika is also top-rated. It starts simple and builds up to more complex topics. Which Excel books are highly recommended for advanced data analysis? "Data Analysis and Business Modeling with Excel 2019" by Wayne Winston is highly rated. It digs into advanced formulas and Power BI. "Excel 2019 Power Programming with VBA" by Michael Alexander is another solid choice for pros looking to automate tasks. From where can one download free PDF versions of Excel learning books? We can't give info on downloading free PDFs, as this may break copyright laws. Many libraries offer free e-book lending of Excel books. Some authors also give away free Excel e-books on their websites. Are there any books specifically focused on Excel for financial professionals? "Excel for Financial Modeling" by Simon Benninga is a top pick for finance pros. It covers financial models and valuation techniques. Another strong option in this niche is "Financial Analysis and Modeling Using Excel and VBA" by Chandan Sengupta. How effective is it to learn Excel solely from books for hands-on application? Books are a good start, but hands-on practice is key. We suggest using books alongside Excel itself. Try out examples as you read. Online courses or video tutorials can also help fill gaps in learning from books alone. So...  Where are the GAPS? ? ? Because, I know some of you that may be reading this right now are authors... and you're thinking... Where the HELL is my book? Because... Its a masterpiece. Has plot twists. A devious villain. Damsel in distress. VBA Code :) Well... Then leave a comment and let me know about it. I am honestly adding to this page daily. If you are reading this then you made it all the way to the bottom of the page --- whew -- that was a workout.   Might as well leave a comment and hit one of those social sharing buttons so that your Mom on Facebook knows how cool you are (visiting an Excel website and all :)) --- ### Monte Carlo Simulation Excel: Formula Tutorial & Example Download > This Tutorial Explains Monte Carlo Simulation Formula In Excel. Video Tutorial and Download Are Included - Published: 2025-01-02 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/monte-carlo-simulation-excel-tutorial-download/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Exploring the world of data analysis can be quite fascinating, and using tools like Excel to perform complex simulations makes it even more accessible. A Monte Carlo simulation is one such powerful technique that allows us to model the probability of different outcomes in a process that cannot easily be predicted due to the intervention of random variables. In Excel, you can perform Monte Carlo simulations to analyze and make informed decisions about uncertain situations. This method involves using random numbers and statistical functions, making Excel a versatile tool for tackling these calculations. https://youtu. be/Nb63swYetzY In the video above, Oz asks about the various uses for Monte Carlo Simulation.  What have you used it for?  Are there any specific examples that you can share with the group?  If so, leave a note below in the comments section.  Also, feel free to sign up for our newsletter, so that you can stay up to date as new Excel. TV shows are announced.  Leave me a message below to stay in contact. When working with Excel, I find its capabilities for random number generation and probability distribution to be particularly valuable for Monte Carlo simulations. Functions like RAND and NORMINV enable us to create realistic models of possible outcomes by simulating randomness. This makes Excel a practical choice for professionals in fields such as finance, engineering, and project management who need to assess risks and outcomes with greater precision. For those interested in diving deeper into Monte Carlo simulations, Excel provides a comprehensive platform for both beginners and advanced users. It allows you to visualize your simulation results effectively, offering insights that guide better business decisions. This blend of simplicity and power makes Excel indispensable for anyone looking to leverage the benefits of Monte Carlo simulations. Key Takeaways Monte Carlo simulations model probabilities using Excel. Excel functions aid in realistic simulation modeling. Results help in informed decision-making. Fundamentals of Monte Carlo Simulation Monte Carlo simulation is a powerful tool often used in decision-making processes to evaluate the impact of risk and uncertainty. This method relies on running numerous scenarios to predict possible outcomes across various fields like engineering, project management, and supply chain management. Conceptual Overview Monte Carlo simulation is based on probability and random variables. By using random sampling, I can simulate a range of different scenarios. This provides a way to understand the likelihood of various outcomes. The concept hinges on running multiple iterations to cover many possible outcomes, which helps in exploring uncertainties. The randomness is usually introduced through functions like RAND, simulating variability. With each iteration, I observe different results influenced by changes in input variables. This offers a comprehensive view of potential risks, making it an effective decision-making tool. Understanding these concepts allows me to make informed predictions about future events and minimize risks. Applications in Different Industries In engineering, Monte Carlo methods are used to assess reliability and performance under varying conditions. By modeling different stress scenarios, I can predict equipment failures and optimize maintenance schedules. In project management, I utilize simulations to plan resources, manage timeframes, and control costs more effectively. By exploring different paths a project might take, I get a clearer picture of potential pitfalls. In manufacturing and supply chain management, simulations help manage inventory and forecast demand fluctuations. These industries benefit immensely from the insight offered by Monte Carlo methods, allowing me to strategize and ensure smooth operations under uncertainty. Setting Up a Monte Carlo Simulation in Excel To successfully set up a Monte Carlo Simulation in Excel, I focus on understanding the problem and building a robust model framework. This involves defining the scope, identifying key variables, and integrating statistical methods to handle uncertainty. Defining the Problem and Objectives When I start setting up a Monte Carlo Simulation in Excel, the first step is to clearly define the problem I aim to tackle. I identify the objectives, which could be predicting outcomes or assessing risks. This helps me focus my efforts and set clear goals for my simulation. I then gather a relevant dataset, ensuring it includes all necessary variables. By understanding the dataset, I can better define the probability distributions that might impact outcomes. It's important to recognize model uncertainty and plan for it by selecting the right statistical concepts. Choosing input variables essential to the simulation is another priority. These are the components that I'll alter during the simulation to observe changes in outcomes. I often make a list of these key variables to ensure a structured approach. Creating a Model Framework Creating a solid model framework involves structuring the spreadsheet correctly. I set up columns for each input variable and include a section to automatically compute results. This setup allows for random sampling, where Excel generates different scenarios. I pay attention to how Monte Carlo Simulations manage random sampling. This involves using functions in Excel to generate random numbers that represent different potential outcomes and applying probability distributions to these random samples. Using a data table, I can simulate thousands of iterations quickly, providing a comprehensive view of possible outcomes. This step is crucial for detailed decision-making and understanding the range of potential results. By organizing my Excel sheet carefully, I streamline the process and enhance accuracy. Utilizing Excel Functions for Simulations When performing Monte Carlo simulations in Excel, it's crucial to understand how to effectively use Excel functions for generating random numbers and applying statistical distribution functions. These tools transform raw data into informative simulations. Random Number Generation In Monte Carlo simulations, generating random numbers is the backbone of creating realistic scenarios. I often use the RAND function in Excel, which provides a random decimal number between 0 and 1. It's specific and useful when I need a uniform distribution. Another option is the RANDBETWEEN function. This function allows me to set a range, making it ideal when generating random integers. This can represent anything from days in a month to various discrete events. The flexibility and ease of random number generation in Excel help me efficiently create inputs for simulations. This step is crucial in using probabilistic models, as it lays the foundation for simulating real-world variability. Statistical Distribution Functions Understanding how to apply statistical distribution functions in Excel can significantly enhance the accuracy of Monte Carlo simulations. The NORM. INV function is one of my go-to tools when I need a normal distribution. By inputting a probability along with the mean and standard deviation, I can derive values that fit a bell-shaped curve. For different scenarios, I might use other distributions. The Uniform Distribution is effective when all outcomes are equally likely. In cases involving events that happen at a constant rate, I consider the When analyzing Monte Carlo simulation results in Excel, I focus on understanding output data, performing sensitivity analysis, and visualizing outcomes. These steps help in assessing financial risks and predicting possible outcomes like expected profit and maximum profit. Understanding Output Data To analyze output data effectively, I first examine the range of outcomes, including the minimum and maximum profit. This helps me grasp the variability in potential results. I also look at the mean or average profit, which gives insight into expected outcomes under different scenarios. I pay close attention to variance and skewness as they indicate how spread out and asymmetrical the data is. High variance means greater risk, while skewness lets me know if there are more favorable or unfavorable outcomes. By organizing this data, I can make better financial decisions and manage risks. Performing Sensitivity Analysis Sensitivity analysis is crucial for identifying how changes in input variables affect my results. This process involves adjusting key metrics like revenue to see how they impact profits. I look for variables that cause significant shifts in outcomes and prioritize these in my risk assessment. For a structured approach, I might use Excel's Data Tables to test different scenarios. This helps me pinpoint the drivers of financial risk and improve decision-making. Sensitivity analysis enhances uncertainty analysis by showing how sensitive my model is to changes, allowing for more robust risk management. Visualizing Outcomes Visualizing outcomes is essential for grasping the full picture. I use Excel charts to display a range of outcomes quickly. Histograms are great for showing the frequency of profit levels, making it easy to spot patterns. I also use scatter plots to illustrate relationships between variables and outcomes. This allows me to see the potential spread of results and identify clusters or outliers. Visual tools aid in communicating results to stakeholders and enable clearer insights into potential scenarios. Tables or charts make complex data more approachable, leading to better decision-making. Advanced Techniques and Tools Exploring advanced Monte Carlo simulation techniques in Excel can enhance decision-making in areas like financial forecasting and risk analysis. I'll cover optimizing simulations and integrating useful Excel add-ins. Optimizing Simulations In my experience, optimizing simulations can provide more accurate predictions. One way to achieve this is by fine-tuning inputs. For example, using tools like Stdev. P helps analyze variability, ensuring that simulated outcomes reflect real-life scenarios. Applying mathematical techniques improves model reliability. Tackling problems related to production quantity or variable cost becomes easier with a precise simulation model. This method assists in >Data Analysis ToolPak, which offers a straightforward interface to manage complex calculations. Add-ins simplify creating simulations, analyze data trends, and refine forecasting models. They assist in running thousands of simulations efficiently, which is crucial for understanding variables impacting outcomes. By integrating these tools, I can perform detailed risk analysis and improve the accuracy of my predictions. These resources expand Excel’s capabilities beyond basic functions, proving essential for those serious about financial modeling and decision-making. What is the Monte Carlo Simulation? Monte Carlo Simulation is a process of using probability curves to determine the likelihood of an outcome.   You may scratch your head here and say...  "Hey Rick, a distribution curve has an array of values.  So how exactly do I determine the likelihood of an outcome? "  And better yet, how do I do that in Microsoft Excel without any special add-ins Thought you would never ask. This is done by running the simulation thousands of times and analyzing the distribution of the output.  This is particularly important when you are analyzing the output of several distribution curves that feed into one another. Example: # of Units Sold may have a distribution curve multiplied by Market price, which may have another distribution curve minus variable wages which have another curve etc. , etc. Once all these distributions are intermingled, the output can be quite complex.  Running thousands of iterations (or simulations) of these curve may give you some insights.  This is particularly useful in analyzing potential risk to a decision. Describe Monte Carlo When describing Monte Carlo Simulation, I often refer to the 1980's movie War Games, where a young Mathew Broderick (before Ferris Bueller) is a hacker that uses his dial up modem to hack into the Pentagon computers and start World War 3.  Kind of.  He then had the Pentagon computers do many simulations of the games Tic Tac Toe to teach the computer that no one will will a nuclear war - and save the world in the process. Thanks Ferris. You're a hero. Here's a glimpse of the movie to show you big time Monte Carlo in action.  I am assuming that you will overlook the politics, the awkward man hugging and of course, Dabney Coleman. The Monte Carlo Simulation Formula Distribution Curves There are various distribution curves you can use to set up your Monte Carlo simulation.  And these curves may be interchanged based on the variable.  Microsoft doesn't have a formula called "Do Monte Carlo Simulation" in the menu bar :) Uniform Distribution In a uniform distribution, there is equal likelihood anywhere between the minimum and a maximum.  A uniform distribution looks like a rectangle. Normal (Gaussian) Distribution This is also your standard bell shaped curve.  This Monte Carlo Simulation Formula is characterized by being evenly distributed on each side (median and mean is the same - and no skewness).  The tails of the curve go on to infinity.  So this may not be the ideal curve for house prices, where a few top end houses increase the average (mean) well above the median, or in instances where there is a hard minimum or maximum.  An example of this may be the minimum wage in your locale. Please note that the name of the function varies depending on your version. Lognormal Distribution A distribution where the logarithm is normally distributed with the mean and Poisson Distribution This is likely the most underutilized distribution.  By default, many people use a normal distribution curve when Poisson is a better fit for their models.  Poisson is best described when there is a large distribution near the very beginning that quickly dissipates to a long tail on one side.  An example of this would be a call center, where no calls are answered before second ZERO.  Followed by the majority of calls answered in the first 2 intervals (say 30 and 60 seconds) with a quick drop off in volume and a long tail, with very few calls answered in 20 minutes (allegedly). The purpose here is not to show you every distribution possible in Excel, as that is outside the scope of this article.  Rather to ensure that you know that there are many options available for your Monte Carlo Simulation.  Do not fall into the trap of assuming that a normal distribution curve is the right fit for all your data modeling.  To find more curves, to go the Statistical Functions within your Excel workbook and investigate.  If you have questions, pose them in the comments section below. Building The Model For this set up we will assume a normal distribution and 1,000 iterations. Input Variables The setup assumes a normal distribution.  A normal distribution requires three variables; probability, mean and standard deviation.  We will tackle the mean and standard deviation in our first step.  I assume a finance forecasting problem that consists of Revenue, Variable and Fixed Expenses.  Where Revenue minus Variable Expenses minus Fixed Expenses equals Profit.  The Fixed expenses are sunk cost in plant and equipment, so no distribution curve is assumed.  Distribution curves are assumed for Revenue and Variable Expenses. First Simulation The example below indicates the settings for Revenue.  The formula can be copy and pasted to cell D6 for variable expenses.  For Revenue and expenses we you the function NORM. INV where the parameters are: Probability = the function RAND to elicit a random number based on the other criteria within the distribution. Mean = The mean used in the Step 1.  For Revenue it is C3. Standard Deviation = The Standard Deviation used in Step 1.  For Revenue it is C4 Since RAND is used as the probability, a random probability is generated at refresh.  We will use this to our advantage in the next step. 1,000 Simulations There are several ways to do 1,000 or more variations.  The simplest option is to take the formula from step #2 and make it absolute.  Then copy and paste 1,000 times.  That's simple, but not very fancy.  And if Ferris Bueller can save the world by showing a new Tic Tac Toe game to a computer, then we can spice up this analysis as well. Let's venture into the world of tables. First we want to create an outline for a table.  We do this by listing the numbers 1 to 1,000 in rows.  In the example image below, the number list starts in B12. in the next column, in cell C12, we will reference the first iteration. Next highlight the area where we want to house the 1,000 iterations Select Data > Data Tables For Column input cell: Select a blank cell.  In the download file, cell D11 is selected Select OK Once OK is selected from the previous step, a table is inserted that autopopulates the 1,000 simulations Summary Statistics Once the simulations are run, it is time to gather summary statistics.  This can be done a number of ways.  In this example I used the COUNTIF function to determine the percentage of simulations that are unprofitable, and the likelihood of a profit greater than $1 Million.  As expected, the likelihood of greater than $1M hovers around 50%.  This is because we used normal distribution curves that are evenly distributed around the mean, which was $1M.  The likelihood of losing money is 4. 8%.  This was gathered by using the COUNTIF function to count the simulations that were less than zero, and dividing by the 1,000 total iterations. Monte Carlo Simulation Formula Get the Download Conclusion As I wrap up my exploration of the use of Monte Carlo Simulation in Excel, I find it invaluable for modeling uncertainty. With this tool, I can simulate various outcomes by running numerous scenarios, making it an essential strategy for risk analysis. Excel proves to be a flexible platform for conducting these simulations. By using its built-in functions and abilities, I can efficiently manage data and forecast potential outcomes. Whether I’m simulating financial risks or predicting project timelines, Excel handles it well. For larger simulations, using VBA code enhances efficiency by automating repetitive tasks. This is particularly helpful when dealing with thousands of scenarios. Frequently Asked Questions I often receive questions about how to effectively perform Monte Carlo simulations using Microsoft Excel. Below, I address some common inquiries, providing clear and practical insights. How can you perform a Monte Carlo simulation in Microsoft Excel? To perform a Monte Carlo simulation in Excel, I start by setting up a model with defined variables and formulas. Then, I generate random numbers for these variables and run the simulation multiple times. This way, I obtain a range of possible outcomes. For a step-by-step guide, refer to this resource. What are the steps required to build a Monte Carlo simulation model in Excel? Building a Monte Carlo simulation model involves several steps. Initially, I define the variables and metrics in Excel. I then use formulas to connect these metrics and simulate different scenarios. Running the simulation repeatedly allows me to analyze various possible outcomes, as highlighted in this detailed guide. Are there any free tools available for conducting Monte Carlo simulations in Excel? Excel itself acts as a useful tool for running Monte Carlo simulations without additional cost. However, there are third-party add-ins available that enhance the functionality. Tools like Data Tables and the RAND function in Excel provide capabilities to perform these simulations straightforwardly, as noted on DataCamp. How do you incorporate probability distributions in a Monte Carlo simulation in Excel? To incorporate probability distributions, I use Excel’s built-in functions. Functions like NORM. INV can create distributions based on means and standard deviations. This allows simulations to reflect realistic variations in data, enabling better decision-making. What is the process for using Monte Carlo simulation for retirement planning in Excel? For retirement planning, I construct a simulation to estimate different scenarios of savings and withdrawals over time. It involves projecting future rates of return, inflation, and other key factors to understand the impact on savings. By repeating these simulations, I get a clearer picture of potential financial outcomes during retirement. Can Monte Carlo simulations be used for financial modeling in Excel, and if so, how? Yes, Monte Carlo simulations are valuable for financial modeling. They help assess risk and forecast financial scenarios by running simulations with various inputs. These inputs can include changes in market conditions or interest rates. Excel’s robustness allows for detailed analysis, making it suitable for complex financial models. Now What? What have you used it for?  Are there any specific examples that you can share with the group?  If so, leave a note below in the comments section.  Also, feel free to sign up for our newsletter, so that you can stay up to date as new Excel. TV shows are announced.  Leave me a message below to stay in contact. --- ### Excel Option Button: Guide to Enhanced User Interaction - Published: 2025-01-01 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/better-excel-option-button-controls/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks The Excel Option Button is a handy tool for creating a user-friendly interface. It allows users to select a single option from a set of choices, similar to what you often see on forms or surveys. This feature can be a game-changer for anyone looking to streamline data entry and improve the usability of their Excel sheets. By diving into the world of Form Controls, I can show you how to enhance your Excel experience. To make the most of the Option Button, you'll need to get comfortable with the Developer tab, where all the magic happens. Here, you can add and customize these buttons to fit your needs. My goal is to equip you with the knowledge to implement Option Buttons effectively. This includes understanding advanced functionalities and best practices. With a bit of guidance, you'll be ready to design Excel forms and surveys that look great and work smoothly. Key Takeaways Learn how to create and use Excel Option Buttons. Familiarize with the Developer tab and Form Controls. Enhance Excel sheets with user-friendly interfaces. Understanding Form Controls in Excel https://www. youtube. com/embed/aj9wEOA-yG0 While using Excel, it's important to know how Form Controls like the Option Button, CheckBox, and Group Box can interact with data. These controls help organize and manage data inputs effectively by providing different interactive elements for users. Option Button Basics The Option Button, also known as a Radio Button, is a control that allows users to select one option from a group. When configuring an Option Button, I typically position it within Form Controls under the Developer Tab. I use them when I want to limit choices to a single option within a set of alternatives. Each Option Button is linked to a specific cell that reflects the choice in its value. For example, if I have three options—Red, Blue, Green—and Red is selected, the linked cell might display a value of 1. This setup makes it useful for creating dynamic forms where a single selection is necessary. For detailed steps on setting up Option Buttons, refer to this ExcelDemy guide. Comparison to Checkbox CheckBoxes differ from Option Buttons because they allow multiple selections. When I need multiple choices in my data collection, I use CheckBoxes instead of Option Buttons. Option Buttons restrict users to one choice among several. Consider a survey where users can select multiple interests. CheckBoxes are better suited here, as users can tick several boxes. In contrast, Option Buttons would restrict them to a single interest. This distinct functionality makes both controls valuable depending on the required data input method. More details are available on ExcelDemy. Group Box and Radio Buttons I often use a Group Box to organize Radio Buttons on a worksheet. A Group Box creates a boundary, ensuring Radio Buttons within it are grouped together visually and logically. This grouping means selections in one Group Box are independent of those in another. For example, if creating a form with sections for personal and professional choices, Radio Buttons within each Group Box operate independently. This separation is crucial for structuring complex forms with distinct sections. Organizing Radio Buttons in this way ensures clarity and reduces input errors. To see how to add a Group Box, check this ExcelDemy resource. Accessing the Developer Tab https://www. youtube. com/embed/4wJvVvqinxU To access advanced features in Excel, it's essential to enable the Developer Tab. This tab allows you to work with form controls, VBA, and more, making your Excel experience more powerful. Enabling the Developer Tab To get started, I navigate to the File menu in Excel. Next, I select Options to open the Excel Options dialog box. Here, I click on Customize Ribbon in the left pane. Under the section labeled Main Tabs, I find and check the box for the Developer option. Clicking OK makes this tab visible on the Selection Pane is a helpful feature that lets me manage all objects in a spreadsheet, including option buttons. This pane lists every element, allowing quick selection and easy management of overlapping or hidden controls. I find the Selection Pane under the "Format" tab when an object is selected. It helps me toggle the visibility of specific buttons, ensuring that only relevant controls are displayed at any given time. Using this feature enhances clarity and organization, especially in complex spreadsheets with multiple elements. Filter Data Using Option Buttons I can use option buttons to filter data, creating a more interactive Excel experience. By linking buttons to specific cells (known as a Linked Cell), I allow users to change displayed data dynamically without the need for complex formulas. To set this up, I first create buttons for each filter option. Each button is linked to a separate cell, which acts as a reference for data filtering. With the data management tools in Excel, I can configure filters to react to button selection, providing users with a streamlined way to view data subsets. Creating Surveys and Forms Survey Design in Excel Designing a survey in Excel starts with structuring the worksheet efficiently. I create columns for each question and possible answers. Then, I add option buttons using the Developer tab. This provides an intuitive way for respondents to select their answers. For each question, I insert a group of option buttons, ensuring users can choose only one answer. Learn more about using option buttons to enhance the survey design process. Option buttons, also known as radio buttons, streamline user input by limiting responses to one per question. This prevents data entry errors and ensures consistency. To set up a survey, I might manually adjust the properties of these buttons, including labels and default values. Analyzing Survey Data Once survey responses are collected, I analyze the data to understand trends and insights. Excel's tools, like PivotTables and charts, help in visualizing the outcomes. I organize data in a clear format so that patterns become evident, which aids in decision-making. I employ formulas and functions to summarize responses, calculate percentages, and draw comparisons. With option buttons, it's straightforward to filter and sort data. These methods make it easier to identify key findings from the survey. Additionally, I regularly update and edit text within the forms to ensure clarity and accuracy. It's essential to present data findings clearly to support conclusions drawn from the survey results. Best Practices and Troubleshooting When working with Excel option buttons, it's important to maintain clarity and efficiency. Optimizing layout and addressing common pitfalls ensures a smooth experience for users, helping avoid confusion and errors in data selection. Adhering to Best Practices I find organizing option buttons in a logical order is crucial. Group related options together to make selection intuitive. Using clear labels for each button helps to avoid misunderstandings about what each button does. Adjusting properties, such as increasing the button size if needed, can make them easier to click, especially in forms with many selections. Employing Conditional Formatting can highlight selections when criteria are met. This visual aid ensures important selections are not overlooked by users. I also recommend testing option buttons in different scenarios to ensure their functionality aligns with user needs. Check regularly that each selection triggers the expected response and integrates seamlessly with other data inputs. Common Issues and Resolutions One common issue is option buttons not responding correctly, often due to misconfiguration. Ensuring each button is set up properly in the Developer tab can solve most problems. It's critical to verify group settings, as buttons from different groups should not interact with one another. In cases where buttons aren't displayed correctly, it may help to review the form’s cell alignment and resize controls. Another frequent problem is incorrect data entry. Testing and verifying selections before finalizing a document prevents errors from impacting results. I advise checking for software updates regularly as well, as glitches may be due to outdated Excel versions. If problems persist, exploring online tutorials can provide additional guidance. Frequently Asked Questions I often get questions about using option buttons in Excel. These commonly revolve around multiple selection capabilities, changing cell values, and inserting controls like checkboxes and radio buttons across different versions and platforms. How can I use option buttons for multiple selections in Excel? Option buttons in Excel are designed for single selections. You'd use checkboxes instead if you need multiple selections. Option buttons are grouped so only one can be selected at a time. For this, you'll need to create separate groups to allow different selections. What steps are needed to change a cell's value using an option button in Excel? To change a cell’s value, link the option button to the cell. Right-click the button, choose "Format Control," and enter the cell reference in the "Cell link" field. The cell then reflects the value tied to the selected option button. How to insert a checkbox in Excel without accessing the Developer tab? It's possible to insert a checkbox through the Developer tab, but if it's hidden, you can use VBA or import a form control. Unlock the Developer tab by navigating to “File” > “Options” > “Customize Ribbon” and check Developer. What is the process for inserting a radio button in Excel for Office 365 users? In Office 365, enable the Developer tab first. Then, go to "Insert" in the Developer tab and choose "Option Button" under "Form Controls. " Drag the button to your desired location. This allows you to create multiple exclusive selection options. Can option buttons be added to Excel on a Mac, and if so, how? Yes, option buttons can be added on a Mac. First, show the Developer tab. From there, select “Insert,” choose the "Option Button (Form Control)" and place it on your worksheet. It functions similarly to the Windows version. How is conditional formatting applied to radio buttons in Excel? Conditional formatting isn't directly applied to radio buttons, but you can format linked cells. Once a radio button is linked to a cell, use conditional formatting rules based on that cell’s value to visually differentiate selections. This approach visually represents the option chosen. --- ### How to Color Code in Excel for Enhanced Data Visualization - Published: 2025-01-01 - Modified: 2024-12-11 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-color-code-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Color coding in Excel is a powerful tool that can transform how you see and interpret data. By using various colors to highlight important information, you can quickly pinpoint trends and make informed decisions without getting lost in a sea of numbers. Color coding allows me to make my spreadsheet more visually appealing and easier to navigate. When I set up my spreadsheet effectively, I can use conditional formatting to automatically apply colors based on specific criteria. This dynamic approach helps me manage my data better and keeps it organized. Visualizing data with colors not only aids in data management but also enhances my ability to interpret what the numbers mean. Key Takeaways Color coding enhances data visibility in Excel. Conditional formatting automates the color coding process. Dynamic color coding improves data management and interpretation. Understanding Color Coding in Excel https://www. youtube. com/embed/z0n3xvwPOeo Excel color coding is a powerful feature for data visualization. It helps highlight important data, reveal patterns, and improve readability by assigning colors based on specific conditions. In the following sections, I will explain the basic concepts and the significance of this method. The Basics of Excel Color Coding Color coding in Excel involves using various shades to categorize or highlight data. I often start by selecting the cells I want to format. By navigating to the Home tab, I can use the Conditional Formatting feature. This allows me to apply simple rules, color scales, or even custom formulas to color code cells dynamically. Manual Highlighting: This is the simplest method where I select a cell or range and use the Fill Color option. Although this method is quick, it’s ideal for small datasets or when I need to make one-off highlights. Conditional Formatting: Using this tool, I set up rules based on data values. Excel applies colors automatically based on these rules, which is particularly helpful for larger datasets or when tracking changes over time. Importance of Effective Color Coding Effective color coding is crucial for clear data visualization. When I apply different colors, it becomes easier to spot trends and anomalies. This visual clarity allows me to quickly grasp the data's story without sifting through raw numbers. Another key benefit is pattern recognition. By using a spectrum of colors, such as from red to green, I can instantly gauge data magnitude. This is valuable for financial analysis or assessing academic grades. Highlighting exceptions with unique colors can draw my attention to critical issues that demand action. Moreover, color coding assists in communication when I share spreadsheets with colleagues. They can readily understand my findings, as vibrant colors reduce confusion. Proper use of this feature can transform dull data into an informative and interactive experience. Setting Up Your Spreadsheet https://www. youtube. com/embed/7er8tmas420 To start color coding in Excel, it's crucial to properly prepare your data and choose a suitable color scheme. These two steps will make your spreadsheet more organized and easier to interpret. Preparing Your Data Range When I prepare my spreadsheet for color coding, I always begin by determining the specific data range I want to work with. It's important to ensure this range is clean and free of any unnecessary information. I select the first cell in my desired range and then drag the cursor to cover all relevant cells. This ensures that my color coding will be applied only where needed. Once the data range is selected, I check for consistency. Having uniform data types (like numbers or text) makes it easier to apply specific rules later on. For example, if I'm color coding based on numerical values, I ensure that all cells within the range contain numbers, not mixed types. Finally, if I'm working with a large spreadsheet, I often add filters. This helps narrow down specific sections for more detailed color coding, especially if I only need to highlight certain criteria within a vast data set. Choosing a Color Scheme Selecting the right color scheme is vital to making data visually appealing and understandable. I usually consider the purpose of the spreadsheet. Colors should be intuitive and distinguish different data points effectively. For numerical data, I might use gradients where shades represent different value ranges. For example, a light blue might indicate low values, while dark blue indicates high values. This provides a clear visual hierarchy. In addition, I make sure to distinguish between positive and negative values. For instance, using red to denote negative performance metrics and green for positive ones can immediately draw attention to important changes. I also avoid using too many colors, as this can overwhelm and confuse. By keeping it simple and consistent, the spreadsheet becomes a helpful tool rather than a jumble of colors. Applying Conditional Formatting https://www. youtube. com/embed/fj6VtUi2s9s In this section, I will guide you on how to use different conditional formatting options in Excel. You will learn how to highlight important data using built-in tools, create custom rules, and use visual aids like data bars and color scales. Using Built-In Conditional Formatting Rules When I use built-in conditional formatting rules in Excel, it simplifies data visualization. These rules allow me to change cell styles based on their content. For example, I can format cells to show different colors depending on whether their values are greater than or less than a specific number. Such built-in tools are handy for quick analysis. The options are easy to apply and provide immediate feedback on data trends. They help me spot issues or opportunities without manually checking each cell. Using built-in rules minimizes errors and helps make informed decisions efficiently. For more detailed steps, some tutorials like this one from Microsoft are beneficial. Highlight Cells Rules Highlight Cells Rules are among my favorite tools in Excel. They allow me to focus on specific parts of the data. With options like "Greater Than" or "Between," I can easily emphasize numbers that matter the most. For instance, if I need to identify all cells with values exceeding a certain threshold, I use the "Greater Than" rule. It helps highlight important data quickly. These rules give me an advantage in data analysis by drawing attention to areas that might need further examination. Exploring color coding cells in Excel can provide a deeper understanding. Top/Bottom Rules Top/Bottom Rules help me quickly identify outliers. These rules make it easy for me to find the highest or lowest values in a dataset. They are especially useful when I need to pick out the top performers or areas that need improvement. By applying these rules, I can instantly spotlight the top 10% or bottom 10% of my data. This feature saves me time when analyzing large datasets. It highlights trends clearly without scrolling through endless rows. I find these rules to be extremely effective when prioritizing tasks or making data-driven decisions. Data Bars and Color Scales Data Bars and Color Scales provide visual representations that make my data stand out. Data Bars show relative values with horizontal bars, helping me compare items at a glance. They add a layer of interpretation without taking up much space. Color Scales, on the other hand, use gradients to indicate value changes across a range. This feature allows me to spot patterns and anomalies effortlessly. By applying a color scale, I turn numbers into intuitive visuals, making it easier to understand the data landscape. These tools improve how I perceive and interpret complex datasets. Creating Custom Formatting Rules Creating Custom Formatting Rules gives me the flexibility to tailor Excel to my specific needs. Instead of relying solely on predefined rules, I can define criteria that align closely with my objectives. This enables me to highlight information that is most relevant. To set a custom rule, I specify conditions and the format to apply. By doing so, I can create a visual hierarchy based on my priorities. Creating custom rules allows me to automate repetitive tasks and ensure consistency in how my data is displayed. This personalized approach enhances my efficiency and data handling capabilities. Visualizing Data with Color Coding https://www. youtube. com/embed/Iast1L9r2fw Using color coding in Excel makes it possible to transform complex data into easy-to-understand visuals. By applying different colors, I can quickly identify trends, highlight unusual data points, and evaluate sales or financial numbers effectively. Identifying Trends and Patterns When working with large datasets, it's often crucial to spot trends and patterns. Color scales help me see these at a glance by shading cells in gradient colors. For example, lighter shades might indicate lower values, while darker shades represent higher ones. This visual cue helps in quickly recognizing changes over time or differences between categories. Patterns stand out clearly when colors are applied correctly, allowing for swift decision-making based on data insights. Highlighting Outliers Outliers can often skew the analysis of datasets, so it’s important to identify them quickly. By using conditional formatting, I can automatically highlight these outliers. I set specific formatting rules where extreme values get a unique color, making them easy to spot. This visual distinction ensures that any unusual data points don’t go unnoticed, helping maintain the accuracy of data analysis. By focusing only on the most important outliers, data integrity is preserved for accurate interpretations. Analyzing Sales Performance Color coding is particularly useful when analyzing sales data. By applying different colors to various sales figures, I can easily compare performance across different periods. For instance, profitable months might be marked in green, while less successful ones appear in red. This visual approach provides a clear picture of sales trends and performance. Such visualization allows me to strategize effectively, knowing immediately which areas need attention or improvement. Tracking Financial Data Financial data management often involves complex numbers and trends, which can be overwhelming. By using color coding, I can simplify this process. Applying colored bars, scales, or highlights helps in identifying important information like profit margins or expense ratios. These visual tools bring clarity, ensuring that important financial metrics stand out clearly. It becomes easier to monitor fluctuations and make informed financial decisions based on visible insights. Dynamic Color Coding in Excel https://www. youtube. com/embed/lovBrGWkywo Dynamic color coding in Excel allows me to transform how I interpret and present my data. By using formulas, text-based color coding, and dynamic rules, I can identify trends or important data quickly. For more advanced tasks, VBA provides me with comprehensive solutions. Using Formulas for Color Coding I use formulas to color code cells dynamically, which is very helpful when dealing with changing data in Excel. To do this, I select the desired cell range and navigate to Conditional Formatting under the Home tab. By setting a new rule and using a custom formula, I ensure that cells change color according to their contents or values. For instance, if I want cells to turn red when a value falls below a certain number, I use a formula like =A1100 to apply color if a cell value exceeds 100. This method allows dynamic color changes based on variable data. What steps are involved in color coding cells associated with a dropdown list in Excel? To color code cells linked to a dropdown, first, create a dropdown list using Data Validation. Then, apply Conditional Formatting for each dropdown option. Use "Format only cells that contain" and choose a color for each list entry to make selections visually distinct. What is the method to color code rows in Excel using the IF function? Coloring rows using the IF function requires custom formulas. Go to Conditional Formatting and select "New Rule. " Choose "Use a formula to determine which cells to format. " Enter a formula like =IF($A1="Yes", TRUE, FALSE) and apply a format. This will color rows based on condition checks. --- ### Make Your Excel Spreadsheet into a Bitmap Image With This Excel Magic Trick - Published: 2024-12-11 - Modified: 2024-12-11 - URL: https://excel.tv/creating-a-bitmap-image-from-within-microsoft-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Turn any image into an Excel file? Ever think about turning your face or that picture of your neighbor's dog into an Excel file? Well, even if you haven't, you now can! Years ago I created this little utility that can turn any image into an Excel file. Click here to download it for yourself. How do we use it? Ok, here are the instructions. Identify the image you want to turn into an Excel file. Save it as a bitmap. My utility will work with 24-bit and 256 color bitmap types. If you want to know how to save it as a bitmap, you can just use mspaint as I've done in the video. Open my bitmap_to_excel utilty and go to the Instructions tab. Click on the Click this Shape to Load in your file into Excel button... Select the file you've just made. Click Open. (see the image below) Sit back, relax and enjoy the your new spreadsheet. https://docs. microsoft. com/en-us/windows/desktop/gdi/bitmap-header-types Wikipedia Bitmap File Format (I remember using this extensively) - https://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/BMP_file_format Creating a Bitmap image in VB 6. 0 - https://rerickso. w3. uvm. edu/projects/vb_bmp/BMP. html But why'd you build this? I can't really remember, honestly. I feel like I had a good reason for it. But as with most things I build in Excel, it's because nobody had really done it before. Few problems you may (but hopefully won’t) run into The picture shows up discolored and slanted.   While I’m fairly certain that I’ve fixed this issue, I admit that I am by no means perfect.  When bitmaps are saved, they are “padded” in the file to make their height evenly divisible by four.  The program should compensate for this padding, but if it doesn’t — again, I’m fairly certain this issue is resolved — just resize the bitmap it to the nearest number evenly divisible by four.  (That number is at most three digits away. ) Too many Different Cell Formats error.  Sometimes you’ll get this annoying popup.  If that happens, try zooming in on the canvas screen first and then reuploading your file.  If that doesn’t work, either crop the original image or resize to a smaller one.  Or, if you are uploading a 24-bit bitmap, consider resaving as an 8-bit and then reuploading. Also, this is best used with Excel 2007 and above.  It will work in 2003, but remember that 2003 has a column size limitation, which may cause in an error for files that are too large.  If you are concerned, smaller is better: resize or choose to save in the 8-bit format.  When you are done, remember to save as in the Excel 2007 file type (check to see if you are in compatibility mode) so that you get all the columns required to display your most productive spreadsheet, ever. if you like what you see and choose to host a spreadsheet made with this program (or screen capture of one) on your blog or website, I’d be so grateful if you mentioned this blog!  Have fun. Would you ever use this? After I built this bitmap to Excel program, I thought I'd have tons of uses. But I haven't really come up with anything except as a fun way to surprise friends. But maybe you're different! Leave a comment here, on YouTube, and in our Facebook group on what you might use it for! Get the Download File! Click here to get the download file ​ --- ### Q&A with Mr Excel - Bill Jelen Answers Questions - Published: 2024-12-11 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/qa-with-mr-excel-bill-jelen-answers-questions/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Bill Jelen Microsoft Excel book author and Mr. Excel blog joins Excel TV host Rick Grantham and cohosts Microsoft Excel MVPs Jordan Goldmeier Oz du Soleil on Excel TV. Unfulfilled Promises? And the Sad Reality of Forgotten Bloggers There was blog post by Chandoo in 2013 where hundreds of questions were asked of Mr Excel.  In Bill Jelen's defense, Bill states the questions were answered...  but in the interest of completeness, Bill played along. Click Here For The Link to Chandoo's Post If There Was Only Time Enough Left On This Earth For One More Spreadsheet, What Would It Be Of? It would be a spreadsheet learned from a 4 year old.  Specifically Mike Girvin's son (ExcelIsFun Youtube Channel). Get 3 columns filled with =RAND Select entire range Create 3D Bubble Chart with multiple colors Refresh, refresh, refresh End The World If the Number 42 Is The Answer To The Universe, Life and Everything.  Then How Can We Make Use Of That In Our Pursuit Of Excel Bliss? That would have been a great name for book #42.  Unfortunately the book has already been written and is being published by a serious publisher that expects serious names to books. What Is The One Function You Would Love To See In Excel That Does Not Currently Exist? I want Do You Think Microsoft Will Continue To Support VBA In The Future? We have another 20 years of VBA Support.  Which will get us to the end of Mr Excel's working life. Scatterplot, Boxers, or Pie Chart Briefs? No Comment. How does one become Mr. Excel? I mean I will avoid Kryptonite and I will eat my Wheaties, but short of all that, what was your path like? How did you grow to this juggernaut in 2000? You have to be incredibly foolish. You have to live in a really small cave and be cocky. Of the seven people surrounding me at work, I though, I know Excel better than all those people so I’m going to call myself Mr. Excel. I was Mr. Excel at work and somehow the web was early enough that I was able to get that URL. Initially, I asked everyone to send me Excel questions because I’m going to write an Excel book. At that point it was actually a lie. I really I had been working for a company for 10 years and our competitor had just made a hostile takeover bid and they were going to wipe us off the map. I was about to be unemployed so I thought, ‘I have to start this website and if I can get 50 people to send me Excel questions. Then when I get whacked in a couple months, I have 50 places to send my resume to where people are using Excel. ’ But then the funniest thing happened, the hostile takeover company was doing their due diligence and they discovered some problems and backed out. So now I have this website and I’m supposed to be answering Excel questions and my job continued for another two years.   Those two years were good because it allowed me to get traffic. When that company did come back and buy us two years later, I was able to just hang a shingle and say I’m going to do VBA consulting and VBA Macros.  And I did that day after day. But then a marketing lady looked at my numbers and said you have all these people coming to your website and very few of them hire you. If you had an intermediate $20 product, you would be amazed at what would happen. So I wrote the first book, Guerilla Data Analysis Using Microsoft Excel 1st Edition in 2002, offered for $20. And she was right.   Within the first 18 months, I was selling more books than consulting. I realized this is not a consulting deal. This is selling books. So what I do is sell Excel books. I did not want to go to publishers and didn’t want to hear them say they’re not going take a chance on me. I figured out how to publish the book myself. That is Holy Macro! And again it’s all insecurity. I’m selling this book but I wanted to feel like it was a real book. I wanted to be in the trade book called Publishers Weekly. They review books, but I’m a small guy in Akron, Ohio and I don’t think they’re going to review my book. But you can buy an ad next to the reviews and get a picture of your book there. So you feel like you’re a real publisher. I bought that ad. The guy that sold me the ad said you should talk to a distributor. I did and then I got into Borders and Barnes & Noble. So it started to take off. And then once that book did well, Que Publishing came to me and asked me if I would write for them. So I never got the rejection. I just put the books out there. Kind of backwards, but it worked. Here’s the numbers. If you walk into Barnes and Noble or Books A Million there are 400 different Excel books today. There are 750 million people using Excel. So even if you get one four hundredth of that market it’s still insane. I want 0. 0001 of the people using Excel to buy my books and I’ll never have to work again. It’s such a large pool of people. I always talk about Coke and Pepsi and their market share. I don’t care about 53% vs. 47%. It’s a no-brainer. How do you get to the point where you put yourself out there? Amazon reviews can be vicious. Here’s the thing about Amazon reviews. Never look at them and then you won’t feel bad. There are people that are going to love your books and people who are going to hate your books. I even beg people not to buy this book on the cover, only one of every 10,000 people will find this book useful. I guess it is reverse psychology. They want to be the one out of 10,000. That’s the thing about Holy Macro. If you went to a real publisher and said I want to write a book but I’m going to beg people on the back cover not to buy the book, the publisher would never do that. A large publisher spends $56,000 to get a book to market. They’re never going to let you write a book where you plead readers not to buy the book. With Holy Macro, we are small and simple and use moonlighters. We can get a book to market for 1/7 of that. Looking back at your older books, since you have so many, is there anything in them that you would read now and say that’s not how you should do it? Absolutely. It always happens. It gets better as the additions go down from the first second to third etc. . And, Oz, let’s compare notes. You do live seminars in Chicago. When I do a seminar, I don’t charge people for the seminar provided they buy books. All I am trying to do is sell books. I tell them upfront, I guarantee today that someone in this room will see me do something in Excel and say there’s a better way to do it. I don’t want you to be shy. I want you to raise your hand and show me up. This is interactive. So when I do those seminars. I’m guaranteed to get two to three new tips. And sometimes you break the record. Like in Oklahoma City I got eight new tips in one day seminar. This is a racket! They fly me there and then I get free Excel tips! And I can put them in the next book. People discover all kinds of weird stuff. What's Next? Do you have a question for Bill?  What question have you always wanted to ask?  Leave a note in the comments section below. --- ### B2B Marketing Budget Allocation Template - Published: 2024-12-10 - Modified: 2024-12-11 - URL: https://excel.tv/marketing-budget-allocation-template/ - Categories: Excel Templates A Proven Framework for Marketing Budget Allocation in B2B One of the most daunting tasks for a global marketing leader is consolidating budget requests from multiple teams into a cohesive plan. It’s not just about crunching numbers—it’s about aligning every dollar with strategic priorities while maintaining clarity for all stakeholders. During my time as VP of Digital Marketing and Marketing Operations, I developed a flexible yet structured marketing budget template that eliminated confusion, saved hours of manual effort, and enabled alt="" title="global-marketing-budget-example"/> This framework helped consolidate budget requests from multiple departments into one document, providing clear visibility into allocations by product line, region, team, and month. Now, I’m sharing this template with the Excel. TV community to help simplify your marketing budget process. Why This Template Works This template wasn’t created in a vacuum. It’s the product of years of experience working with marketing teams in the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem, ISVs, VARs, and global distributors. I designed it to address key pain points, such as: Fragmented Data: Each department often provides budget requests in different formats, making consolidation a nightmare. Lack of Clarity: Without a unified format, it's nearly impossible to get a clear picture of overall marketing spend by region or product line. Risk of Overlap: Multiple teams working in the same spreadsheet can lead to errors and accidental overwrites. This template solves these issues by creating a centralized system while maintaining the flexibility for individual departments to manage their own line items. Key Features of the Marketing Budget Template This template was designed with input from CMOs, finance teams, and marketing professionals, making it highly practical and versatile. Here’s what sets it apart: Separate Departmental Sheets: Each team or department gets its own worksheet to input detailed line items, ensuring clarity and preventing accidental overwrites. Automatic Summaries: The template consolidates data from all departments into a master summary, breaking down total spend by: Product Line (or Business Unit) Region (e. g. , North America, EMEA, APAC) Month (to track cash flow and seasonal trends) Customizable Framework: While structured, the template is flexible enough to accommodate your organization’s unique structure, whether you manage a single product line or multiple business units across global regions. Forecastingg: Built-in formulas allow for easy forecasting of monthly and annual budgets . By using this template, your marketing team can eliminate hours spent manually consolidating spreadsheets from various departments. The clear breakdowns also help CMOs and finance teams make informed decisions about budget allocation and ensure that every dollar aligns with company goals. Why Budget Allocation Matters Marketing budgets are more than just numbers—they’re the blueprint for achieving business goals. However, without a well-structured system, common pitfalls can derail even the most strategic plans: Overlapping Priorities: When budgets aren’t clearly allocated by team, product line, or region, it’s easy for resources to be misaligned with business goals. Siloed Planning: Departments working in isolation may fail to account for interdependencies, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. Missed Insights: Without a consolidated view, it’s hard to spot trends, identify inefficiencies, or justify your budget to executives. A well-designed template not only simplifies the logistics but also facilitates collaboration and provides actionable insights into your marketing spend. Best Practices for Marketing Budget Allocation To get the most out of this template, consider the following best practices: 1. Start with Strategic Priorities Every dollar in your marketing budget should align with your company’s goals. Begin by defining key objectives, such as: Increasing brand awareness Generating leads for a specific product line Supporting sales in a high-growth region Once these priorities are clear, allocate budgets accordingly. 2. Collaborate Across Departments While this template ensures clarity, it’s still crucial to engage department heads early in the process. Encourage open communication to understand their needs and challenges while aligning their requests with overarching goals. 3. Plan for Flexibility Marketing is dynamic. Leave room in your budget for unexpected opportunities, such as trade shows, product launches, or high-performing campaigns that require additional investment. 4. Leverage Historical Data Use data from past campaigns to inform budget decisions. For example, if a specific channel consistently delivers a high ROI, consider allocating more budget to it while scaling back less effective initiatives. 5. Monitor and Adjust Budgeting isn’t a one-and-done process. Use this template to track actual spend versus planned allocations monthly. Regularly review performance metrics and reallocate funds to high-performing initiatives as needed. 6. Incorporate Forecasting Predict cash flow by analyzing trends in seasonal demand or product launches. This ensures your team isn’t caught off guard by high spend months and can proactively manage resources. 7. Communicate with Stakeholders Transparency is key. Summarized views in this template make it easy to provide executives with a clear picture of how marketing dollars are being spent, increasing confidence in your decisions. Download the Template I’ve cleaned up the original document and made it available for you to use as a base template. Whether you're running a startup or managing a global team, this framework can be customized to fit your needs. Simply enter your work email, and we’ll send you both the Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets versions.   Fill out the form above to download the Marketing Budget Template and take the first step toward a more organized, transparent budgeting process. --- ### How to Sort Multiple Columns/Table with Excel VBA - Published: 2024-12-10 - Modified: 2024-12-10 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-vba-sort-multiple-columns/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports - Formats: Video We all know the power of harnessing Excel VBA to dynamically sort tables, columns, and dashboards based on user input. But is there a simpler, more elegant way to achieve this? The answer is yes! This guide will walk you through the process of sorting tables and ranges using Excel VBA—from sorting multiple columns to sorting arrays alphabetically. Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier has shared insights that make sorting with VBA not only powerful but also efficient and intuitive. Let’s explore how to make Excel VBA sorting work for you. Why Use Excel VBA for Sorting? Excel VBA offers unparalleled flexibility when it comes to sorting data. While Excel’s built-in sorting tools are great for quick tasks, VBA allows for dynamic and automated sorting. Whether you’re working with large datasets or need to apply specific sorting logic repeatedly, Excel VBA can: Sort Ranges Dynamically: Use VBA to sort a range by multiple keys without manual intervention. Sort Tables by Column Name: Automatically sort tables based on column headers. Sort Arrays Alphabetically: Organize data in arrays for more advanced applications. Handle Multiple Columns: Sort by multiple columns in ascending or descending order with ease. Let’s dive in! Getting Started with Excel VBA Sort To sort data using VBA, you’ll need to understand the basics of the Sort method. This method allows you to sort ranges, tables, and arrays based on your criteria. Example 1: Excel VBA Sort Range Here’s how you can sort a range in ascending order by a single column: Sub SortRangeAscending Dim ws As Worksheet Set ws = ThisWorkbook. Sheets("Sheet1") With ws. Sort . SortFields. Clear . SortFields. Add Key:=ws. Range("A1:A10"), Order:=xlAscending . SetRange ws. Range("A1:B10") . Header = xlYes . Apply End With End Sub This code sorts the range A1:B10 by the first column in ascending order. You can modify the Key and Order parameters to sort by other columns or in descending order. Sorting Tables with VBA Example 2: Excel VBA Sort Table by Column Name Sorting a table by column name can be incredibly useful when working with structured data. Here’s an example: Sub SortTableByColumnName Dim ws As Worksheet Dim tbl As ListObject Set ws = ThisWorkbook. Sheets("Sheet1") Set tbl = ws. ListObjects("Table1") With tbl. Sort . SortFields. Clear . SortFields. Add Key:=tbl. ListColumns("Sales"). Range, Order:=xlDescending . Header = xlYes . Apply End With End Sub This code sorts the table named "Table1" by the "Sales" column in descending order. Replace "Sales" with any column name to customize the sort. Sorting by Multiple Columns Example 3: Excel VBA Sort by Multiple Columns Sorting by multiple columns is essential when you need to prioritize data hierarchies. Here’s how to sort by multiple keys: Sub SortRangeMultipleKeys Dim ws As Worksheet Set ws = ThisWorkbook. Sheets("Sheet1") With ws. Sort . SortFields. Clear . SortFields. Add Key:=ws. Range("A1:A10"), Order:=xlAscending . SortFields. Add Key:=ws. Range("B1:B10"), Order:=xlDescending . SetRange ws. Range("A1:C10") . Header = xlYes . Apply End With End Sub This code sorts the range A1:C10 first by column A in ascending order and then by column B in descending order. You can add more SortFields for additional keys. Advanced Sorting: Sorting Arrays Alphabetically Example 4: Excel VBA Sort Array Alphabetically Sorting arrays alphabetically can be helpful when working with data in memory. Here’s an example: Sub SortArrayAlphabetically Dim myArray As String Dim i As Long, j As Long Dim temp As String ' Initialize array myArray = Split("Orange,Apple,Banana,Grape", ",") ' Bubble sort For i = LBound(myArray) To UBound(myArray) - 1 For j = i + 1 To UBound(myArray) If myArray(i) > myArray(j) Then temp = myArray(i) myArray(i) = myArray(j) myArray(j) = temp End If Next j Next i ' Output sorted array For i = LBound(myArray) To UBound(myArray) Debug. Print myArray(i) Next i End Sub This code sorts a string array alphabetically and prints the result to the Immediate Window. Sorting Best Practices Define Your Range Clearly: Always specify the exact range or table you want to sort. Use Dynamic Ranges: Utilize named ranges or dynamic references to make your code adaptable. Test Your Code: Run your VBA scripts on sample data to ensure the sorting logic works as intended. Combine Sorting with Filters: For complex datasets, consider applying filters before sorting to isolate relevant data. 1 – The Excel Dashboard Data The image below shows an illustrative data set, where A, B and C are metrics were are interested in. Also, the Result can be interpreted as an overall score (based on these metrics) representing the effectiveness of each project. The problem at our hand is to have a sorted version of this table based on what the user chooses from the metrics or the Result. 2 – Setting up the Dashboard The image below shows the setup we will be using. Of course, you can use any template you like. The important thing is to get an understanding of the technique. The User Choice is a dropdown menu containing the choices A, B, C and Result. The end-user can choose any of them based on their interests. The Match just returns index of User Choice from the green highlighted set of cells. Note that we will always be using an exact match. 3 – Sorting Column In this step we will add a column to our data to fetch the information we are interested in. As demonstrated in the image below, we just index the value we are interested in. Of course, the value to fetch depends on the result of our Match from the Setup above. Since we selected C in our template, for example, the Match was 3. 'Sorted Data'! $C$3 represents the location of this 3 in our template chosen. Hence, as expected this formula would return 70. 0. 4 – LARGE function Now, in our template, we would be using the LARGE function to sort the data into descending order. The image below shows the input formula. We selected the array “Sorted Column” from the data, and the LARGE function returned the 1st largest value. Dragging the formula down to Index 2 will give the 2nd largest value, then the 3rd and so on. 5 – MATCH and INDEX In the Match Index column in our template, we try to find row number of the value returned by the LARGE function from the data. It has been illustrated in the image below. Once we know this row number, it is easy to use the INDEX function to fetch the Program Name, A, B, C and Result from this row in the data. The result will look something like this: Notice how the projects are listed in a descending order according to metric C. However, there is one problem: some entries are repeated! Well, this actually was expected. Let’s address this now. 6 – Sorting Column Revisited As you might have guessed it, the problem occurs because multiple projects can have the same score. And since the MATCH function always picks up the first one, it gets repeated multiple times. Now, we will attempt to change the Sorted Column part of our data to prevent this repetition. As shown in the picture, we just add the index number divided by 10,000 or 100,000. Since no project has the same index number, no project will have the same number in this column. And now when we turn to our template, we see that the duplicates have vanished! See how the same sorting template is also working perfectly when Result is selected in User Choice. This process of adding varying amounts of very small quantities to the data to make every entry unique is known as data jittering. And this technique is commonly employed in graphing problems. What’s next? Excel VBA sorting is a game-changer for automating data organization. Whether you’re sorting ranges, tables, or arrays, VBA gives you the power to customize sorting logic to fit your needs. From sorting multiple columns to dynamically sorting tables by column name, the possibilities are endless. Use the examples and best practices in this guide to elevate your Excel skills and streamline your workflow. And do not forget to share your thoughts and experiences with us in the comments section below. Cheers! --- ### How to Build Sparkline Charts in Excel – MS Excel Tutorials - Published: 2024-12-09 - Modified: 2024-12-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-build-sparkline-charts-in-excel-ms-excel-tutorials-2/ - Categories: Excel Charts, Graphs & Data Visualization - Formats: Video Sparklines allow quick and easy visualization of data. These charts do not require you to go through the hassle of formatting chart axes. As shown in the picture on the right, Sparkline charts fit in a single cell. This allows for easy treatment and formatting, as will be explained below. They are also a cool addition to your dashboard. And Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier is here to show us how it is done. So, let’s start. Step 1: Sparkline Chart Go to the cell where you want to make the chart. Now go to Insert tab and, under the Sparklines section, select ‘Column’. Notice that the selected cell is already in the location. So, just select the data and press OK. You will see the Sparkline chart appearing in the selected cell. Step 2: Formatting – Colors Select the chart and go to the Design tab. Under the Style section, you would find many color schemes that you could use. You can also use ‘Sparkline Color’ option if you wish. Step 3: Formatting – High Point You might want to highlight the highest point in your Sparkline chart. There is a very simple way to do it quickly. Under the Design tab, within the Show section, just check ‘High Point’. You will see that the highest bar is of a different color now. Within the Style section, in ‘Marker Color’, you can choose which color to show the high point in. You could do the same for lowest points, first points, last points or negative points. Step 4: Functional Use Sparkline charts can be used as formulae in a cell as far as copy & paste is concerned. So if your data is in rows, and you want a Sparkline chart for each row, just copy and paste it like you would do if it were a formula.   Step 5: Cleaning Up Once you have the Sparkline charts of your data, you might want to hide that data. You can group that data using the ‘Group’ tool in the Outline section under the Data tab. After hiding the data away you would see that the Sparkline charts will disappear. To prevent this from happening, select the chart and go to the Design tab. Under the ‘Edit Data’ feature, select “Hidden & Empty Cells... ”. Now check the box as shown in the picture on the right and click OK. Now, when your grouped data is minimized or hidden away, the Sparkline charts will still be visible. Get the Download Download the File What’s next? Use this whenever you want a quick visualization of some data. And, most importantly, do not forget to SHARE it! ! --- ### How to Create a Relative File Path in Power Query - Published: 2024-12-09 - Modified: 2024-12-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-create-a-relative-file-path-in-power-query/ - Categories: Excel Power Query & Data Cleaning - Formats: Video In this blog post, we'll talk about how to create a relative file path. I'm sharing this because it's a common problem: the client asks me to build something, which happens on my computer, but then I need to send it to them. If the file path is absolute, as you'll see in this example, the client won't be able to correctly run the query. The instructions to create a relative path are as follows. Download Files: Click here to download the 2 files used in this tutorial.   Power Query Relative Path Steps 1. To use Power Query hack, first connect to another spreadsheet using Power Query. You can do this by going into the Data Tab and selecting Get and Transform, select From File and select the desire Excel file you'd like to load to Power Query. In this case, I've selected the local file I'm interested in called Sample Table. xlsx. 2. When finished, select Close and Load To. If you choose to edit the table first, you'll select Close and Load To in the Power Query editor. Alternatively, you can skip this step and simply load it directly into the spreadsheet by hitting the Load button in the Power Query dialog box. 3. Next, create a new worksheet tab called Setup. Right click on the bottom of the worksheet and add a new tab. I recommend calling it Setup but you can also call it Backend, Setings, etc. It's important however to be explicit. Why? Because it's good spreadsheet practice, that's why. 4. In a desired cell add in the correct formula. The correct formula appears as follows: =LEFT(CELL("filename",$A$1),FIND("Setup Note, we really only want everything until that first "}{0}, Then edit the Source variable. Source = Excel. Workbook(File. Contents(Filepath & "Sample Table. xlsx"), null, true), If you did it right, it'll look something like this: Some final thoughts If you're having trouble, there are two main areas where I've found people have been tripped up: They forgot add a comma at the end of their M code instruction. Remember, each line ends with a comma up until right before the "in" keyword. M is case sensitive, so if you write "FilePath," say, and not "Filepath," your Power Query will error out. That's not the case with regular, old-fashioned Excel. How would you use this? Don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments. Let us know in the comments! --- ### Microsoft Excel Visio Data Visualizer Add In for Excel: A Quick Guide - Published: 2024-12-09 - Modified: 2024-12-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/microsoft-excel-visio-data-visualizer-add-in-for-excel-a-quick-guide/ - Categories: Excel Charts, Graphs & Data Visualization - Formats: Video Introduction I wanted to let you know about a really cool new add in for Microsoft Excel. This is one of those modern add-ins you can download from the Microsoft store. This add-in can allow you to easily create hierarchy type process maps and flow charts. The free version creates standalone type charts. The paid version, the one Microsoft would like you to buy, connects you to the online Visio service. The idea is that you can create a process map in Excel, automatically generate an editable Visio file, and then integrate that into Power Point. Today, I'll only deal with the *FREE* version. How to download the Microsoft Excel Data Visualizer Follow these steps to download and install the Microsoft Excel Data Visualizer: Step 1: Open Excel Launch Excel on your computer and open a new or existing workbook. Step 2: Access the Add-Ins Store Navigate to the Insert tab in the ribbon. Click on Get Add-ins in the Add-ins group. Step 3: Search for the Data Visualizer In the Office Add-ins store, type "Data Visualizer" into the search bar. Locate the Microsoft Visio Data Visualizer add-in in the search results. Step 4: Add the Data Visualizer Click the Add button next to the Microsoft Visio Data Visualizer. Once installed, you'll need to login with your Office 365 Account. To gain access. Review and accept any permissions or terms of use to complete the installation. Step 5: Verify Installation Once the add-in is installed, you’ll see it appear in the Insert tab or as a separate pane in your workbook. Inserting a new Visio hierarchy diagram To insert a new diagram, go Insert > My Add-ins and select My Add-ins > Microsoft Data Visualizer. Diagram Types The are three diagram types available. These types are as follows: Basic Flow Chart, Cross-Functional Flowchart, and Organization Chart. Basic Flowcharts Basic flow charts should be used for general flows. Under the Basic flowchart type there are four options: Quick Start - Quick start will create a very simple decision diagram Horizontal - Horizontal will create a very basic horizontal flow diagram Vertical - Vertical will create a very basic vertical flow diagram Hierarchy - Hierarchy will create a very simple top-down hierarchy. It will have less features than the comparable diagrams in Organization Chart section. Cross Functional Flow Charts There are five default flowchart types for Cross Functional charts. Sometimes these are referred to as "swim lane" charts. Here are the defaults: Quick Start - Quick start creates a multiple phase cross functional flow chart with various elements on it. The layout is a bit random but should be enough to help you keep going. Horizontal - Horizontal creates a swin-lane chart with multiple phases. That basically means everything will be laid out in a grid but the flow will be horizontal. Horizontal (single phase) - Horizontal (single phase) will look like the prototypical swim lane chart. It won't have multiple phases crossing on the other axis. The flow is horizontal. Vertical - Vertical creates a swin-lane chart with multiple phases. That basically means everything will be laid out in a grid but the flow will be vertical. Vertical (single phase) -Vertical (single phase) will look like the prototypical swim lane chart. It won't have multiple phases crossing on the other axis. The flow is vertical. Organization Chart There are five organizational chart types. These charts create hierarchies useful for modeling organizational structures. However, with some additional work, you could adapt the problem to alternate hierarchies. Here are the five chart types: Quick Start - This would create a simple bi-level hierarchy Vertical - This would create a vertical (root at the top) tri-level hierarchy. Horizontal - This would create a Horizontal (root at the left) tri-level hierarchy. Side-by-side - This chart would be ideal when you need to organize several people in a hierarchy at the same level. To be honest, I don't really see a true reason for this one. I would recommend using another type. Hybrid - This is the one you'll most likely be using to model most complex organizations. With this choice, Excel will take care of the layout vis a vis different levels. Editing a Hierarchy I won't go through each type in this guide. However, no matter which type you select, several options are available in each diagram type by editing the Excel table. Basics of Editing For the most part, you can edit the following parts of the diagrams: Connections to other Objects, Captions, Object Shape and Color, and Connection Labels. Editing a Connection Each object has its own ID. There is usually also another column that includes the potential connections to another object. The image below shows the object IDs on the left. Note, this is a basic chart hierarchy example, Next Step ID contains the next items to connect to. Different charts may have a different name, but the concept is the same. To connect to multiple IDs, use a comma. Editing a Caption Each diagram allows you to edit one or more captions. In the hierarchy example, you can edit each title by changing the Process Step Description. Again, this column name might change depending upon the chart type selected, but it should be fairly obvious which column holds the information. Editing an Object Shape and Color Most diagram options will have a preloaded set of categorical designations. These will change the color and shape of each object. I think some of them follow flow chart norms. The following example uses an organizational chart layout. In this case, changing Role Type will change the color or shape. If you scroll up, you see the simple hierarchy use the Shape Type column instead. Editing a Connection Label You can also edit a connection label in several charts. This will allow you to change the label next to the connection arrow to the next job. If you think of a decision flow diagram, the standard connection labels for a decision are "Yes, No. " You'll see columns like Connector Label that will allow you to set the label. If you have multiple connections separated by a comma, each comma separated label will be applied to them respectively. (You can see an example of this in the video above. ) Overview of the Visio Flow Chart This section provides an over view of the actual flow chart. There are multiple buttons on and interactive items on the chart. The image below provides a description of the layout. Note that you can edit, refresh, change the zoom level and view expanded options. Edit Button This button is a bit of a misnomer as you are able to edit the chart on the spreadsheet itself. However, if you have one of those expanded Office 365 licenses (don't ask me which one, I can barely figure out my current license -- all I know is that it doesn't include Visio), you can actually edi the the file itself as a visio file. That would give you significantly more control over color, fonts, and more. Again, though, it's only for paid accounts. From what I understand, it'll create a visio file store on OneDrive. That file would be separate from the Excel file but embedded. Refresh Button After each change to the Excel table, you'll need to hit Refresh to see the result. I'm told this will be upgraded to automatically refresh. Until the, you'll be clicking this button a lot. Zooming You can zoom in and out using the zoom slider. If you want to reset the zoom, you can select the zoom to fit button. Expanded Options (Delete Button) The expanded options menu contains additional support items. It's also where you can delete the visio chart if you don't want it anymore.  You can also show it as a saved image. Final Thoughts The Microsoft Excel Data Visualizer is a powerful tool that brings your data to life with minimal effort. By downloading and using this add-in, you can save time, improve productivity, and communicate insights more effectively. Whether you’re mapping workflows or building organizational charts, the Data Visualizer can help you turn raw numbers into meaningful visuals. One thing still missing is VBA manipulation. If you wanted to use VBA to create a chart for a user, you'd basically have your macros fill in the required information in the table dynamically. That's about as much programmatic capability I can see for now. In addition, "data visualizer" is not a great name. Data isn't really being visualized in what we could consider a quantitative display. This is more of a concept mapper. Still, I think this flow chart is pretty cool. What do you think? Would you use it? --- ### How to Use Power Query in Excel - Published: 2024-12-07 - Modified: 2024-12-11 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-use-power-query-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Power Query & Data Cleaning - Formats: Video Streamline Data Processing and Analysis with Power Query in Excel Power Query in Excel is a game-changing tool for data analysis. I've found it incredibly useful for importing and transforming data from various sources. Power Query allows you to data transformation and analysis. I'll show you how to activate it and give an overview of the main interface elements. Activating Power Query To start using Power Query in Excel, I first need to activate it. In Excel 2016 and later versions, it's already built-in. I go to the "Data" tab on the ribbon and look for the "Get & Transform Data" section. For Excel 2010 and 2013, I might need to download and install the Power Query add-in. Once activated, I can click "Get Data" to import data from various sources. This opens up a menu with options like Excel workbooks, databases, and online services. Excel Power Query Interface Overview After importing data, I'm taken to the Power Query Editor. The interface has three main parts: Query pane: On the left, I see a list of all my queries. Preview pane: In the center, I can see a preview of my data. Query Settings: On the right, I find details about my query steps. The ribbon at the top has tools for data transformation. I can use these to filter, sort, and modify my data. The "Home" tab has common actions, while "Transform" offers more advanced options. Connecting to Data Sources https://www. youtube. com/embed/RHQUFavyB2A Power Query enables linking to various data sources in Excel. It provides tools to connect, import, and transform data from many places. This makes working with different types of information much easier. Supported Data Sources Power Query works with many kinds of data sources. I can connect to Excel workbooks, CSV files, and text files. It also links to databases like Power Query Editor, I see the main window split into several panes. On the left, I find the Query List showing all my queries. This helps me manage multiple data sources. The central area displays my data preview. I can scroll through rows and columns here to check my data. On the right, I see the Query Settings pane. This shows all the steps I've applied to my data. I can edit or delete steps here if needed. At the top, I have the ribbon with transformation tools. I use these to filter, sort, and modify my data quickly. Columns and Data Preview In the data preview, I can easily work with columns. I right-click on a column header to see options like renaming, removing, or changing data types. I can also click the column header to sort or filter data. This helps me spot issues or patterns quickly. For a closer look, I double-click a cell to see its full contents. This is handy for long text entries. The data preview updates in real-time as I make changes. I can see how each step affects my data immediately. If I need to see more rows, I adjust the preview settings. This lets me work with a larger sample of my data. Transforming and Shaping Data Power Query gives you lots of tools to clean up and organize your data. I'll show you how to filter, sort, split columns, change data types, and combine data from different sources. Filtering and Sorting To filter data in Power Query, I click the arrow next to a column header. I can pick which values to keep or remove. For numbers and dates, I can set ranges. To sort, I click the same arrow and choose "Sort Ascending" or "Sort Descending". This puts my data in order. I can also use more complex filters. The "Add Column From Examples" feature lets me create new columns based on patterns in my data. This is great for splitting names or extracting info from text. Splitting Columns and Changing Data Types Splitting columns is useful when I have too much info in one cell. I select the column and click "Split Column" in the ribbon. I can split by delimiter (like a comma) or by number of characters. Changing data types is crucial for accurate calculations. I click the icon next to the column name to change its type. Options include text, number, date, and more. Sometimes Power Query guesses the data type wrong. I always double-check and fix any mistakes. This prevents errors later on. extract data from CSV files in Power Query, I click "Get Data" and choose "Text/CSV" from the options. I then select my file and click "Import". For JSON files, I select "JSON" instead. After importing, I can view a preview of the data. With CSV files, columns are usually detected automatically. For JSON files, I may need to expand nested objects. I do this by clicking the expand arrow next to column headers. To extract specific values, I use the "Add Column" feature. I can create custom columns based on existing data or use formulas to pull out nested values from JSON. Handling Null Values and Duplicates Null values can cause issues in analysis. I deal with them by using the "Replace Values" option. I select the column, choose "Replace Values", and set null to a suitable replacement like 0 or "N/A". For text columns, I might use the "Fill" option to copy values down from non-null cells above. To remove duplicates, I use the "Remove Duplicates" button. I can choose which columns to consider when identifying duplicates. I can also create a custom column to flag duplicates without removing them. This helps me track which rows were duplicates in my original dataset. Finalizing Your Query After transforming your data in Power Query, it's time to bring it into Excel and keep it up-to-date. I'll show you how to --- ### Advanced VLOOKUP Tutorial – VLOOKUP() Speed in Excel - Published: 2024-12-07 - Modified: 2024-12-07 - URL: https://excel.tv/advanced-excel-tutorial-vlookup-speed-in-excel-excel-tv-episode-54/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video Optimizing Efficiency for Large Excel Datasets with VLOOKUP VLOOKUP is a powerful Excel function that can save you time and effort when working with large datasets. As an Excel expert, I've found that mastering VLOOKUP can greatly improve your spreadsheet skills. By using advanced VLOOKUP techniques, you can speed up your calculations and make your Excel formulas more efficient. I've spent years refining my VLOOKUP skills, and I'm excited to share some advanced tips to help you work faster in Excel. In this tutorial, we'll explore how to optimize VLOOKUP for speed and accuracy. You'll learn tricks like using INDEX-MATCH instead of VLOOKUP for better performance and how to handle multiple criteria in your lookups. Whether you're a beginner looking to improve your Excel skills or an experienced user wanting to take your VLOOKUP game to the next level, this guide has something for you. Let's dive in and discover how to make your spreadsheets more powerful and efficient. Key Takeaways VLOOKUP can be optimized for faster calculations in large datasets Advanced techniques like INDEX-MATCH can improve lookup speed and flexibility Proper table setup and formula structure are crucial for efficient VLOOKUP usage Understanding VLOOKUP Basics VLOOKUP is a key Excel function for finding and retrieving data. I'll explain its core elements and how to use them effectively. The Syntax of VLOOKUP The VLOOKUP function has four main parts: Lookup value Table array Col_index_num Range lookup Here's the basic structure: =VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, ) I use the lookup value to find a match in the first column of my table array. The col_index_num tells Excel which column to pull the result from. The range lookup is optional and determines if I want an exact or approximate match. Lookup Value in Practice When I use VLOOKUP, the lookup value is what I'm searching for. It can be a number, text, or cell reference. For example: Number: =VLOOKUP(42, A1, 2, FALSE) Text: =VLOOKUP("Apple", B2, 3, FALSE) Cell reference: =VLOOKUP(A2, $B$2:$D$20, 3, FALSE) I always make sure my lookup value matches the data type in the first column of my table array. This helps avoid errors and ensures accurate results. The Role of Table Array The table array is the range of cells where I look for my data. It's crucial to set this up correctly: The lookup value must be in the first column of the table array. I organize my data from left to right, with the lookup column on the far left. I include all columns I might need to reference. For instance, if I'm looking up employee salaries, my table array might look like this: Employee IDNameDepartmentSalary101JohnSales50000102JaneMarketing55000 By setting up my table array correctly, I ensure VLOOKUP can find and return the right information quickly and accurately. Setting up the Lookup Table Creating a well-organized lookup table is key for efficient VLOOKUP operations. I'll show you how to define named ranges and use them effectively in your VLOOKUP formulas. Defining Named Ranges Named ranges make it easier to work with data in Excel. To create one, I select the cells I want to include. Then I click the Name Box in the top left corner and type a name without spaces. For a lookup table, I might use "ProductList" or "EmployeeData". I can also use the Formulas tab. I click "Define Name" and enter the details. This method lets me set the scope of the named range - workbook, sheet, or a specific range of cells. Named ranges update automatically when I add or remove data, keeping my lookup table current. Using Named Ranges in VLOOKUP Named ranges simplify VLOOKUP formulas. Instead of typing cell references, I use the range name. This makes formulas easier to read and less prone to errors. Here's an example: =VLOOKUP(A2, ProductList, 2, FALSE) In this formula, "ProductList" is the named range for my lookup table. It's clearer than a cell reference like A1. I can use named ranges for the lookup value and return column too. This flexibility makes my formulas more dynamic and easier to maintain. Named ranges also speed up VLOOKUP calculations, especially in large datasets. Excel processes named ranges faster than cell references. Crafting More Complex Lookups VLOOKUP can handle tricky data tasks when used creatively. I'll show you how to use it for multiple criteria, nested functions, and combining with other formulas. Handling Multiple Criteria To look up data based on more than one condition, I use a helper column. This column combines the criteria into a single unique value. For example, I might merge a product code and color into one cell: =A2&"-"&B2 Then I use this new column as the lookup value in my VLOOKUP formula. This trick lets me find items that match both criteria at once. I can also use an INDEX-MATCH combo for multiple criteria without a helper column. It's more flexible but a bit harder to set up: =INDEX(result_range, MATCH(1, (criteria1_range=criteria1)*(criteria2_range=criteria2), 0)) This formula checks both conditions and returns the matching result. Employing Nested VLOOKUP Functions I can put one VLOOKUP inside another to perform complex lookups. This is useful when I need to find a value based on the result of another lookup. Here's an example: =VLOOKUP(VLOOKUP(A1, Table1, 2, FALSE), Table2, 3, FALSE) The inner VLOOKUP finds a value in Table1. I use this result as the lookup value for the outer VLOOKUP in Table2. I'm careful with nested VLOOKUPs because they can slow down my spreadsheet if overused. For simpler tasks, I stick to single VLOOKUP formulas. Integrating VLOOKUP with SUMIF and COUNTIF I often combine VLOOKUP with SUMIF or COUNTIF for more powerful data analysis. These combos let me look up values and perform calculations in one step. For example, to sum sales for a specific product: =SUMIF(product_range, VLOOKUP(product_code, lookup_table, 2, FALSE), sales_range) This formula looks up the product name, then sums all sales for that product. I use a similar approach with COUNTIF to count occurrences: =COUNTIF(date_range, ">"&VLOOKUP(employee_id, employee_table, 3, FALSE)) This counts how many dates are after an employee's start date, which I look up first. These combined formulas are great for creating summary reports and dashboards. Improving VLOOKUP Performance and Accuracy VLOOKUP is a powerful Excel function, but it can be slow and prone to errors if not used correctly. I'll share some key techniques to boost its speed and reliability. Exact Match versus Approximate Match When using VLOOKUP, I always pay attention to the match type. Exact match (FALSE or 0) is usually faster and more accurate. It looks for an exact match in the first column of the lookup range. Approximate match (TRUE or 1) can be useful for finding the closest value, but it's slower. It requires the lookup column to be sorted in ascending order. I've found that exact match is generally more reliable for most scenarios. It prevents unintended results when dealing with similar but not identical values. Utilizing Wildcards for Partial Matches Wildcards can be incredibly useful when I need to find partial matches. The asterisk (*) represents any number of characters, while the question mark (? ) represents a single character. For example, "S*" would match "Sales", "Service", etc. "S? ? ? ? " would match any 5-letter word starting with S. I use wildcards with caution, as they can slow down VLOOKUP. When possible, I try to narrow down the search range to improve performance. Error Handling with IFERROR IFERROR is a lifesaver when dealing with potential VLOOKUP errors. It allows me to specify what should happen if VLOOKUP can't find a match. Instead of seeing "#N/A" errors, I can display custom messages or alternative values. This makes my spreadsheets more user-friendly and easier to troubleshoot. Here's a simple example: =IFERROR(VLOOKUP(A2, B2:C10, 2, FALSE), "Not Found") This formula will return "Not Found" if VLOOKUP doesn't find a match, instead of showing an error. Advanced VLOOKUP Techniques VLOOKUP is a powerful Excel function, but it can do even more with some advanced techniques. I'll show you how to take your VLOOKUP skills to the next level using dynamic ranges, array formulas, and helper columns. Leveraging INDIRECT for Dynamic Ranges I find INDIRECT incredibly useful for creating flexible VLOOKUP formulas. This function lets me reference cells by using text strings, making my lookups more dynamic. To use INDIRECT with VLOOKUP, I first set up named ranges for my data. Then, I create a cell where I can input the range name. My VLOOKUP formula looks like this: =VLOOKUP(lookup_value, INDIRECT(range_name), column_index, FALSE) This setup allows me to switch between different lookup tables easily. I just change the range name in the input cell, and my VLOOKUP updates automatically. I can also use INDIRECT to pull data from multiple sheets. By combining sheet names and cell references, I create formulas that can look up data across an entire workbook. Mastering Array Formulas with VLOOKUP Array formulas let me perform multiple calculations with a single formula. When combined with VLOOKUP, they become a powerful tool for complex data analysis. One common use is looking up multiple criteria. My formula might look like this: {=VLOOKUP(A2&B2, {C2&D2, E2}, 2, FALSE)} This formula concatenates two columns for the lookup value and table array. It then returns results based on matches in both columns. I can also use array formulas to return all matching values, not just the first one VLOOKUP finds. This is especially useful when I'm dealing with datasets that have multiple matches for a single lookup value. Creating Helper Columns for Complex Lookups Sometimes, I need to perform lookups based on criteria that aren't easily captured in a single column. That's when I turn to helper columns. A helper column combines information from multiple columns into a single, unique identifier. For example, I might concatenate a customer's first name, last name, and ID number. =A2&"-"&B2&"-"&C2 I then use this helper column as the lookup column in my VLOOKUP formula. This approach allows me to create more flexible and powerful lookups. Helper columns also improve VLOOKUP speed. By pre-calculating complex conditions, I reduce the work Excel needs to do during the actual lookup process. Alternative Lookup Methods Excel offers powerful alternatives to VLOOKUP that can improve speed and flexibility. These methods provide more robust solutions for data lookup tasks. Understanding INDEX-MATCH I find INDEX-MATCH to be a versatile combo for lookups. It works by using two functions together: INDEX: Returns a value from a range MATCH: Finds the position of a value in a range This pairing allows me to look up values in any direction - left, right, up, or down. It's often faster than VLOOKUP for large datasets. Here's a basic formula structure: =INDEX(return_range, MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_range, 0)) I can use this to search columns to the left, which VLOOKUP can't do. It's also less prone to errors when inserting or deleting columns. Exploring the Power of XLOOKUP simpler to use and more powerful. Key benefits of XLOOKUP: Searches in any direction Returns exact or approximate matches Handles errors gracefully The basic syntax is: =XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array) I can easily add extra arguments for more complex lookups. XLOOKUP also allows me to search from the bottom up, which is great for finding the most recent data. Troubleshooting Common VLOOKUP Issues VLOOKUP can sometimes give unexpected results or errors. I'll cover two main issues you might face and how to fix them. Dealing with the #N/A Result The #N/A error is common when using VLOOKUP. It usually means the lookup value wasn't found. Here are some fixes I use: Check for extra spaces. I trim my data using the TRIM function. Make sure the lookup value is in the first column of my table array. If I'm looking for text, I use the EXACT function to check for case sensitivity. Formatting issues can also cause #N/A errors. I always make sure my data types match. For numbers stored as text, I use the VALUE function to convert them. Data Retrieval Troubles and Solutions When VLOOKUP isn't returning the right data, I check these things: Is my column index number correct? I count from left to right, starting at 1. Did I use absolute references ($) in my table array? This is key when copying formulas. Are my lookup values unique? Duplicate values can cause issues. I also make sure my table array is up-to-date. If I've added or removed columns, I update my VLOOKUP formula. For large datasets, I use VLOOKUP with INDEX and MATCH. It's faster and more flexible. Optimizing Your Lookup Experience I've found some great ways to make VLOOKUP faster and more flexible in Excel. These tricks can really speed up your work and help you find data more easily. Utilizing Wildcard Characters for Flexible Lookups I often use wildcard characters to make my VLOOKUP searches more flexible. The asterisk (*) and question mark (? ) are super helpful for this. The asterisk matches any number of characters. For example, if I'm looking for all products starting with "Apple", I'd use "Apple*" in my lookup value. The question mark matches any single character. This is great for searching with slight variations. If I'm not sure if it's "color" or "colour", I can use "colo? r". Here's a quick example of how I use wildcards in VLOOKUP: =VLOOKUP("Apple*", A1, 2, FALSE) This formula would find all "Apple" products in column A and return their corresponding values from column B. I've noticed these wildcards make my searches much more powerful and save me tons of time when dealing with large datasets. Frequently Asked Questions VLOOKUP can be tricky, but there are ways to make it faster and more powerful. I'll answer some common questions about improving VLOOKUP speed and handling complex lookups in Excel. How can I improve the performance of VLOOKUP in large Excel datasets? To speed up VLOOKUP in big spreadsheets, I recommend sorting your data. Put the lookup column first and sort it in ascending order. Then, add TRUE as the last argument in your VLOOKUP formula. This tells Excel to use a binary search, which is much faster for large datasets. What is the method to perform a VLOOKUP with multiple conditions across different columns? For multiple conditions, I use a helper column. I combine the lookup values into one cell using the & operator. Then I do the same in my lookup table and use a regular VLOOKUP on the combined values. Can VLOOKUP be used to search for data across various sheets, and if so, how? Yes, VLOOKUP can search across sheets. I just include the sheet name in the table_array argument. For example: =VLOOKUP(A1,Sheet2! A,2,FALSE). This looks up A1 in the first column of Sheet2 and returns the matching value from column B. What are the steps for utilizing VLOOKUP with two lookup values in separate columns? For two lookup values, I use INDEX and MATCH functions together. They're more flexible than VLOOKUP for this task. The formula looks like this: =INDEX(result_range, MATCH(1,(criteria1=range1)*(criteria2=range2),0)) Is there an alternative function to VLOOKUP that can execute lookups faster? Yes, the INDEX-MATCH combination is often faster than VLOOKUP, especially for large datasets. It's more flexible too, as it can look both left and right in a table. The basic syntax is =INDEX(return_range,MATCH(lookup_value,lookup_range,0)). What techniques can be employed for an advanced VLOOKUP that handles multiple criteria? For advanced multi-criteria lookups, I use array formulas with INDEX and MATCH. These are powerful but can be complex. A simpler option is to use helper columns to combine criteria. Then, you can do a regular VLOOKUP on the combined value. Leave a comment! What techniques do you have that could speed up Excel? Let us know in the comments.   --- ### Every Excel LOOKUP Explained - Published: 2024-12-07 - Modified: 2024-12-07 - URL: https://excel.tv/all-excel-lookups-explained/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas Master All Lookup Functions in Excel Excel's LOOKUP function is a powerful tool for finding and retrieving data in spreadsheets. I've used it countless times to search through large datasets quickly and efficiently. The LOOKUP function comes in two forms: vector and array. Each is designed for specific types of data searches. LOOKUP can be incredibly useful when you need to match values across different ranges or tables. For example, I once used it to automate a pricing system for a small business, linking product codes to their current prices. This saved hours of manual data entry and reduced errors. While LOOKUP is versatile, it's important to understand its limitations. It works best with sorted data and can be less flexible than newer functions like XLOOKUP. But for many tasks, LOOKUP remains a go-to function for Excel users who want a straightforward way to find and extract information from their spreadsheets. Key Takeaways LOOKUP comes in vector and array forms for different search needs It excels at finding matches in sorted data ranges LOOKUP can automate data retrieval tasks, saving time and reducing errors Understanding the Basics of LOOKUP in Excel The LOOKUP function in Excel is a powerful tool for finding and retrieving data. It comes in two forms: vector and array. I'll start with the vector form. This version of LOOKUP searches for a value in a single row or column and returns a matching value from another row or column. It's simple but limited. The array form is more flexible. It can search through a table of data and return a value from a specified row or column. This makes it great for larger datasets. LOOKUP's syntax is straightforward: Vector: LOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_vector, ) Array: LOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, result_array) I find LOOKUP useful for basic data retrieval tasks. For example, I might use it to find a product's price based on its code in a small inventory list. One key thing to remember: LOOKUP always assumes your data is sorted in ascending order. If it's not, you might get unexpected results. While LOOKUP is handy, it's been largely replaced by newer functions like VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP. These offer more features and flexibility. The Vector Form LOOKUP Function The Vector Form LOOKUP function (VLOOKUP) is a powerful tool for finding values in a single row or column. It's simpler than other lookup functions but has some key limitations to keep in mind. Syntax and Arguments The Vector Form LOOKUP function uses this syntax: =LOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_vector, ) lookup_value: The value I want to find lookup_vector: The range where I'm searching result_vector: Optional. Where I get the result from If I don't include a result_vector, the function returns the last value in the lookup_vector. The function always does an approximate match. It finds the largest value that's less than or equal to the lookup_value. This can be useful but also cause issues if I'm not careful. Vector Form Examples Here's a simple example: ProductPriceApple0. 50Banana0. 75Orange1. 00 If I use =LOOKUP(0. 8, A2, B2), it returns 0. 75. The function found "Banana" as the largest value not exceeding 0. 8. I can also use LOOKUP with just one vector: =LOOKUP(0. 8, B2) This returns 1. 00, the last value in the range that's less than or equal to 0. 8. Common Uses and Applications I often use the Vector Form LOOKUP for price lists or grading scales. It's great for situations where I need an approximate match. For example, I might use it in a school grading system: GradeMinimum ScoreF0D60C70B80A90 With =LOOKUP(85, B2, A2), I quickly find that a score of 85 gets a B grade. The Vector Form LOOKUP is fast and simple. But I need to be careful with my data structure. The lookup_vector must be in ascending order for it to work correctly. The Array Form LOOKUP Function The array form of LOOKUP is a powerful tool for searching and retrieving data from tables in Excel. It offers unique capabilities for matching values across multiple columns or rows. Syntax Explained The array form LOOKUP uses a simpler syntax compared to its vector counterpart. It takes two arguments: LOOKUP(lookup_value, array) The lookup_value is what I'm searching for, and the array is the table where I'm looking. This function searches the first row or column of the array for the lookup_value. It then returns a value from the same position in the last row or column. Excel's LOOKUP function requires the data to be sorted in ascending order for accurate results. This is a key point to remember when using this function. Array Form Examples Let's look at a real-world example. Imagine I have a table of employee performance ratings: NameQ1Q2Q3Q4BonusAlice34352000Bob43441500Carol55453000 To find Carol's Q3 rating, I'd use: =LOOKUP("Carol", A2) This returns 4, Carol's Q3 rating. The function searches for "Carol" in the first column and returns the value from the same row in the last column. Handling Errors and Limitations The array form LOOKUP has some quirks to watch out for. If it can't find an exact match, it uses the largest value that's less than or equal to the lookup_value. This can lead to unexpected results if I'm not careful. For example, if I search for "Dan" in the above table, it would return Carol's bonus, as "Dan" comes after "Carol" alphabetically. To avoid this, I can use error handling functions like IFERROR. Another limitation is that array LOOKUP only works with one-dimensional arrays. For more complex lookups, I might need to consider other functions like VLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH. Comparing HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP are two powerful lookup functions in Excel. They share similarities but have key differences in how they search for and return data. Let's explore their unique features and use cases. Differences in Syntax HLOOKUP and VLOOKUP have similar syntax structures, but they operate in different directions. VLOOKUP searches vertically, while HLOOKUP searches horizontally. The VLOOKUP function uses this syntax: VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, ) HLOOKUP's syntax is: HLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, row_index_num, ) The main difference is in the third argument. VLOOKUP uses column index, while HLOOKUP uses row index. When to Use Each Function I use VLOOKUP when my data is organized in columns. It's great for looking up information in tables where the key values are in the leftmost column. HLOOKUP is my go-to when data is arranged in rows. It's useful for spreadsheets where the lookup values are in the top row. VLOOKUP is more common because data is often structured vertically. But HLOOKUP shines in specific scenarios, like working with wide, short tables. Real-World Example Comparisons Let's look at a practical example. Imagine I have a spreadsheet with employee data. For VLOOKUP: Column A: Employee ID Column B: Name Column C: Department Column D: Salary I'd use VLOOKUP to find an employee's salary based on their ID. For HLOOKUP: Row 1: Product Code Row 2: Product Name Row 3: Price Row 4: Stock Here, HLOOKUP would help me find a product's stock level using its code. Both functions are powerful, but their effectiveness depends on data layout. I choose based on whether I need to search vertically or horizontally. Combining LOOKUP with Other Functions Excel's LOOKUP function becomes even more powerful when combined with other functions. This allows for complex data analysis and dynamic lookups that adapt to changing data. The POWER of Nested Functions I find that nesting LOOKUP with other functions greatly expands its capabilities. For example, I can use LOOKUP inside an IF function to create conditional lookups. This lets me search different ranges based on specific criteria. Here's a practical use case: =IF(A1="Sales", LOOKUP(B1, Sales_Range, Result_Range), LOOKUP(B1, Marketing_Range, Result_Range)) This formula looks up values in either the Sales or Marketing range based on the department in cell A1. It's a great way to handle data from multiple teams in one spreadsheet. I can also nest LOOKUP within itself for multi-level lookups. This is useful when I need to search across multiple criteria or tables. Lookup with Conditional Logic Adding conditional logic to LOOKUP functions allows for more flexible and robust formulas. I often use the IF function in combination with LOOKUP to create dynamic lookups based on specific conditions. For instance: =LOOKUP(IF(A1>100, "High", "Low"), Status_Range, Result_Range) This formula first evaluates if the value in A1 is above 100. Then, it looks up either "High" or "Low" in the Status_Range to return the corresponding result. I can also use AND or OR functions with LOOKUP for more complex conditions: =LOOKUP(AND(A1>50, B1="Approved"), True_False_Range, Result_Range) This checks if A1 is greater than 50 AND B1 is "Approved" before performing the lookup. Dynamic Ranges and LOOKUP Creating dynamic ranges for LOOKUP functions adds flexibility to my spreadsheets. I can use functions like OFFSET or INDEX to define ranges that automatically adjust as data is added or removed. For example: =LOOKUP(A1, OFFSET(Sheet2! $A$1, 0, 0, COUNTA(Sheet2! $A:$A), 2)) This formula uses OFFSET to create a dynamic two-column range on Sheet2. The range grows as new data is added. Then, LOOKUP searches this range for the value in A1. I can also use the INDIRECT function with LOOKUP to reference ranges by name: =LOOKUP(A1, INDIRECT("Named_Range")) This allows me to change the lookup range simply by updating the named range, without modifying the formula itself. Best Practices for Using LOOKUP Functions Using LOOKUP functions effectively requires careful planning and attention to detail. I'll cover key techniques to organize data, validate inputs, and optimize performance when working with these powerful Excel tools. Data Organization Techniques I always start by structuring my data properly. This means putting lookup values in the leftmost column of my table. I make sure this column is sorted in ascending order for exact matches. I use clear, unique headers for each column. This helps me reference the right data when building formulas. For return multiple results. The basic XLOOKUP formula is: =XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_array, , , ) I often use XLOOKUP for complex data retrieval. For instance, to find a customer's email by their name: =XLOOKUP(A2, CustomerNames, CustomerEmails, "Not Found", 0) This searches for the name in A2, looks in CustomerNames, and returns the corresponding email from CustomerEmails. What is the difference between the VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and XLOOKUP functions in Excel? VLOOKUP searches vertically, starting from the left. It's great for tables where the lookup column is on the left. HLOOKUP searches horizontally, from top to bottom. I use it for wide, short tables. XLOOKUP is the most flexible. It can search in any direction and return multiple columns or rows. XLOOKUP also handles errors better and can search from right to left or bottom to top. In what scenarios would one prefer XLOOKUP over VLOOKUP in Excel? I choose XLOOKUP when I need to search from right to left. It's also better for dynamic column references. XLOOKUP is great for multiple returns. For example, I can get a customer's name, email, and phone number in one formula. I also prefer XLOOKUP for exact matches. It's faster and doesn't require sorting the data like VLOOKUP does. How to use fuzzy LOOKUP in Excel? Fuzzy LOOKUP isn't a built-in Excel function, but I can create a similar effect using XLOOKUP with approximate matching. Here's an example: =XLOOKUP(A2, LookupRange, ReturnRange, "Not Found", 2) The "2" at the end enables approximate matching. This finds close matches even if they're not exact. For more advanced fuzzy matching, I use the Fuzzy Lookup add-in from Microsoft. How to LOOKUP data from another sheet in Excel? To look up data from another sheet, I include the sheet name in my formula. For VLOOKUP, it looks like this: =VLOOKUP(A2, Sheet2! A, 3, FALSE) This searches in columns A to D on Sheet2. With XLOOKUP, I can do: =XLOOKUP(A2, Sheet2! A, Sheet2! C) This searches column A on Sheet2 and returns values from column C. How to LOOKUP multiple values in Excel? To look up multiple values, I use array formulas or XLOOKUP. With XLOOKUP, I can return multiple columns: =XLOOKUP(A2, LookupRange, {ReturnCol1, ReturnCol2, ReturnCol3}) This returns three values for each lookup. For more complex scenarios, I might use INDEX and MATCH or Power Query. Can you list all the variations of the lookup function available in Excel? Excel offers several lookup functions: LOOKUP (vector and array forms) VLOOKUP HLOOKUP XLOOKUP INDEX with MATCH CHOOSE OFFSET INDIRECT Each has its strengths. XLOOKUP is the newest and most versatile, but older versions of Excel may not have it. So what I've done is add my Ultimate Excel Lookup Guide as a download.   You can download it by clicking here. I would also strongly encourage you to watch the video and ask any questions you might have.   What did you think about this guide? Are you a fan of XLOOKUP?   Let us know in the comments! --- ### How to Align Numbers in Excel - Published: 2024-12-06 - Modified: 2024-12-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/right-align-indent-numbers-in-excel-excel-tips/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports - Formats: Video Clean presentation is one of the marks of an Excel expert. If you know you’re good, why let sloppy presentation of your work ruin your perception? Look at the table on the right. A list of 5 numbers has been presented in 5 different formats. While the data is not aligned in columns A, C and D in terms of the decimal point, data in columns B and E appears better. But, most people would think of the numbers in column in B sort of running into those in column C. Hence, column E seems to be that best choice for formatting such a data. Now, the question is “how to achieve this? ”. Thankfully we have Michael Alexander of http://DataPigTechnologies. com to show the way. Right Indent & Align Numbers in Excel  1 – Number Format Select your data and choose the appropriate number format. You can select the number of decimal places as may please you.  2 – Right Alignment Make sure your data is aligned to the right. To do this, keep your data selected and press the button highlighted in the image on the right. It can be found under the Home tab, within the Alignment section. 3 – Let’s Indent! Now, let’s get to the final step. Select your data, right-click on it and choose “Format Cells... ”. Now, under the Alignment tab, choose “Right (Indent)” for the Horizontal option and put in the indent number. This will normally be 1 or 2. And press “OK” and see the magic!   4 – Let’s Indent Again! Well, Microsoft knows when you will discover this function, you are bound to fall in love with it. That’s why, they have created a much simpler way to access it. Under the Home tab, within the Alignment section, you have a button that increases the right indent. It has been shown in the image on the right. What’s Next? It’s easy, very easy. And right in front of you. Try it out! And... share this awesome tip with other Excel lovers. --- ### Poisson Distribution in Excel: Monte Carlo Simulation - Published: 2024-12-06 - Modified: 2024-12-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/monte-carlo-simulation-excel-poisson-distribution/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Howdy Folks.   It's great to be back. One of our most popular blog posts and Youtube videos (by far) is how to do Monte Carlo simulation in Excel.  In the blog post we go through a lot of detail about what Monte Carlo Simulation is.  If you are interested in reading that first, then you can find the blog post on Monte Carlo Simulation in Excel here.   In the post we use a normal bell curve to determine the spread of different probabilities. But that brings up lots of questions.  Including this one. Or this one... Thanks for the question Dave & Andy.   Here is your article and video. What is a Poisson Distribution Anyways? Thought you would never ask. Confusing enough?   Yeah...   me too :-) Here is what you need to know. x = 0, 1, 2, 3, ... means that our data points are "count" data.  That means that it is positive integers.  This is also known as discrete data.   The data points go from 0 to infinity. lambda is simply the average Poisson was a French mathematician, and amongst the many contributions he made, proposed the Poisson distribution, with the example of modelling the number of soldiers accidentally injured or killed from kicks by horses. This distribution became useful as it models events, particularly uncommon events. So...  Let's Set Up the Poisson Distribution in Excel Model Step 1 - Your Data As I mentioned earlier, the biggest data points that drive the Poisson distribution is the Count Data and the Mean.  Recognize that this is the implied mean that you want to use to build the hypothetical curve. Step 2a - Poisson Distribution Curve There are two steps here.  First is setting up the Poisson Distribution Cumulative curve.  And then adjusting for boundaries.  Which is 0% and 100%. So let's dive in.  The Poisson Distribution curve is set up this way.  The "TRUE" clause is to set this as being cumulative.  Copy and paste down. Step 2b - Adjust for Boundaries Here is the thing...  The only reason that we reached 100% on line 45 or so was because of rounding.  If we had let this go to more and more decimal points, it wouldn't be 100%.  Also, there is no zero 0%.  We need bookends for our Step 3 - Monte Carlo Simulation - Finally Next up we set up 1,000 iterations.  Realize that this could have been 40 iterations or 1,000,000 iterations, I just chose 1,000.  Monte Carlo was driven out of modeling in Vegas.  Probabilities aren't a straight line.  It's not that you lose 60% every time.  You go cold for a bit, then hot for a bit.  They need to figure out risks hour by hour. . So they can figure out the risks for the long haul. So you may ask.  Yo Rick? (I reach back to my "yo" youth when I envision people reading my shit)...  So yeah... "Yo Rick...  why is this really useful when I have figured out the probabilities in everything you have shared so far"?   Wow.  That was bold.   Almost rude.   It's like you were speaking to my soul. Here is why.  Various items in your model may include various distribution curves.  Repeat visitors in a month may be a Poisson distribution.  This may drive into other costs that may be a uniform distribution.  Fixed costs are fixed.  But Revenue may be a triangle distribution.  You model all of these together and get a true feeling of the probability of you being profitable or not.  Model this day over day, week over week, or month over month to get a clearer idea of the volatility of your model or business. That's the power.  Yahtzee ! ! ! So let's move on. Use the VLOOKUP function looks up the probabilities based on the RAND random function that brings back a random number between zero and one. Step 4 - Summary Statistics  So while I am typing this...  I am watching some Netflix something or other.  Girl on TV says...  "there is a couch in my room.  Stay there until you pass out. "  War dream quickly follows.  Sounds like a good choice.  So I will wrap this up. So where do you go from here?  You have a Poisson curve from the mean and count data.  How do you summarize all of this in a way that is meaningful?  First off, there are a few things that are obvious when they are stated, but they need to be stated in order for them to be obvious. Like. . if you are running 1k observations... then everything will end up close to the average, Rick... so why not use the average? Because you may not have 1k customers a day, week, month.  And even your customer count per day, week, month may not be 1k.  You will have variation that is explainable.  Risk that is explainable.  Financial and operational modelling that can be wiser. As a financial or Excel modeller.  A person that slings data for a living.   There are intricacies within every business problem that requires nimbleness and readiness. That's who most of us are.  Slinging data for a living. So let's summarize So that's it.    Run some summary statistics on the 1k or so iterations.  Because RAND is a volatile function, it will update every time you press the enter button.  Also, think about how this will fit you business case. Is this interesting?  Like more of these long form text/video posts?  Jordan and I are considering a monthly membership program where we share this info "behind the wall".   Let me know if you like this stuff. Get the file Good night y'all.   Be well. And keep on Excellin' Rick --- ### How to Create Dynamic Drop Down Lists Using Excel Tables - Published: 2024-12-06 - Modified: 2024-12-11 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-create-dynamic-drop-down-lists-using-excel-tables/ - Categories: Excel Power Query & Data Cleaning - Formats: Video Updating spreadsheets can be a pain, especially when you have to change all the Data Validation dropdown menus manually. Of course, you may use a complicated mix of INDIRECT and ROW formulas to achieve a dynamic dropdown list. But there is a much better solution. And that is exactly what Zack Barresse is here to present. https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=4x9QKavvkbs Here's How to Create a Drop Down List from a Table in Excel  1 – Excel Table Convert the list of values you need in your dropdown menu into an Excel table. You can go into DESIGN and rename the table under the ‘Properties’ section. We have given it the name ‘Table_Name’. 2 – From Excel Table to Named Range Press CTRL + F3 or go to FORMULAS > Name Manager and select New. This is just to name our newly created Excel table. In the ‘Name’ field, assign a unique name for the range. Hence, ‘Table_Name’ cannot be used. We have used ‘Days’ here. In the ‘Refers to’ field, use the syntax below. When done, click on OK. < table name > 3 – Data Validation List Now select the cell you want to apply the dynamic dropdown menu to and go to DATA > Data Validation. Select ‘List’ from field ‘Allow’ and, within the ‘Source’ field, write the new name of the table with ‘=’ as a prefix. Now click OK and you’re are done. 4 – Play! You can see that the dropdown menu will get updated automatically whenever you will make a change to your table ‘Table_Name’. This includes increasing the items in the list, reducing the size of the list or modifying the individual values. What’s next? Now you know how to implement dynamic tables based on dropdown in Excel! Test it on random spreadsheets and, once you’re comfortable, use it on the files you update quite frequently. Cumulatively, it can potentially save you a lot of time. Do not forget to share this technique with your friends or colleagues. And write to us with your comments and suggestions below. --- ### CONVERT function in Excel - Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius and more - Excel Tips - Published: 2024-12-06 - Modified: 2024-12-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/convert-function-in-excel-convert-fahrenheit-to-celsius-and-more-excel-tips/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video Are you converting your measurements like a chump? This happens all the time. You get a data dump from your main office in London. Can't wait to start the analysis. Only to find out that the data uses British measurements. What is a stone anyways? And if you are a chump... like most of us are... you go about looking up a conversion table somewhere on the internet. Copy/paste. Bring it into Excel. Or UDF Functions. YUK. Don't be a CHUMP. be a CHAMP. There is an easier way. Today's tip is offered by Kevin Lehrbass of MySpreasheetLab. com.  Use the CONVERT Function. CONVERT Function to the Rescue Go over to your Excel help icon and type in "CONVERT".  You will see a ton of items that can be converted.  But first things first. CONVERT Function Setup In the example below, I am converting 7 Meters to Feet.  There is a number, in this case 7, along with the from_unit and to-unit.  The from_unit and to_unit should be in quotes. Below is a final example of meters to feet and hours to minutes. from_unit and to_unit OK.  Well that's kind of cool, Rick.  But how would I intuitively know that "m" is meters and not minutes.  And that "ft" is feet and not fahrenheit?  Good question.  Below is a handy lookup table for you.  If you click the image, it will also download an excel file that has all the units. Click to Download Spreadsheet File Don't Get CRAZY If you to to convert minutes to meters.  Or inches to celsius, you will get an error. This will only work to convert F to C in Excel. BONUS Download Convert function spreadsheet  --- ### How To Use ChatGPT with Excel > Artificial intelligence (AI) technology advancements have improved efficiency in different work environments. This has dramatically impacted productivity and economic growth through increased profits and reduced prices of business products and services. - Published: 2024-11-12 - Modified: 2024-11-29 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-use-chatgpt-with-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Artificial intelligence (AI) technology advancements have improved efficiency in different work environments. This has dramatically impacted productivity and economic growth through increased profits and reduced prices of business products and services. ChatGPT, an NLP (Natural Language Processing) tool from OpenAI, is the most widely used AI in various businesses. It mainly enhances productivity primarily through process automation, and one of the areas in which it's frequently used is Microsoft Excel through ChatGPT Excel plugins and ChatGPT-based websites. However, before AI, users could use Microsoft VBA and Macros to increase productivity in Excel in ways almost similar to how AI works. Microsoft VBA and Macros Launched in 1985, Microsoft Excel has been around for a while and has seen productivity enhancements over the years through Microsoft VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and Macros. Microsoft VBA is a programming language used in Microsoft Office Products to write commands called Macros. Macros allow users to create custom user-designed functions (UDFs) and automate repetitive tasks from the basic Microsoft functions. For Excel, users can also create custom Excel add-ins using VBA. The only significant disadvantage of Microsoft VBA and Macros is that commands can be challenging to write and execute, especially for users unfamiliar with programming. Additionally, the chances of errors are high, and they have limited functionality and compatibility issues. Luckily, you can use ChatGPT to write and execute Macros. Microsoft BingAI and 365 Copilot Microsoft's partnership with Open AI began when they invested $1 billion in OpenAI in July 2019, announcing a multi-year exclusive computing partnership that made Microsoft the cloud computing services provider to OpenAI. The partnership also included building new AI technologies and expanding OpenAI's AI capabilities. Microsoft Azure AI was among the first products of the partnership unveiled in 2021 that gave developers and data scientists access to Open AI's ChatGPT3. Reports state that Microsoft further invested $2 billion in OpenAI between 2019 and 2023 before extending their partnership, injecting $13 billion in January 2023. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, said that Microsoft formed a partnership with OpenAI around a shared ambition to responsibly advance cutting-edge AI research and democratize AI as a new technology platform. He added that in the next phase of their partnership with OpenAI, developers and organizations across industries will have access to the best AI infrastructure, models, and toolchains with Azure to build and run their applications. Microsoft then unveiled the BingAI chatbot in February 2023 and the 365 Copilot a month later in mid-March. Microsoft's BingAI is a chatbot based on OpenAI's GPT4 built into Microsoft Edge, enabling users to get more precise and useful search results. It's similar to ChatGPT but doesn't have a paywall behind it, meaning it's accessible to all Microsoft Edge users. Developers have also made it possible to integrate Bing AI into other browsers, such as Chrome and other Chromium Browsers. Excel users can use BingAI to generate ChatGPT Excel formulas, write Excel Macros, and ask Excel-related queries among applications. Additionally, BingAI provides a chat history that you can refer to when working on new projects that require similar answers to previous projects you worked on. In May, Microsoft announced that they'd add an export and share functionalities to BingAI, enabling users to share their chats with others. This will allow sharing of new ideas and solutions with others in a work team or interested parties, thus increasing productivity and improving teamwork. Other features that might be coming to BingAI include summarization and page context-generated answers that might be useful when using Microsoft Excel online. 365 Copilot is Microsoft's GPT-4-based AI productivity tool integrated into Microsoft Graph and Office 365 applications, including Excel. But before it, there was the Microsoft Office intelligent assistant, an interactive animated character dubbed Clippy, available in Office versions released from 1997 to 2003. Clippy was used to respond to general Microsoft Office questions and perform basic tasks. Microsoft also made other animated assistant characters such as the Dot, Links the Cat, Rocky the Dog, Genius, Mother Nature, and an Office Logo that users could click if they needed help. Microsoft revived the Clippy assistant in 2021 for Microsoft 365. However, the nostalgic happiness was short-lived as they retired it again after a few days. Most users who used Clippy when it was relatively new in the late 90s and early 2000s remember it annoying. Is 365 Copilot the same? Like BingAI, 365 Copilot is integrated into Office 365 apps as a chatbot that generates and edits sheets, slides, and documents, analyzes data, and answers questions from the user's prompts. It also explains the workings and sources from which the answers are derived. This makes it easy to use, even for beginners, and it's not annoying, unlike Clippy. The only significant disadvantage is that it will not be accessible to everyone when fully rolled out since Office 365 apps have a paywall. https://youtu. be/S7xTBa93TX8 Despite being relatively new, Microsoft has equipped 365 Copilot with some of the best Excel productivity features. You can create new spreadsheets with customized rows, columns, and cells, reducing time spent manually or searching for spreadsheet templates. 365 Copilot can also generate Excel formulas from the chat box and apply them to data sets without manipulating the spreadsheet's values. This allows the user to test different formulas to check for outcomes without editing the spreadsheet. Time spent analyzing results and data sets to find trends is cut short with 365 Copilot, as it can do so in seconds. Users can also prompt it to generate a follow-up spreadsheet depending on the trends, thus enabling them to see what needs to be changed on the spreadsheet. This is handy for businesses as it gives insights and provides suitable actions and results for each action on a different sample spreadsheet. Microsoft has made it possible to use natural language prompts with 365 Copilot making it easy to use across all industries. To access 365 Copilot in Excel, click the Copilot button on the right-hand side underneath the share button. Uses of ChatGPT In Excel When OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, it was received with mixed reactions and speculations that AI will soon replace humans in the creativity and productivity sectors. This is due to its ability to answer questions precisely, challenge incorrect premises and reject inappropriate prompts. For example, it gives an "I'm sorry, but I don't have enough information to answer that question" answer if the prompt is unanswerable or inappropriate. Masses were also worried about its ability to generate dialogues and follow-up conversations from natural language prompts, making it human-like. Yet, the worry cries soon died after people discovered what ChatGPT could do. Using ChatGPT, you can quickly write and troubleshoot Microsoft Excel formulas and ask Excel-related queries, among other uses we will expound on. One way you could do so is by creating an OpenAI account that gives you ChatGPT access. However, with a $20 paywall implemented in February, you can lean towards other ChatGPT-based websites such as Chat. forefront. ai and Hugging Face. Furthermore, developers are making it possible to integrate ChatGPT and Microsoft Excel using ChatGPT Excel Plugins. But before we dive into that, how can you use ChatGPT with Excel? Writing, Implementing, And Troubleshooting Excel Formulas Navigating Excel has never been as easy as it seems, especially for newbies, even when writing the most straightforward addition, mean, subtraction, or division formulas. However, remember you were not always a guru before making fun of an Excel newbie. How to use ChatGPT to write Excel Formulas Basic Excel formulas are easy to write, with most requiring the user to type an equals and equation sign between the constants (values in a cell) in the cell where they want to output the result. The shorter method is to select the cells with the constants instead of typing them in a technique acknowledged as cell referencing. Microsoft Excel has formulas alphabetically arranged in the function library on the ribbon. But sometimes, scrolling to find one can be a pain in the neck, especially when working long hours on a spreadsheet. Testing and embracing new productivity tools such as ChatGPT is also good. You can write or generate Excel formulas using ChatGPT in two ways. The first, and probably the plainest way, is to prompt ChatGPT to generate results from constants in an equation, all clearly included in the prompt. Here's a prompt input example from a spreadsheet containing funds payable by different corporates, received amounts, disallowed, and outstanding payments. We wanted to calculate the amount owed by corporate EKL and the received amount from corporate ASL. Sample spreadsheet ChatGPT prompt based on the spreadsheet's values Given that we didn't include column lettering and row numbers, ChatGPT generated Excel formulas without these, and this is what we got: Another way you could use ChatGPT to write Excel formulas is by prompting it with a detailed description of what you want the result to be. This way, it translates natural language queries into formulas. From the same Excel spreadsheet used earlier, we asked ChatGPT to write an Excel formula to find the amount owed by corporate EKL. Here's the Excel formula generated by ChatGPT: How To Use ChatGPT To Implement Excel Formulas You can copy and paste the results into the required cells, which most would do. But you can also copy the formula into the formula bar and apply it to other cells requiring the same formula. First, start by writing the formula as it is on ChatGPT in the formula bar and selecting the columns the values are in after the equation signs. This is what we get for the outstanding amount owed by corporate EKL. Press 'enter' after writing the formula to get the answer. If you used the second method to generate the formula, copy it from the ChatGPT using the "copy code" function and paste it directly into the formula bar. To Implement the same formula in other cells, select the cell with the formula, copy (Ctrl C) the result, and paste (Ctrl V) it into another cell. An easier way is to drag the cell via the small square on the right bottom edge, but this only works if the cells are directly below the cell where you first used the formula Copy and Paste Method: Scroll Down Method: How To Troubleshoot Excel Formulas Using ChatGPT What if you are unsure of the results generated from the ChatGPT Excel formulas or some of your own? ChatGPT can also troubleshoot formulas and check for errors in formulas and spreadsheets. Sometimes, wrong formulas in Excel will always result in a "#NUM! " error. In the prompt, you must include what you are working on, the cell constants (values in the cell), and the formula used when using ChatGPT to troubleshoot formulas. Or, ask ChatGPT if the formula used is written correctly, after which it will correct it then you can implement it in Excel. Here's an example from the spreadsheet we used earlier: ChatGPT Prompt and response: Explaining Excel Formulas and Functions When working on a spreadsheet and you're unsure of which formula to use, ChatGPT can explain Excel formulas, provide circumstances in which the formulas can be used and give an example of the formula in use. Here's an example of ChatGPT demonstrating a mod formula in Excel: ChatGPT can also explain Microsoft Excel Functions, but before getting to that, what is the difference between Excel formulas and functions? Excel formulas are instructions created by the user that perform calculations, while functions are pre-built formulas in Excel that also perform calculations. For instance, when finding modulus, you can type "=MOD(number, divisor)," which is the required formula, or get the mod function from the function library. Not all formulas have built-in functions, especially if you are using older Microsoft Office versions. Here are some examples of ChatGPT explaining the Creating and Implementing Excel Macros Professional Microsoft Excel users often use Macros for numerous purposes, with the most common uses being process automation and creating repetitive tasks. Beginners often find it challenging to write the commands, and this is where ChatGPT enters the conversation as you can use it to write Macros commands and implement them. However, you first have to learn how to launch the VBA editor in which to write the commands. How to Launch VBA Editor First, you have to enable developer mode using the following steps Click the file tab Select "Options" at the bottom left corner of the document On the navigation panel, select "Customize Ribbon" Enable developer mode by ticking the "Developer" option box and clicking OK. This will add a Developer tab on the ribbon. Open the Developer tab on the ribbon, giving you access to the VBA editor on the top left-hand side. A new window should open upon clicking the VBA editor. Right-click "this workbook" and select "insert module," which will open a blank page where you write Macros commands. Once developer mode is enabled, you can launch the VBA editor by pressing Alt and F11 keys. How to generate and Implement Excel Macros Using ChatGPT Using ChatGPT to generate Macros is just like using it to write Excel Formulas. But you have to be more careful and precise when writing the prompt. The best way to do it is to write everything, perhaps in a notebook or Word document, about the task at hand, including every little detail, especially if you're working on a complex task. After that, write a well-composed prompt in ChatGPT's chat box and crosscheck before hitting the send button.   Using the same spreadsheet used earlier with some changes, here is an example of a ChatGPT-generated Excel Macro: Excel spreadsheet before Macro implementation We asked ChatGPT to generate a simple Excel Macro to color cells with negatives in red: Excel Macro code generated by ChatGPT To implement the generated Macro code, follow the following steps: Copy the code from ChatGPT Click on "Visual Basic," which opens the VBA editor window Right-click on "this workbook"> insert> module Paste the Macro code into the module and close it Click on "Macros" next to "Visual Basic" Select the Macro under the Macro name list, then click "Run. " Resulting spreadsheet changes from the implemented Macro: Pressing Alt plus F8 keys launches a Macro dialogue box that you can use to debug (edit) Macros, create custom keyboard shortcuts, write macro descriptions, and delete macros if not used. You can also use it to change where the Macro applied reflects by applying it to all open workbooks, a workbook you're working on, or a saved workbook. To keep the Macro Saved in Excel, save the workbook as an Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook. (insert recording) How to create repetitive tasks in Excel using ChatGPT It's time-consuming having to write formulas and apply functions in Excel, and it's not every time that you can copy and paste or drag the fill handle. ChatGPT is handy in such cases as it can generate Excel Macros from whatever you want to do, provided you describe it plainly and directly in the prompt. For example, we asked ChatGPT to write an Excel Macro to implement the formula E3=B3-C3-D3 in column E, skipping one cell after every two cells. Note that we didn't specify on which cell the Macro starts. Debugging ChatGPT Excel Macros To debug the Macro, you can go back to ChatGPT and edit the prompt as we did: Then open the Macro dialogue box and select the Macro to edit, which will open the VBA editor. Delete the entire Macro and paste the new Macro from ChatGPT. If you're worried about messing up the Macro, it's better to delete the old one and create a new module and paste the new Macro. How to Upload Excel Spreadsheets To ChatGPT To make working on a spreadsheet easier with ChatGPT, you can either copy and paste the spreadsheet into the prompt chat box or upload the workbook to ChatGPT. Copy-pasting is more straightforward, but sometimes the values in the cells go out of alignment and end up in different rows and columns. Trying to fix them is where the hard part is since you might press "enter," after which ChatGPT will start generating answers. Users also forget to write the prompt before or after pasting and editing the spreadsheet's values. Document-to-text file converters reduce the risk of errors by making spreadsheets easy to paste without editing; most are free and uncomplicated to use. Here's an example of an online text-to-file converter (document. online-convert. com) that we used to convert our spreadsheet into text. After downloading the converted Excel file, you can use any Word software to open it; we used Notepad. Then copy the text and paste it into ChatGPT's chat box. You should move around the values a bit after pasting, depending on your spreadsheet's values. Do this by using the spacebar and backspace keys. For now, there's no way of uploading Excel spreadsheets directly to the OpenAI ChatGPT user interface. Fortunately, developers are making it possible through third-party websites that run GPT. The only downside, you can only use such websites to analyze and visualize Excel spreadsheets. ChatDF is among the most frequently used analysis productivity tool across different industries and the only ChatGPT-based website we've tested for spreadsheet visualization and analysis. Its simple layout makes it easy to use, and it has a free subscription option which you don't come across often with such tools. But before using it to analyze Excel spreadsheets, you must first convert the Excel file into a PDF and download it. There are free tools you can use for this, such as ilovepdf. com. Then drag and drop it in the designated box or select it from the Windows download folder. After uploading the Excel PDF, ChatPDF will give you a brief overview of the spreadsheet and questions you might have about the file. Although it might not work as well as you'd expect, advancements in AI technology might soon make it a powerful ChatGPT Excel productivity tool. Others, like BookGPT by Huggingface, might also get analysis and visualization functions. ChatGPT Excel Plugins ChatGPT Excel plugins are AI-powered add-ins or extensions added to Microsoft Excel to enhance its functionality, with some also working in Google Sheets. With these, productivity increases, and you no longer have to use ChatGPT on browsers. This cuts short time spent referring to Excel spreadsheets while writing prompts and copying formulas, Macros, etc. , to the spreadsheet. Efficiency and accuracy are also improved as ChatGPT Excel plugins generate and implement whatever you need, thus eliminating room for errors. Lastly, they are cost-effective as they reduce work hours and are cheaper than software alternatives. Which are the best ChatGPT Excel Plugins? Numerous. ai If you're looking for the best and easiest-to-use ChatGPT Excel plugin, consider Numerous. ai. It works well for all mid-size businesses, small businesses, enterprises, and freelance Excel and Google Sheets users. Data safety is one of the deciding factors to consider when downloading, installing, and using a ChatGPT Excel plugin. But it's a non-issue with Numerous. ai as it's Microsoft certified for download in 2016 and later Office Versions. For installation, visit the Numerous. ai official website and select the Google Sheets or Excel Numerous. ai plugin. The "install for Excel" backlink will take you to the add-ins section in Microsoft Store, and after downloading it, select "open in Excel". You'll find the Numerous. AI on the top right-hand side of your Excel workbook. Clicking it will open a Taskpane with Numerous. ai's functions. Installing Numerous. ai in google sheets is also free, like installing in Microsoft Excel. The "install for Google Sheets" backlink will divert you to Google's Workspace Marketplace. Select the Google account to use with Numerous AI and grant the required permissions only, after which Numerous AI will be installed in google sheets. You'll receive an email that Numerous. ai has access to your Google account. There's nothing to worry about unless you didn't install the add-in. To show the sidebar like in Excel, open the "Extensions" drop-down menu, select Numerous. ai, and then enable "show sidebar. " How to use Numerous. AI in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel: https://youtu. be/NFV-WMTO3QQ The free subscription plan won't last long if you're a heavy Excel user or a beginner trying to learn Excel. It only gives you 60 prompt tokens, 30 formula generations, and 30,000 ChatGPT-generated characters. Nonetheless, paid plans are cheap, as $10 per month gets you 1,000 prompt tokens, 500 formula generations, and 500,000 ChatGPT-generated characters. Heavy Excel users can consider higher plans or custom plans. Click here to check Numerous. ai subscription plans. Excelformulabot/formula bot Excelformulabot is a Microsoft and Google-certified ChatGPT Excel and Google Sheets plugin based on OpenAI's GPT-3 AI technology. Its creators claim a 97% accuracy when writing formulas and macros, among its other capabilities, and it can be installed in older Excel versions which is its most significant advantage. Downsides, Excelformulabot limits formula prompts to 5 per month, after which users can pay $10. 99 or $84 per year for unlimited formula prompts. There's also a business subscription plan that allows users to pay a lower amount per user, with the amount varying on the number of users. View Excelformulabot subscription plans here. To download the ChatGPT Excel plugin, visit the Excelformulabot web page and click the "Add-ons" section on the navigation tab. Select the Excel option, redirecting you to download Excelformulabot from the Microsoft store. Click "open in Excel" after downloading and "trust this add-in" to use it. Unlike Numerous. ai, you have to sign up first before using Excelformulabot. If you're using Google Sheets, select the "Google Sheets" options after opening the add-ons section. This will direct you to the Google Workplace Marketplace to download the Formula Bot add-in for Google Sheets. Open the extensions tab, select Formula Bot, and click Launch to use the ChatGPT-powered plugin. You might receive a caution email after installation, but it's nothing to fret about since it's not a safety risk. Ajelix Advanced Excel users will love Ajelix as it has more advanced functions than most ChatGPT plugins and assistants. Still, it has a slightly different download and installation procedure, and there's no web or Google Sheets add-in. You can only use Ajelix with Google Sheets via the website's chat box. Features are limited to generating and explaining formulas and Appsript, a slight disadvantage for Google Sheets Users. Create an account first before attempting to download Ajelix. Next, navigate to the site's dashboard on the left, where the "download add-in" option is listed under the resources section. Download the Excel add-in file provided and run the setup file after completion, which will install Ajelix Assistant in Excel. Unlike other ChatGPT Excel plugins, the Ajelix Assistant is placed with other tabs on the ribbon. A free Ajelix Subscription limits you to 5 monthly requests on all features, including translation. Depending on available discounts, monthly subscription charges vary between $5. 95 and $9. 99. Corporate users can get a custom subscription which discounts the monthly costs depending on the number of users. Lumelixr. ai Lumelixr. ai is a powerful Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets assistant, but it's only available as a browser plugin and accessible via the extensions command toolbar. All the same, it can create and implement Macros, write formulas, and analyze spreadsheets alongside other functions like the ChatGPT Excel and Google Sheets plugins. To download it visit the Lumelixr. ai website and sign up, and you'll get a 7-day free trial. After that, you can make a one-time payment with a lifetime usage guarantee or get a monthly or yearly subscription.   Limitations, since it's only available as a browser extension, using Lumelixr. ai slightly reduces productivity and efficiency compared to Excel and Google Sheets plugins. Other ChatGPT Excel and Google Sheets extensions similar to Lumelixr. ai include aiexcelbot. com, SheetGod, Arcwise AI, and Charm. ai. PowerExcel. ai Power Web5 has not yet released its ChatGPT Excel plugin, PowerExcel. ai, but they promise it will be a game changer in Excel Productivity, performing both simple and complex Excel functions. Will it be better than other plugins? For early access and updates on PowerExcel. ai, better sign up on the website. Using BingAI with Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel Online Using ChatGPT in a different window can sometimes be a pain in the neck, and not everyone can pay for ChatGPT Excel and Google Sheets plugins. Download Microsoft Edge and enable BingAI or a Chromium browser that supports the BingAI extension to avoid both. This way, you can work on an Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet without moving across tabs, as the BingAI dialogue box opens on the same tab when activated. Also, the BingAI dialogue box doesn't close when you switch tabs which improves efficiency when working on different sheets in multiple tabs. You'll have to use the free online version of Microsoft Excel to use BingAI with Excel spreadsheets. Advantages and Limitations of Using ChatGPT with Excel Despite the concerns that AI might replace humans in some fields, embracing new technology, such as ChatGPT with Excel, is good. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages, which are more like limitations than disadvantages since using ChatGPT with Excel is still a relatively new concept and has limitations. Advantages of using ChatGPT with Excel Improved efficiency and accuracy: ChatGPT can quickly analyze data in Excel, help users avoid errors, and provide accurate and reliable insights from data analysis in real time, thus, reducing time spent when performing such tasks manually. Easy to use and Customizable: ChatGPT to perform Excel tasks is easy and can be customized to perform simple or advanced tasks depending on the user's prompt. It's also easier to edit outputs in ChatGPT through the prompts than editing, for example, formulas in the formula bar. Minimal downtimes: Using ChatGPT with Excel is seamless, thanks to minimal or no downtimes. ChatGPT is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week, which is favorable when working long hours and requiring Excel assistance at different or random times. Reduces work-related costs: ChatGPT and ChatGPT Excel plugins eliminate the need to buy Excel productivity integrations and lessen hours worked by improving efficiency. This reduces working costs and allows users to focus on other tasks after completing Excel-related tasks. ChatGPT makes working with Excel Fun for beginners: Learning how to use Excel isn’t easy, especially for someone who has never used it. For example, writing simple formulas and executing them might take a while to understand. With ChatGPT, all you have to do is write prompts of what task you’d like to perform, and it will generate an answer with a process of how to do it. You only have to learn how to write ChatGPT prompts precisely, which shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Limitations of ChatGPT in Microsoft Excel There’s a slight chance of error: ChatGPT is designed to process natural language prompts and translate them to formulas, macros, or other Excel-related tasks. Sometimes the results are incompatible with the Excel formats, leading to wrong or failed implementation. Finite capabilities: ChatGPT might be an excellent productivity tool for use with Excel, but it has limited capabilities, especially in the case of advanced Excel tasks. That’s why it's important to test results first before implementing them in the main spreadsheet you’re working on. Conclusion Using ChatGPT with Excel has to be one of the biggest advancements in AI productivity, and what it can do is proof enough that it’s the only Excel productivity tool you need. Sure, it has its limitations, but being a natural language processing technology, ChatGPT will become more accurate and capable of understanding complex Excel queries. Right now, learn safe practices when using ChatGPT with Excel, which mainly revolves around writing precise prompts and testing formulas, macro codes, etc. , before using them in Excel spreadsheets. FAQsCan I have two ChatGPT Excel plugins in Microsoft Excel? Yes, you can have more than one Excel ChatGPT plugin installed, but you cannot run more than one. Is there an OpenAI Excel Plugin? OpenAI has not made any official Excel Plugin, perhaps due to their partnership with Microsoft in making BingAI and 365 Copilot, which have features similar to third-party ChatGPT plugins. Consider these if you want to use ChatGPT with Excel since 365 is not rolled out yet and may not be accessible to everyone. Which is the best ChatGPT Excel Plugin? Most ChatGPT Excel plugins have similar features, but we’d recommend Ajelix and Numerous. ai. --- ### Microsoft Excel World Championship 2024 Agenda - Published: 2024-08-02 - Modified: 2024-09-02 - URL: https://excel.tv/microsoft-excel-world-championship-2024-agenda/ - Categories: Announcements 🎉 Exciting News! The agenda for the highly anticipated Active Cell Training Camp is now live! 🗓️ Join the community from December 2-4 in Las Vegas for an exciting lineup of sessions designed to boost your Excel and financial modeling skills. 🏆 Agenda This year's camp is packed with insightful masterclasses led by industry experts, including the 3-time Microsoft Excel World Champion Andrew Ngai, Excel MVP, author, LinkedIn Learning instructor, and FMI Danielle Stein Fairhurst, Principal PM Manager responsible for the core MS Excel platform Joe Mcdaid, and many more. From Financial Model Teardown to exploring Excel's latest features, the diverse range of topics ensures there's something for everyone. Whether you're keen to streamline your workflows, enhance your modeling resilience, or simply want to be inspired by top-notch professionals, this training camp has it all. And don't miss the amazing Microsoft Excel World Championship events, featuring the Last Chance Qualification Round and the much-anticipated Finals at the HyperX Esports Arena! 🎮 Get ready for an unforgettable experience filled with learning, networking, and competition. Buy your ticket today and get 10% off using my code. Have fun in Vegas! 🥳 --- ### ExcelTV Partners with the Financial Modeling World Cup - Published: 2024-06-12 - Modified: 2024-10-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/exceltv-partners-with-the-financial-modeling-world-cup/ - Categories: Announcements Excel. TV is excited to announce our renewed partnership with Excel World Championship Financial Modeling World Cup for this year’s highly anticipated The Active Cell Training Camp and Microsoft Excel World Championship, set to take place from December 2-4, 2024, at the iconic Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. What to Expect This Year World-Class Training Join masterclasses led by Excel world champions and Microsoft MVPs. These hands-on sessions will cover advanced Excel techniques, financial modeling best practices, and tips from the top professionals in the field. Championship Finals Witness the thrilling Microsoft Excel World Championship and Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge finals. Networking Opportunities Meet and connect with Excel enthusiasts, industry experts, and professionals from around the world. This event offers unparalleled networking opportunities, allowing you to build relationships that can benefit your career. Earn a Certificate Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion, validating their skills and knowledge gained from the event. This certificate can be a valuable addition to your professional credentials. Event Highlights Dates: December 2-4, 2024 Location: Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas Features: Hands-on training, world championship finals, networking events, and certification. Special Offers Don’t miss out on early bird tickets and special pricing options! Secure your spot early to take advantage of these deals. Participants can get special room rates from FMWC for the time of the event. For more details and to register, visit The Active Cell. Ensure you include our referral code "exceltv" to show your support for Excel. TV. Why Attend? Whether you're a seasoned Excel expert or just starting your journey, the FMWC offers something for everyone. This event is not just about learning; it’s about being part of a community that values precision, efficiency, and innovation in Excel and financial modeling. We at Excel. TV are proud to support such an enriching event. We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas for an unforgettable experience. Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your Excel skills and join a community of like-minded professionals. Register now at The Active Cell! --- ### How To Disable Close Button in Excel: Getting a Handle on hWnd - Published: 2023-11-14 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/getting-a-handle-on-hwnd/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Sometimes, you'll want to programmatically take advantage of Windows outside the capabilities readily available through Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). For example, both eliminating the "Close"-button or creating a more opaque background on a window require the use of the Windows API. Doing this in Visual Basic isn't too hard, but there are some distinct differences between what's readily available to programmers in Microsoft Office's Visual Basic (VBA) compared to its virtual twin, Visual Basic 6. 0, and its smarter, object-oriented younger brother VB. net. Specifically, UserForms in VBA do not contain methods to find their Windows handle, (aka, theirhWnd). hWnd and VBA And most window modifying APIs require the target window's handle. Luckily, the Windows API also contains a function to find a given window's hWnd, called FindWindow: Public Declare Function FindWindow Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowA" _ (ByVal lpClassName As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long So, to find your window's handle, you'll do something like this (assuming you're coding within the UserForm). hWnd = FindWindow("ThunderDFrame", me. caption) Here, FindWindow takes two arguments. First, the class name of the window for which you're searching; and second, the window's caption. ThunderDFrame, huh? I know, right? The UserForms in Excel are actually of the Windows classThunderDFrame,which is the class for all UserFroms in Microsoft Office applications after 2002 (it was "ThunderXFrame" before that). I've looked online for a good explanation for the name but haven't really found anything. Either way you'll need to pass that into the first argument of FindWindow whenever you need a UserForm's handle. How To Disable Close Button in Excel Using VBA Important: Always provide at least one clear and accessible way for the user to close the form safely. Rather than interrupting the user with unnecessary message boxes after they click the close button, a cleaner and more user-friendly approach is to disable or hide the close button altogether. This ensures a smoother experience and prevents confusion. Here's how you can achieve this with VBA. By proactively controlling the form's behavior, you can streamline functionality while maintaining a professional and intuitive user interface. '//Find the userform's Window Private Declare Function FindWindow Lib "user32" _ Alias "FindWindowA" ( _ ByVal lpClassName As String, _ ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long '//Get the current window style Private Declare Function GetWindowLong Lib "user32" _ Alias "GetWindowLongA" ( _ ByVal hWnd As Long, _ ByVal nIndex As Long) As Long '//Set the new window style Private Declare Function SetWindowLong Lib "user32" _ Alias "SetWindowLongA" ( _ ByVal hWnd As Long, _ ByVal nIndex As Long, _ ByVal dwNewLong As Long) As Long Const GWL_STYLE = -16 Const WS_SYSMENU = &H80000 Private Sub UserForm_Initialize Dim hWnd As Long, lStyle As Long If Val(Application. Version) >= 9 Then hWnd = FindWindow("ThunderDFrame", Me. Caption) Else hWnd = FindWindow("ThunderXFrame", Me. Caption) End If '//Get the current window style and turn off the Close button lStyle = GetWindowLong(hWnd, GWL_STYLE) SetWindowLong hWnd, GWL_STYLE, (lStyle And Not WS_SYSMENU) End Sub Bonus Tip: You can prevent the user from being able to close the window with Alt-F4 using this code as well: Private Sub UserForm_QueryClose(Cancel As Integer, CloseMode As Integer) If CloseMode = vbFormControlMenu Then Cancel = True End If End Sub That's all for now! --- ### How to Remove Apostrophe in Excel the Quick Way > Have you ever encountered a problem in Excel where a column of numbers or dates is preceded by an apostrophe, making it impossible to perform calculations or sort the data? - Published: 2023-05-21 - Modified: 2023-05-11 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-remove-apostrophe-in-excel-the-quick-way/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Have you ever encountered a problem in Excel where a column of numbers or dates is preceded by an apostrophe, making it impossible to perform calculations or sort the data? Don't worry, you're not alone. This pesky little symbol can be a real pain, but fortunately, removing it is not as difficult as you might think. In this article, we will show you step-by-step how to remove apostrophes in Excel, and provide you with some handy tips and tricks along the way. What is an Apostrophe in Excel? Before we dive into the solutions, let's take a moment to understand why apostrophes appear in Excel in the first place. The most common reason is that the data you are working with is in a format that Excel does not recognize, such as a CSV file or data imported from another program. When this happens, Excel automatically adds an apostrophe to the beginning of each cell to indicate that the value is text, rather than a number or date. While this may seem like a helpful feature, it can actually be quite frustrating if you need to perform calculations or manipulate the data in some way. Fortunately, there are a few different methods you can use to remove the apostrophes and convert the text to numbers or dates. Method 1: Find and Replace One of the easiest ways to remove apostrophes in Excel is by using the Find and Replace feature. Here's how to do it: 1. Select the range of cells that contain the apostrophes you want to remove. 2. Press Ctrl + H to open the Find and Replace dialog box. In the "Find what" field, enter an apostrophe ('). 3. Leave the "Replace with" field blank. Click "Replace All". Excel will remove all the apostrophes in the selected range of cells. However, be careful when using this method, as it will remove all apostrophes in the selected range, including those that are meant to be there. Method 2: Text to Columns Another way to remove apostrophes in Excel is by using the Text to Columns feature. Here's how to do it: 1. Select the range of cells that contain the apostrophes you want to remove. Click the "Data" tab in the ribbon. --- ### How to Cut Text in Excel: 7 Techniques > Are you tired of manually editing text & words within your Excel spreadsheet data? Do you want to speed up your data processing and analysis tasks? Then you need to know how to cut cell values in Excel! - Published: 2023-05-14 - Modified: 2024-10-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-cut-a-cell-value-in-excel-7-techniques/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Are you tired of manually editing words and text within your Excel spreadsheet data? Do you want to speed up your data processing and analysis tasks? Then you need to know how to cut cell values in Excel! In this article, we will show you how to cut cell values like words and text in Excel using various techniques and tools. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced user, you'll find something useful here. How Do You Cut a Cell Value in Excel? Cutting cell values in Excel is a critical skill for anyone who works with large data sets. It allows you to remove unwanted characters or portions of a cell's contents without affecting the rest of the data. This helps to keep your data clean, organized, and easy to work with. Basic Techniques for Cutting Cell Values in Excel Before we dive into the advanced techniques, let's start with some basic techniques for cutting cell values in Excel. Technique #1: Using the "Cut" Command The simplest way to cut a cell value in Excel is to use the "Cut" 2. Click on the cell where you want to paste the cut value. Right-click and select "Paste" from the context menu, or press "Ctrl+V". Technique #2: Using the "LEFT" Function Another way to cut cell values in --- ### How to Unsort in Excel: Get Back to Your Organized Spreadsheet in No Time > Excel is an incredibly powerful tool, allowing users to organize and manipulate data in ways that were previously unimaginable. - Published: 2023-05-07 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-unsort-in-excel-get-back-to-your-organized-spreadsheet-in-no-time/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Excel is an incredibly powerful tool, allowing users to organize and manipulate data in ways that were previously unimaginable. However, even the most seasoned Excel user can run into issues from time to time, such as accidentally sorting their data in a way they didn't intend to. If you find yourself in this situation, don't panic! In this article, we'll walk you through the steps to unsort in Excel and get your spreadsheet back to the way it was before. Understanding Sorting in Excel Before we dive into how to unsort in Excel, let's first understand how sorting works in this program. When you sort data in Excel, you are essentially reordering the rows based on a particular column. For example, you may sort a list of names alphabetically by last name or sort a list of numbers from lowest to highest. When you sort data, Excel will also move any associated data with each row to maintain the integrity of the data. The Problem with Sorting: Accidents Happen While sorting can be incredibly useful in organizing data, accidents do happen. For instance, you may accidentally sort your data in a way you didn't intend to, causing confusion and frustration. The good news is that unsorting in Excel is a straightforward process that can help you get back to your organized spreadsheet in no time. How do you Unsort in Excel? Now that we understand why unsorting may be necessary, let's go through the steps to unsort in Excel. Step 1: Identify the Issue The first step in unsorting is identifying what you want to unsort. Perhaps you sorted a single column, a range of cells, or even an entire worksheet. Whatever the case may be, identifying what you want to unsort is crucial. In this example, our date is not in order; it is all over the place. In order to properly track it, we need to sort it from least to greatest. Step 2: Undo the Sort Once you have identified what you want to unsort, the next step is to undo the sort. Excel has a handy "undo" feature that allows you to reverse your last action. You can do this by pressing "CTRL + Z" on your If the "undo" feature doesn't work for you, there is another option. Excel has a "Sort" dialog box that allows you to sort your data in a more controlled way. To access this dialog box, select the data you want to unsort and then click on the "Sort" button in the "Data" tab. In the "Sort" dialog box, make sure that "Sort Left to Right" is selected and then choose the column that you want to sort by. Click on "OK" to sort your data and then repeat the process to unsort your data. Step 4: Use a Formula If you are unable to unsort your data using the above methods, you can also try using a formula to unsort your data. This involves using a formula to assign a new value to each cell based on its original position. While this method may be more complicated, it can be useful if you need to unsort a large amount of data. Conclusion Accidentally sorting your data in Excel can be frustrating, but it doesn't have to be the end of the world. By following the steps above, you can quickly and easily unsort your data and get back to your organized spreadsheet. Remember to take your time and carefully follow each step to ensure that you don't accidentally make things worse. FAQsI accidentally sorted my entire worksheet – can I still unsort it? Yes, you can! Simply follow the steps outlined above to undo the sort or use the "Sort" dialog box to sort your data in a more controlled way. What should I do if I accidentally delete some of my data while trying to unsort? Don't panic! Excel has a "undo" feature that allows you to reverse your last action. You can also use the "Restore" feature to restore previous versions of your worksheet. Can I unsort data that has been saved and closed? Yes, you can! Simply open the worksheet and follow the steps outlined above to unsort your data. Will unsorting my data affect any formulas or calculations in my worksheet? No, unsorting your data should not affect any formulas or calculations in your worksheet. However, it's always a good idea to double-check your formulas and calculations after making any changes to your data. How can I prevent accidental sorting in the future? To prevent accidental sorting in the future, make sure to double-check your data and column headings before sorting. You can also use the "Sort Warning" feature in Excel to receive a warning message before sorting. And remember, if you do accidentally sort your data, don't panic – just follow the steps outlined above to unsort it. --- ### What Does Ctrl-E Do In Excel? > Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool used for organizing, analyzing, and manipulating data. While Excel is equipped with numerous features and functions, there are some keyboard shortcuts that can significantly speed up the data entry process. - Published: 2023-04-30 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/what-does-ctrl-e-do-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool used for organizing, analyzing, and manipulating data. While Excel is equipped with numerous features and functions, there are some keyboard shortcuts that can significantly speed up the data entry process. One such keyboard shortcut is "Ctrl+E. " In this article, we will explore what "Ctrl+E" does in Excel and how to use it effectively. What is Ctrl-E in Excel? Ctrl+E is a Enter the first name in the adjacent column Enter the last name in the adjacent column Press Ctrl+E Excel will automatically format the rest of the column based on the pattern you specified. How to Use Crtl+E to Fill Data Flash Fill can also be used to fill data in a specific pattern. For example, suppose you have a list of dates in one column, and you want to format them as "Month Year. " You can use Flash Fill to automate this task: Enter the first date in the adjacent column Enter the desired format in the adjacent column Press Ctrl+E Excel will automatically fill the rest of the column based on the pattern you specified. How to Use Ctrl+E to Flash Fill Data In addition to formatting and filling data, Flash Fill can also be used to extract data from one column to another. For example, suppose you have a list of email addresses in one column, and you want to extract the domain names into another column. You can use Flash Fill to automate this task: Enter the domain name in the adjacent column Press Ctrl+E Excel will analyze the data and extract the domain names into the adjacent column. How to Use Ctrl+E to Clear Formatting If you want to clear formatting from a column or range of cells. You can Use Flash Fill to do so: Enter any value in the adjacent column Press Ctrl+E Excel will clear the formatting from the selected column or range of cells. How to Use Ctrl+E to Edit Cell Contents Flash Fill can also be used to edit cell contents quickly. For example, suppose you have a list of product codes in one column, and you want to change them to uppercase. You can use Flash Fill to automate this task: Enter the desired format in the adjacent column (in this case, "uppercase") Press Ctrl+E Excel will analyze the data and apply the desired format to the selected column. How to Use Ctrl+E to Select the Current Region Flash Fill can also be used to select the current region of data in a worksheet. This can be useful if you want to manipulate a particular section of data without affecting the rest of the worksheet. To use Ctrl+E to select the current region: Select any cell within the data range you want to manipulate Press Ctrl+E Excel will select the current region of data in the worksheet. Advantages of Using Ctrl+E Using Ctrl+E and Flash Fill in Excel offers several advantages, including: Increased efficiency: Flash Fill can automate repetitive tasks, reducing the time and effort required for data entry and manipulation. Reduced errors: Flash Fill reduces the likelihood of errors that can occur during manual data entry or complex formulas. User-friendly interface: Flash Fill is easy to use, and no advanced Excel skills are required to utilize its features. Limitations of Using Ctrl+E While Ctrl+E and Flash Fill can be useful, there are some limitations to consider, including: Limited compatibility: Flash Fill is only available in newer versions of Excel (Excel 2013 or later). Users with older versions of Excel may not have access to this feature. Limited functionality: Flash Fill is designed for specific tasks and may not be useful for more complex data manipulation tasks. Potential errors: While Flash Fill can reduce errors, it is not foolproof and may not always produce the desired results. Tips for Using Ctrl+E Efficiently To use Ctrl+E and Flash Fill efficiently, consider the following tips: Use descriptive patterns: When entering a pattern for Flash Fill, use descriptive language to ensure that Excel understands the pattern correctly. Preview results: Excel provides a preview of the results before applying them. Take advantage of this feature to ensure that the results are accurate before committing to the changes. Use consistent formatting: To ensure that Flash Fill works correctly, use consistent formatting in the adjacent columns. Practice: Like any other feature in Excel, practice using Flash Fill to become more proficient. Conclusion In conclusion, Ctrl+E is a powerful keyboard shortcut that activates Flash Fill, a tool that can significantly speed up data entry and manipulation in Excel. While it has some limitations, using Ctrl+E and Flash Fill can be an efficient and user-friendly way to automate repetitive tasks and reduce errors. FAQsIs Flash Fill available in all versions of Excel? No, Flash Fill is only available in newer versions of Excel (Excel 2013 or later). Can Flash Fill be used for more complex data manipulation tasks? Flash Fill is designed for specific tasks and may not be useful for more complex data manipulation tasks. How can I ensure that Flash Fill produces accurate results? Use descriptive patterns, preview results, use consistent formatting, and practice using Flash Fill to become more proficient. Can Flash Fill replace complex formulas in Excel? Flash Fill is not intended to replace complex formulas in Excel. However, it can be a useful tool to automate repetitive tasks and reduce errors. Is there a limit to the amount of data that Flash Fill can handle? Flash Fill can handle large amounts of data, but it may not be as efficient for very large datasets. It's recommended to use it for smaller, more specific tasks. --- ### How to Angle Cells in Excel: Tips and Tricks for Making Your Data Stand Out > Are you tired of staring at a boring Excel spreadsheet? Do you want to add some flair to your data? - Published: 2023-04-23 - Modified: 2024-10-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-angle-cells-in-excel-tips-and-tricks-for-making-your-data-stand-out/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Are you tired of staring at a boring Excel spreadsheet? Do you want to add some flair to your data? One simple way to make your spreadsheet more visually appealing is to angle cells. In this article, we will show you: How to angle cells in Excel How to slant cells in Excel How to make diagonal cells in Excel How to make slanted cells in Excel By the end, you will have a better understanding of this simple yet powerful formatting technique. What is Cell Angling in Excel? Before we dive into the specifics of how to angle cells in Excel, let's define what we mean by cell angling. Essentially, cell angling is a formatting technique that allows you to change the orientation of the text within a cell. Instead of having the text run from left to right or top to bottom, you can tilt it at an angle, making it stand out from the rest of your data. Why Angle Cells in Excel? Now that we know what cell angling is, you may be wondering why you would want to use this formatting technique. There are several reasons why you might want to angle cells in Excel: To draw attention to important data: Angling cells can help make important data stand out from the rest of your spreadsheet. If you have a key metric that you want to draw attention to, angling the cell can help ensure that it gets noticed. To make your spreadsheet more visually appealing: Let's face it, spreadsheets can be boring. By angling cells, you can add some visual interest to your data, making it more engaging to look at. To fit more data on a single page: By angling cells, you can make more efficient use of the space on your spreadsheet. If you have a lot of data to display, angling cells can help you fit it all on a single page. How to Angle Cells in Excel: Step-by-Step Guide Now that we've covered the why, let's move on to the how. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to angle cells in Excel: Step 1: Select the Cell(s) You Want to Angle The first step is to select the cell or cells you want to angle. You can do this by clicking on the cell(s) with your mouse. Step 2: Click on the "Alignment" Tab in the Formatting Toolbar Once you have selected the cell(s), click on the "Alignment" tab in the formatting toolbar. This will open up the alignment options for the cell(s). Step 3: Select the Orientation You Want In the alignment options, you will see a section called "Orientation". This is where you can select the angle you want to use for your cell(s). You can choose from several pre-defined angles or input a custom angle. Step 4: Adjust Other Formatting Options as Desired Once you have selected the orientation you want, you can also adjust other formatting options as desired. For example, you can change the font, font size, and font color to further customize the appearance of your angled cells. Step 5: Apply the Formatting to Your Cells Finally, click "OK" to apply the formatting to your cells. Your text should now be angled according to the orientation you selected. Tips for Using Cell Angling Effectively Now that you know how to angle cells in Excel, here are some tips for using this formatting technique effectively: Use it sparingly: While cell angling can be a powerful tool for making your data stand out, you don't want to overuse it. Use it sparingly to ensure that it doesn't become overwhelming or distracting. Experiment with different angles: There are many different angles you can use when angling cells in Excel. Don't be afraid to experiment with different angles to find the one that works best for your data. Use contrasting colors: To make your angled cells really stand out, consider using contrasting colors for the text and background. This will help draw the eye to the angled cells and make them more noticeable. Don't sacrifice readability: While angled cells can be visually appealing, you don't want to sacrifice readability for the sake of aesthetics. Make sure your angled text is still easy to read and understand. Use it to highlight key data: Angled cells are a great way to draw attention to key data points in your spreadsheet. Use them strategically to highlight the most important information. Conclusion In conclusion, cell angling is a simple yet powerful formatting technique that can help make your Excel spreadsheets more visually appealing and engaging. By following the step-by-step guide outlined in this article, you can learn how to angle cells in Excel and start using this technique to make your data stand out. Remember to use angled cells sparingly, experiment with different angles, and prioritize readability to ensure that your data remains easy to understand. FAQsDoes angling cells in Excel affect the underlying data? No, angling cells in Excel only affects the appearance of the text within the cell. It does not affect the underlying data or formulas. Can I angle multiple cells at once? Yes, you can angle multiple cells at once by selecting all the cells you want to angle and applying the formatting to all of them simultaneously. Can I angle cells in Excel on a Mac? Yes, the steps for angling cells in Excel on a Mac are the same as on a PC. Can I angle cells in Excel online? Yes, you can angle cells in Excel online using the web version of Excel. The steps are the same as for the desktop version of Excel. Is it possible to undo cell angling in Excel? Yes, you can undo cell angling in Excel by selecting the angled cell(s) and clicking on the "Orientation" dropdown in the formatting toolbar. Then, select "Horizontal" to return the text to its original orientation. --- ### How To Customize the Excel Ribbon - Published: 2023-01-31 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-customize-the-excel-ribbon/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: #dataanalysis, #datamanagement, #datavisualization, #Excel, #ExcelCharts, #ExcelDataAnalysis, #ExcelDataManagement, #ExcelFormulas, #ExcelFunctions, #ExcelMacros, #ExcelPivotTables, #ExcelRibbon, #ExcelShortcuts, #ExcelTips, #ExcelTutorial, #MicrosoftExcel, #officeproductivity, #productivity, #spreadsheets Excel is a powerful spreadsheet software that has been around for decades and is used by millions of people all over the world. It is a software that can help you organize, analyze, and present data in a way that is both visually appealing and easy to understand. However, with so many features and functions, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. That's where the excel ribbon comes in. The Comprehensive Guide to the Excel Ribbon: Making the Most of Your Data The excel ribbon is a toolbar located at the top of the Excel window that provides quick access to all of the features and functions that Excel has to offer. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore everything you need to know about the excel ribbon and how to use it effectively. Understanding the Excel Ribbon The excel ribbon is made up of different tabs, each of which corresponds to a different group of features. The tabs are: File Home Insert Page Layout Formulas Data Review View By clicking on each tab, you can access the different groups of features that are associated with that tab. For example, if you want to insert a chart or table into your spreadsheet, you would click on the Insert tab. Making the Most of the Excel Ribbon The excel ribbon is an incredibly useful tool, but only if you know how to use it effectively. Here are some tips to help you make the most of the excel ribbon: Learn the different tabs: As we mentioned earlier, each tab corresponds to a different group of features. Take some time to explore each tab and get familiar with the different features that are available to you. Customize the excel ribbon: The excel ribbon can be customized to fit your specific needs. For example, if you use a certain feature frequently, you can add it to the Quick Access Toolbar at the top of the Excel window. This will give you quick access to that feature without having to go to the relevant tab. Use keyboard shortcuts: Keyboard shortcuts can be a great way to save time when working with Excel. The excel ribbon provides quick access to many of the most commonly used keyboard shortcuts, so be sure to take advantage of them. Frequently Asked Questions About the Excel Ribbon What is the Excel Ribbon? The excel ribbon is a toolbar located at the top of the Excel window that provides quick access to all of the features and functions that Excel has to offer. How many tabs are there in the excel ribbon? There are eight tabs in the excel ribbon: File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, and View. Can the Excel Ribbon be customized? Yes, the excel ribbon can be customized to fit your specific needs. You can add or remove tabs, change the order of the tabs, and add or remove commands from the tabs. What is the Quick Access Toolbar in the excel ribbon? The Quick Access Toolbar is a customizable toolbar that appears at the top of the Excel window. It provides quick access to the most frequently used commands, so you don't have to go to the relevant tab to access them. Conclusion The excel ribbon is an incredibly useful tool that can help you make the most of Excel and your data. Whether you're a beginner or an advanced user, it's important to understand how the excel ribbon works and how to use it effectively. By taking the time to learn the different tabs, customizing the ribbon to fit your needs, and using keyboard shortcuts, you can save time and streamline your workflow in Excel. In conclusion, the excel ribbon is a must-know for anyone who wants to make the most of their data and excel in their work. So, make sure to use it to its full potential and turn your data into meaningful insights. --- ### Longest Running Excel MVP - 006 VBAExpress Forums Challenge - Published: 2022-12-11 - Modified: 2024-12-12 - URL: https://excel.tv/longest-running-excel-mvp-006-vbaexpress-forums-challenge/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video Hey Folks! How are you doing? Excel TV is back again with new Excel Challenge. Excel Author Jordon Goldmeier is back with VBA Express Weekly Challenge. So, before getting in to this week’s challenge, let us have a look at previous week’s challenge. Here we go! Last Week’s Challenge Excel MVP Jordan asked us “Name at least one function that is not an exact match to it’s DAX expression counterpart”. Hope you all answered it well and waiting for the correct answer and the winner. Correct Answer From Last Week’s Challenge So, here is the answer. It is TEXT and FORMAT. The winner is “Jordan Goldmeier”. Yes, you got it right. Confused? Wait a bit. Actually, no one got it right, so none was the winner. Reward for last week’s episode will be forwarded to the next week. Who is the long running Excel MVP? This week’s challenge is “Who is the long running EXCEL MVP”. This week’s winner is going to get two rewards one from previous week and one from this week, as explained by Jordon in the video. Hurry Up To Answer This is really an awesome chance to grab two rewards apart from learning new. Go ahead and comment your answer in Excel TV blog post or Facebook or comment on the video. You can even tweet to @ExcelTV. Come On! --- ### How-to: Use Excel Formulas in Word - Published: 2022-02-17 - Modified: 2024-10-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/edit-excel-formulas-in-word-spreadsheet-tips-and-tricks/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Can you use Excel formulas in Word? Yes! We all use Excel Spreadsheet and Microsoft Word document every time and we use them individually. But, do you know that Word document can be helpful if you face any problem with Excel Formulas? Yes, you heard it right. You can edit Excel Formulas in Word document easily. Let us say if you have any error in Excel formula and if that formula is too big to find and replace, then you can edit that Excel formula in Word document easily. Excel MVP Oz explains how it can be done. Let’s get started! 1 – Copy Excel Formula Let us say you have the large formula and it has some error referring some sheet. If there are lot many occurrences of that text and if you want to replace that text, then it would be very difficult to find and replace that text. So, simply copy the entire Excel Formula and head over to next step. 2 – Paste Copied Formula in Word Document Now paste the copied Excel formula in Word Document. Right now just paste it and do not edit right away. Just make sure of what you want to edit and make a note of a number of occurrences which you want to replace. If the count is one or two, then go ahead and change the text. But, if the count is more, then head over to next step. 3 – Edit Excel Formula in Word It is the time to edit Excel formula in Excel. If the occurrence of text which you want to edit is one or two, then we can do it directly. But, what if the count is more? Then, we would use the ‘Replace’ option in Word. Select the text which you want to replace and click on ‘Replace’ in ‘Editing’ section. It would show ‘Find and Replace’ dialog box. Selected text will be shown in ‘Find what’ field and enter the new text in ‘Replace with’ field. Click on ‘Replace All’ and it would replace the selected text in Excel formula with the correct text and removes the error in the formula. 4 – Give it a Try! This is the simple and easy way to edit Excel formula in Word. Give it a try and let us know what you think about it. What’s next? As explained above, you too experiment with it. If you find this trick helpful, then please do share this with your friends or colleagues. If you have anything to add, then please do share with us through comments. --- ### Highlighted Timeline Chart in Excel Without VBA: Raw and Uncut - Published: 2019-10-16 - Modified: 2024-12-04 - URL: https://excel.tv/highlighted-timeline-chart-in-excel-without-vba-raw-and-uncut/ - Categories: Excel Charts, Graphs & Data Visualization - Formats: Video Introduction I built a chart that let’s you highlight a series from a smaller chart (take a look at that the chart under the timeline) and show it in more detail on a larger chart. Yahoo! Finance used to have something similar, although I can’t find it anymore. But anyone who has looked up stocks online ought to be familiar with this type of dynamic.   Building this was significant for me in that it accomplished a few things:  We were able to build a really awesome interactive chart simply using Excel’s internal features and functions. There was NO VBA.   It uses Pivot Tables. I am not always a huge Pivot Table fan, but I surprise myself sometimes. Although, to be fair, we only use Pivot Tables because of the limitation imposed that slicers can only work on PivotTables.   Power BI doesn’t (yet! ) have something like this. I’m not trying to be the last island still fighting the anti-Power BI war long after the Excel space has moved on. But just remember, if you’re caught in between Excel and Power BI it’s reflective of the current transition. In other words—there are still things Excel can do that Power BI cannot. So let’s take a look at the mechanisms that drive this interaction. Here are my step-by-step instructions to build this chart. Step 0 - The Dataset (not really a step? ) The dateset I’m using is a timeseries of the frequency of tornadoes per month from 1945 to 1994. That dataset is incorporated into an Excel table that serves as the backend database for the dashboard.    Step 1 - Placing a Pivot Table The next step is create a Pivot Table off of this data. Include the date in the  Row Values field and the Value in the aggregation field. If you’re using a newer version of Excel, dropping the dates in will create an automatic date hierarchy (see next image).   If that happens, right-click anywhere in the pivot table. And select ungroup.   If everything looks right, your screen should look like this.   Step 2 – Add a Pivot Chart and Timeline Once the Pivot Table is built, you can add a Pivot Chart and Timeline (Insert > Timeline). In the following picture, I have formatted the Pivot Chart to remove the auto-generated field list options so it looks like a regular chart. Notice that changes in the timeline are now reflective in the chart.   Step 3 – Find out the minimum and maximum dates filtered in the Pivot table. In our backend data, we create three different values to track: The Minimum Date from the pivot table—which is the beginning date of the timeline’s selected region.   The Maximum Date from the pivot table—which is the ending date of the timeline’s selected region. The Maximum Value of the total series—that’s going to be the month with the greatest frequency of tornadoes. We’ll use that to create the highlighted look shown in orange in the first image on the chart showing the full timeseries. We could use any arbitrarily high number, but using the max value of the series ensures we’ll never create a background that’s a lesser height than a given value in the series. The following image shows how we get the minimum date. We'll use a similar formula for the max date. The Max value will pull the max from the Excel Table.   Step 3 – Use the original table to create two series that will give the highlight effect of the overall series. In this step, we create two additional columns to the backend Excel Table: Highlight Series and Highlight Background.   In the Highlight Series column we test if the current date is within the range identified by the timeline. If it is, we have that value returned otherwise we generate an NA error. NAs won’t be mistakenly plotted by the chart. You can see in the image (well, just barely, but it's there! ), values outside the range come in as an #NA.   In the Highlight Background column, we repeat the Max Val (399 in this case) where the Highlight Series is not #NA,; otherwise, we return a zero. I use a Boolean formula to achieve this. Take a look at the next image.   Step 4 – Create the chart by combining Value, Highlight Series, and Highlight Background At this point, you can create a line chart based on values you’ve been putting together. The continuous time series reflects the Values series; the red highlight can be traced to the Highlight Series column; and, the Highlight Background series is the green that lumps up and forms the highlight.   Step 5 – Convert the highlighted background line chart to a column chart.   Notice that the highlight is currently a line chart and doesn't look very good. So we'll neex to fix that.   Right-click onto the Highlight Background series and select Change Series Chart Type. Change the Highlight Background series to a clustered column and then hit ok.   Finally, right click on the Highlight Background series and go to Format Data Series. Set the Gap Width to zero to achieve that continuous effect.   Step 6 – At this point, it’s just a matter of copying and pasting that chart onto your dashboard. Format the chart as you’d like!   Questions? Comments? Did you like this chart? How would you use it in your work?   What did you think of the video? As I ask at the end of the video, what kind of video quality are you looking for? Writing these blogs posts are just easier for me sometimes. I like writing more than I like video editing! It’s easier for me on the one hand. On the other hand, sitting down and just spitting out a video is also really easy. I just struggle because in the age of YouTube, I am suppose to worry about keywords, thumbnails, descriptions and more. I hate doing a million different takes. And I hate that worrying about these things stops me from putting out content.   At some point in the future, Excel. tv will hopefully reach enough training and consulting revenue that I can hire someone to help me build that stuff out. (So please, if you like what we do, share it with your friends, bosses and coworkers—every little bit helps! We’re building a community here! ) But if there’s one thing I’ve realized over this year, it’s just I don’t have the energy for perfection. And to the extent that my perfectionism works against my ability to put out content, I feel worse off.   That said, I want to ensure what I put out is valuable to you. So please let me know what you as a community would like. I love experimenting.   Download File Get the Example File --- ### Excel Data Visualization: Presidential Approval Ratings with Slicers & Power Query – Chart Tricks - Published: 2019-06-10 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-data-visualization-presidential-approval-ratings-with-slicers-power-query-chart-tricks/ - Categories: Excel Charts, Graphs & Data Visualization - Formats: Video --- ### Excel Tutorial Concat Function in Excel with TEXTJOIN – Excel.TV - Published: 2019-04-22 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-tutorial-concat-function-in-excel-with-textjoin-excel-tv-episode-53/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video And we're back... We took a brief hiatus for the holiday season here in the United States (Passover, Easter, and 4/20) but we're back and better than ever.   Say "Hello," TEXTJOIN This week, I wanted to introduce you to my next best friend, TEXTJOIN. TEXTJOIN was added to Excel a few years back, and came about - I kid you not - as a result of years of everyone complaining. Well, that's the way I think it happened. What can I do with TEXTJOIN?   TEXTJOIN allows you to combine data from different cells into one. That might not seem so novel, but remember the old way of doing things: you would use the CONCATENATE function (or CONCAT for short) or ampersand ('&') to connect different cells into on cell in Excel. If you had 100 cells, you would have to click each cell 100 times (Chandoo had a trick to avoid this but it's no longer necessary under the TEXTJOIN regime). Hence, like I said, TEXTJOIN came as a result of our aggravation at the current way of doing things.   In the video... In this video, I quickly show you the old way to bring multiple cells together into one cell and then show you how TEXTJOIN awesome improves upon it. So make sure you watch the video at the top of this blog post to get everything.   In the meantime, here's a quick break down of it how it works:  TEXTJOIN( delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, ) delimiter - Here you can specify if you want a delimiter to separate each text item when you combine them. In the example, I start with a space "" (literally, two quotation marks with nothing in them), but you can also do comma (",") or multiple spaces ("   "). It's really up to you.   ignore_empty - This is a TRUE/FALSE option that lets you tell Excel if you're interested in ignoring empty cells.    - Place all the cells you want to combine into this argument.   Hit ENTER and watch the magic happen!   Get the download files Click on the button below to get the download files used in this video.   Let us know what you think in the comments! Did you like this video? What type of data are you joining? Let us know what you think in the comments.   --- ### How to Create Running Totals & Rankings in Microsoft Excel Power Query - Published: 2019-04-08 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/52-how-to-create-running-totals-rankings-in-microsoft-excel-power-query/ - Categories: Excel Power Query & Data Cleaning - Formats: Video Let's say Hi to Szilvia! This week Szilvia shows us some awesome Power Query tips in the context of something many of us do - bar trivia!  Excel. TV's own high priestess reports from sunny, southern California, where spreadsheets are the brightest you've ever seen.   Excel Tips & My thoughts As someone who is just really getting started with Power Query and Power BI, I was really looking forward to this video. One of the things Szilvia shows you how to do is to get data into Power Query with just a named range! - that's right, you don't need an Excel Table. I thought that was pretty cool.   She also shows you how to make that top row into a header row, unpivot columns (one of my favorite features) and how to regroup everything into summarized results. I love how she uses this in the context of pub trivia. But if you think about it, you can use this example on your own dashboards. It does require that you press an update button. Those who've read my books know my strong opinions about run/update buttons. But still, it's a pretty cool trick! In fact, I kinda love it! Free Webinar: Building an Awesome Data Model in 7 Easy Steps --- ### Budgets vs Actuals Target Chart in Microsoft Excel – Excel TV - Published: 2019-03-25 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/budgets-vs-actuals-target-chart-in-microsoft-excel-excel-tv-episode-50/ - Categories: Excel Charts, Graphs & Data Visualization - Formats: Video In this week's episode of Excel. TV, we show you how to build a budget vs. actuals chart. Really, though, this is what I call in my book Dashboards for Excel a performance-against-context type chart. It basically says: We have what we did against some context (in this case, a target). Take a look below.  In this episode, I show you how to make the chart on your own. It's a really quick process: Start with your data Place the data onto the a 2d clustered column chart Align the series to be on top of one another Change the chart type of your target series to a line chart Add markers and remove lines And that's about it. The rest is formatting. 1. Start with your dataIn our example file (you can download the file at the end of this post), we start with a list of accounts and their associated actual and budget amounts.   2. Place data into 2d clustered column chart. --- ### 001: Build a Map in Excel with Conditional Formatting - Published: 2018-04-20 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/001-build-map-excel-conditional-formatting/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports - Formats: Video This isdesigned to help you end the week on a high note, with tips, tricks, comedy, interviews and more.  Tell us what you're looking for and we'll try to make it happen. Have a great Excel tip you want to share with the world? Let us know in the comments. We might ask if we can share! Enjoy the map! --- ### UNPIVOT WITH POWER QUERY - Published: 2017-05-31 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/unpivot-power-query/ - Categories: Excel Power Query & Data Cleaning - Formats: Video Isn’t it just frustrating to receive a copy-paste summary table that requires analysis? Yes, we’d rather have the data source, which we can turn into a pivot table and analyze to our hearts content. Well, the world isn’t perfect, but Ken Puls has a trick up his sleeve that can potentially save us from tons of manual work. Let’s make that data pivot-ready! 1 – Importing Data Let’s say that the Excel table you want to “unpivot” looks something like the image below. Analyzing this is difficult since it cannot be turned into a pivot table (just yet! ). On your Excel sheet, select this table containing the data. Now go to POWER QUERY and click on ‘From Table’. Check the box as appropriate for your selection and click OK. The data will be imported into Query Editor and would look something like this. 2 – Data Cleansing There are two simple steps to do at this stage before the magic can happen. Remove the “Total” column, and Filter out the “Total” row. 3 – The Magic Select the column with the labels. Now go to Transform > Unpivot Columns > Unpivot Other Columns. And done! You should now have columnar data that can be pivoted easily. You can do the following improvements to the data table: Right-click on any column heading and select Rename. Select the date column and go to Home > Data Type > Date from the dropdown menu. Under ‘Properties’ from right-hand side panel, you can also change the table name. Now press ‘Apply & Close’ or ‘Close & Load’ under the Home tab in your Query Editor. And the data is ready to use and will resemble the image on the right. You can pivot it and get to the exact same table you started with. Or you can come up with other pivot tables that might be more meaningful to you. 4 – Some More Magic Let’s say the initial data summary got updated with more products and more columns, as depicted in the image below. What should be done now? It would be a headache to have to repeat all of the steps explained above each time this our summary data gets updated. Well, you don’t have to. Just right-click on the output from Query Editor (the green table) and click ‘Refresh’. Done! Similarly, you can also “refresh” your pivot tables connected to this table and they will be updated too. 5 – Extras As an extra, Ken Puls shares with us a way to pull data (from our sources) faster. Under the POWER QUERY tab, click on ‘Fast Combine’ from Workbook Settings section of the ribbon and enable it. For Excel 2013, go to POWER QUERY and then click on ‘Options’ from Settings part of the ribbon and check ‘Fast Data Load’. Now you can load data by suppressing information or security settings and all alerts / notifications pertaining to them. What’s next? Oz loved the trick! And so did others. And, surely, you will too. Try it out now and see how it melts away some of your frustration in dealing with tabular data. And share with us your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below. --- ### Kari Finn of Microsoft MVP Program - Published: 2017-03-12 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/kari-finn-microsoft-mvp-program/ - Categories: Announcements - Formats: Video Kari Finn, Manager of Microsoft MVP program joins Excel TV host Rick Grantham and cohosts Microsoft Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier and author and Microsoft Excel MVP Oz du Soleil on Excel TV. Rick:Kari joins us from Microsoft in Redmond. Would you mind saying hello and tell us a little bit about yourself? Kari:I am the community program manager that has a relationship with the Microsoft MVPs in the consumer space for products like Office and Excel. MVP is Most Valuable Professionals. We find super excellent expert community enthusiasts (say that fast! ) and award them this special MVP recognition and work with them for the next 12 months. It’s totally rewarding. I love my job. I meet great people like Jordan Goldmeier and get to work with them in the community. I've been here for four years now and feel like I’m just getting started. Jordan:Would you say Excel MVPs are your favorite? Kari:  (Arm twisted by Rick) Of course I would!   I love my MVPs equally but the Excel MVPs have a little extra flavor. Rick:  I had an interview with Bob Umlas. He has been involved in the MVP program from the very beginning. He said his name was found in a Kari:  We will give you the secret handshake at the MVP Summit! Yes, they get a fancy statue like Jordan’s. They also get a dedicated account manager --who would be me. And they are invited to be on a distribution list with the people who make the product of which they are an expert. So they can have conversations with Microsoft Excel engineers and programmers to find bugs or make suggestions for features that would make the product better. They also have benefits like the MVP Summit. Currently about half of the estimated 4000 MVPs invited throughout the world attend. We feed them and have sessions on news about the product or how to build their community better. We have a very deep dive into technical topics on content that we can't share with the community; top-secret development topics. You can network with MVP peers, other communities and attend events where you can socialize with the Microsoft people who make the product. We have the MVP showcase where we have an expo showcasing several MVPs and their projects. Oz:So MVP status is a big deal with substantive content not just a plaque. Jordan:It's a good time. The food is quite amazing. It's a spread. Oh, yeah, there is the technical too. Jordan:What is a way that someone can be nominated to become an MVP? Is the process through nomination by fellow MVPs or can you nominate yourself? This is actually what I did. Rick:You nominated yourself? Is that a thing? Jordan:It took me a year to get it. Kari:How do you nominate yourself? Rick:Heck yeah! How do you nominate yourself? Kari:There is a link to go fill out a web form to nominate yourself or someone else. We encourage people to nominate themselves. We have so many great folks all over the world that sometimes we can't get to you. We really like when you nominate yourself. Be your biggest advocate. If you don’t think you are there, we can work together to help you work in the community to get where it takes to be an Excel MVP and give you a stronger chance to get the MVP award. Ultimately we want to thank and award as many people as we can. This award is for an elite group of people. Contact Excel TV for the link. Nominate yourself – https://mvp. microsoft. com/en-us/Nomination/nominate-an-mvpRick:We will put a link on our Facebook page. Oz and I talked about the MVP summit. There was a picture of him with Mr. Excel, Rob Collie, and Jordan. I noticed there's an underrepresentation of people with goatees and people wearing bowties with hats. My question is as you look at the applications for people with goatees. Make sure you have enough with people with facial hair like me! Kari:So the rundown is-- award more people with facial hair and bowties? Rick:Yes, that is my contribution. Oz:Except for Duck Dynasty! Then you will regret it, Rick. Jordan:We need more women MVPs. I don't know if there's a program, but I encourage any women who want to join us. Kari:That is a great point. Oz:It's good to know if you are not quite there, Excel will help nurture you to get you there. Kari:Please feel free to reach out to me and I will help you with that. Email me. Jordan:Are there any community events you are working on now? Kari:I’m working on the next MVP Summit. And we are working on online events for our MVP mentor program which is a sub program of the MVP program where our MVPs will teach the community specific topics. We have 40 topics planned in different languages and time zones. Oz:Is this to teach a specific topic. What is an example? Kari: yes. An example would be how to write an app for Windows 8, or how to get your indie game onto the Xbox platform, or how to create a SharePoint site with various functionality, etc. . We have 90 different technologies. Oz:Wow. Bob Umlas said there were MVPs for everything. Rick:Even Xbox! Kari:Bob Umlas was our first MVP to reach the 20 year mark as an Excel MVP consecutively. Oz:I appreciate what Rick is doing with this. I didn't hear about any of this until the interview. As a result of one of these interviews, I learned about Bob Umlas. Kari:Do you know about Bill Jelen? He is amazing. Jordan and Rick:YES! We have heard of him and he has been a guest. Kari:What about Mike Girvin? Also, you can go to the MVP award program website and find MVPs in any region for any product. You can look up future guests for your show! --- ### Intersection Operator with Named Ranges - Excel Tips and Tricks - Published: 2016-10-03 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/intersection-operator-with-named-ranges-excel-tips-and-tricks/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports - Formats: Video Hello All! We all are aware that VLOOKUP allows us to find the intersecting value of ranges or lists. It takes the value of one column and finds the corresponding value in the same row of another column. For example, Select any cell when you want to display the result. Now, the formula would have ranges like A6:D6 and C4:C8 separated by space and hit enter. Then, you could see the output as 45 which is the number of lives saved by Spiderman. Here, we have performed intersect operator by separating the cell ranges by spaces. 2 – Use Intersect Operator with Named Ranges It is not possible to use cell ranges if we have a lot of data in an Excel sheet. But, Szilvia Juhasz shows that we can use Intersect operator can be used with named ranges. So, now instead of using cell ranges in the formula, we would use name ranges. To do so, select the entire data in an Excel sheet and click on “Create from Selection” under “Formulas” tab. This would show the pop up with ‘Top Row’ and ‘Left Column’ values checked. Click ‘Ok’ and named ranges will be created. Now to find the value of the number of BabiesSaved by Spiderman, then the formula would contain only named ranges separated by space, hence using the intersect operator. So, the formula would look like “Spiderman BabiesSaved”. Hit enter and you could see the output as 45 which is a number of BabiesSaved by Spiderman. What’s next? This is really an awesome tip by Szilvia Juhasz. Using this tip we have learned that we can use Intersect operator instead of VLOOKUP in some scenarios. Let us know your views and if you have anything to add, please do share with us through comments. --- ### Inquire - Workbook Analysis in Excel - Published: 2016-09-29 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/inquire-workbook-analysis/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Troubleshooting Excel workbooks of others can be mind-numbing, if not excruciating. There are various tools that VBA experts have developed over the years to help with this process. But there is one great tool that is rarely mentioned. Developed by Microsoft itself, INQUIRE is available in the Office Professional Plus and Office 365 Professional Plus editions. And Oz is already here to deliver a small, useful tutorial. Let’s get started! 1 – Enabling INQUIRE in Excel Enabling this add-in is really simple. Just follow these steps: Go to File > Options > Add-Ins. Make sure COM Add-insis selected in the Manage box, and click Go. Tick the box next to INQUIRE and click OK. Of course if you have DEVELOPER tab activated, you can access COM Add-ins through it directly. The following image shows what it looks like. If you can’t see INQUIRE amongst your COM Add-ins, it is because either your version of Microsoft Office doesn’t support it or that your organization’s system administrator has disabled it. 2 – Workbook Analysis Highlighted in the image above, Workbook Analysis is an indispensable tool for anyone who has to do a lot of reviews or troubleshooting on Excel files. When you click on it, this tool will run a bunch of analyses on your workbook before presenting you with a list of items. From this list, as shown in the image on the right, you can select various things you would like to see the reports on. Once you are done selecting, click on Excel Export and save the file. 3 – The Results The reports are given in different sheets. And the amount of detail given is just tremendous. From Hidden and Very Hidden sheets to formulas with numeric inputs, everything is reported on. Some of the useful things to look at are as follows: Blank referenced cells: to see if some inputs have been unintentionally left out. Unused input cells: to see if some numeric values have not been used in any formula. Inconsistent formulas: to see formulas which couldn’t have been copied (or dragged) from neighboring cells. Numeric constant formulas: to see formulas with hard-coded numbers. 4 – Usefulness Some of the most apparent uses of this tool would be in troubleshooting a problem, detecting formulas with hard-coded inputs and providing comments on various parts of the file. What’s next? Take out an old file and try this tool out. The ease with which you can analyze workbooks through INQUIRE is definitely going to surprise you. And do not forget to write to us with your experiences. --- ### How to Change Comment Formatting - Excel VBA Coding Tips - Published: 2016-09-22 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-change-comment-formatting-excel-vba-coding-tips/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video Excel MVP Jordan is continuing the Excel VBA Coding tips. While coding comments play an important role. Comments explain what certain piece of code does so that it would be easy when you share the code with others. So, Jordan unfolds the new coding tip related to comment. He explains the feature which adds color to comments. You can specify the text color and background color of the comment, so that when you look at the code, you would easily recognize the comments. So, let us see how to change comment formatting in Excel VBA. How to Change Comment Formatting In order to start writing VBA Code in Excel, we need to enable the ‘Developer’ tab first and we will see how to do that. 1 – Enable Developer Tab Once you open the Excel Spreadsheet, click on ‘File’ and select ‘Options’. In ‘Excel Options’ dialog box, click on ‘Customize Ribbon’ on the left side. Check the option ‘Developer’ on the right side and click ‘Ok’. This would show the ‘Developer’ tab in your Excel Spreadsheet. 2 – Open the Visual Basic Editor To open Visual Basic editor, click on ‘Visual Basic’ icon under ‘Developer’ tab. This would open the ‘Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications’ window where you can start writing the Visual Basic programs. 3 – Change Comment Formatting In order to change comment formatting, click on ‘Tools’ and select ‘Options’. ‘Options’ dialog box opens up and clicks on ‘Editor Format’ tab. Now, under ‘Code Colors’ section, select ‘Comment Text’ and select Foreground color, Background color, Font type, Font size and more. It even shows the preview and once you are ok with the formatting, click ‘Ok’ From now on when you type a comment in VBA Code, then you would see the format getting applied to comments. What’s next? Jordan has unfolded very useful VBA Coding tip. Give it a try and let us know your opinion or suggestion on it. If you have anything to add, please do share with us through comments. --- ### Games in Excel and In Excel Training - Gamification with Spreadsheets - Published: 2016-07-17 - Modified: 2016-09-25 - URL: https://excel.tv/games-in-excel-and-in-excel-training-gamification-with-spreadsheets/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video For all the gaming aficionados out there, this week’s topic will surely hit it out of the park. Together with Jordan Goldmeier, Rick Grantham, Oz du Soleil and our special guest Cary Walking (creator of Arena. Xlsm), we will explore quite a few interesting themes. From learning Excel through developing games to using games while delivering workshops, we are set to cover all the bases. Let’s dive into it! 1 – Gamification of Education This space has been repeatedly shown to have great potential. Cary himself has been involved in this area for quite some time. Recent trends include use of quests inside games to encourage students to take interest in doing homework. These can be specifically tailored to meet differing needs of individual students. From teachers’ perspective, such a strategy yields tons of data for them to analyze: how fast the progress of students have been, what topics are particularly troubling them, or how much time each student is spending on his / her homework. For educators and researchers, this offers a way to quantify and study “learning” objectively. Gamification of education truly has massive advantages over traditional methods of assigning / checking homework in many cases. Rick mentioned how a social media platform developed for third graders to do homework was affecting their behavior positively. The idea was based on gamification of math homework. Kids just couldn’t wait to get started with their problem sets. Such techniques are much more engaging then making students sit with only a pen and a paper. 2 – Cary’s Passion When asked if Arena. Xlsm was his first gamification project, Cary said that he has always been into games for a significant part of his life. He had a knack for finding game mechanics in everyday things and how they can help better the ways to do them. He mentioned that it is important to look at mundane things and make them interesting through gamification to get the desired level of engagement or to get needed data. It can achieve a lot in school and at work. 3 – Can Games Bother People? As long as the games are about achieving a task or learning something, they tend to be good. Otherwise, as Oz mention, when they are competition-based or time-based, they are not appreciated as widely. Also, the fact that one is just sitting at home alone working through the game may not be an attraction to some people. Since Cary is a game designer, he said that the users’ emotions are an important consideration when designing a game. Hence, such points are not only valid but necessary to think about. 4 – Gamification of Workshops A good way to make (Excel or non-Excel, both) workshops interactive is to introduce games into the learning process. For example, using some form of a game show or MCQ-style competition amongst teams. It makes the environment positively competitive and gets people interested. In corporate trainings, there are a lot of things to remember. So dividing the attendees into groups and playing an engaging memory game can help boost learning. Moreover, gamification can really help with mundane, monotonous jobs or trainings. One way is by putting up small rewards, for example, postcards with funny pictures or jokes, for teams or individuals to win. 5 – Development As far as development of games is concerned, Cary uses VBA to develop using modular terms and not nested in spreadsheets. He finds it much easier to debug. Taking Excel games to phones is also much simpler. The design is easily replicated while the mechanics of the game just need to be recoded. For example, VBA’s ability to use range lookups facilitates game development greatly and would need complete recoding in any other programming environment. This is something that Cary is doing in C# with Unity currently. What’s next? Share this with your colleagues! Share this with gamers! And go on to learn more about this interesting topic. Do not forget to write to us with your experiences in the comments section below. --- ### Excel File Naming Conventions - Name Style Rules - Published: 2016-05-29 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-file-naming-conventions-name-style-rules/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Naming your Excel files is something which doesn’t get any coverage of any of the Excel blogs out there. And many, if not most, people do not feel that file names are something to put a thought into. But time and again we are lost looking for a spreadsheet that we really need or are clueless about what the spreadsheet in front of us concerns. Jordan Goldmeier (aka JLOOKUP) is here to share some conventions he uses when naming his spreadsheets. Why wait? Let’s get started! 1 – Spaces Connect words using spaces instead of naming files “LikeThis. xlsx”. Use of spaces between words makes the file names more readable and easier for search to look up. 2 – Abbreviations are for Proper Nouns Limit the use of abbreviations to proper nouns only. So, “Cost Analysis Reporting System v2. xlsx” can be named as “CARS v2. xlsx”. But “Chart Example. xlsm” should not be changed to “Chart Ex. xlsm” or “Chart Eg. xlsm”. The reason is that abbreviated proper nouns might be part of your corporate’s jargon, but not everyone would think of ‘Ex’ to stand for ‘Example’. 3 – Dates with Proper Delineation If one is employing dates within their file naming system, they should delineate it using hyphens. For example, ‘12th of May, 2016’, should be written as ‘12-05-2016’, ‘2016-05-12’ or something similar. ‘12052016’ can look like someone’s ID, especially if you are putting dates at the start of your files like “12052016 ABC Performance. xlsx”. If you use dates to maintain version numbers, it’s easier to sort your files by the ‘Date modified’ column within your folders. 4 – Version Numbers Some people use a system like “PA of XYZ_working file. xlsx” and “PA of XYZ_final version. xlsx” to maintain different versions. But if something goes wrong with your ‘working file’, e. g. it gets corrupted, you might not have a recent back up to save you. Hence, it is recommended that one should use file names like “PA of XYZ v1. xlsx”, “PA of XYZ v2. xlsx”, “PA of XYZ v3. xlsx” and so on to denote version numbers. What’s next? Think about the merits of this system and incorporate things you liked in your work. Also, share this with your colleagues who have a hard time keeping files organized. And do tell us your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. --- ### Command + T To Cycle Through Excel Cell References On A Mac - Published: 2016-05-23 - Modified: 2016-09-08 - URL: https://excel.tv/command-t-to-cycle-through-excel-cell-references-on-a-mac/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video As frequent Excel users, we know the importance of absolute and relative references. On Windows operating system, one can use the F4 key to turn cycle through absolute and relative references, and everything in between. But there are a lot of users who use Excel on MAC and are clueless about how to access the same functionality. No need to worry! Jordan Goldmeier (aka JLOOKUP) is here solve this mystery for us. Let’s go for it! Excel Shortcut on a MAC The answer is simple! COMMAND + T Yes, that’s it. It can be used exactly as F4 is used in Windows. While typing the formula and right after selecting a reference, pressing COMMAND+T multiple times will make Excel cycle through absolute to relative reference and back on that selection. Also, while editing an already typed formula, one can just select or place cursor over a reference and press COMMAND+T to achieve the same result.   What’s next? If you’re a MAC user, you need to remember this. It’s a long-awaited answer to our prayers. So, keep practicing it till it becomes muscle memory. And do not forget to share this with your friends or colleagues who face similar frustration. --- ### Creating Random Data in Excel using RANDBETWEEN and CHOOSE - Published: 2016-05-10 - Modified: 2016-09-07 - URL: https://excel.tv/creating-random-data-in-excel-using-randbetween-and-choose/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Many times we are in need of random data. Suppose, if you are doing some tutorial on Excel formulas, then we need to have random data in your Excel sheet. There are many situations in the same way and when we are in need of some random data, we generally use some websites that helps in random data generation. Steps to generate random data using RANDBETWEEN and CHOOSE As I told earlier, we can generate --- ### Excel Prevent Buttons, Shapes and Objects from Resizing - Published: 2016-03-18 - Modified: 2021-06-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-prevent-buttons-shapes-and-objects-from-resizing-excel-tricks/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Are you fond of using Dashboards in Excel? I know you would say “Yes” and why not everyone likes it. It is one of the beautiful things that can be done using Excel. So, we would have many objects to make Dashboard looks pretty. In that, we would want to insert a header, new rows or change the size of the row. Believe me most of us have faced many problems while doing one of the tasks I have mentioned. Problem: Buttons, Shapes and Objects Resizes We would see that objects on the Dashboard would get resized by doing one of the tasks mentioned above. Objects of the Dashboard get disturbed when we do not set size and properties of them. If you are one among many who is thinking for a solution to overcome such problem, then this article is for your guys. Yes, Rick Grantham has come up with the best ever Excel tip to prevent buttons, shapes and objects from resizing. Here we go! 1 – Add Shapes to Dashboard In order to know the Excel tip to prevent buttons, shapes and objects from resizing, first let us insert a shape on the Dashboard. On the Toolbar, click “Insert” and from “Shapes” select one, say “Rounded Rectangle”. Just click and drag in Excel to place the selected shape as shown and give it a name. 2 – Set Size and Properties Now, as our aim is to help you in preventing buttons, shapes and objects from resizing we need to set size and properties of the shape which we have inserted. This is the important step in this and very few know about this. But, Excel TV reveals it for you folks! Let us do that. Right click on the inserted shape and click “Size and Properties”. 3 – Object Positioning Now, you could see “Format Shape” dialog box has been popped up. On the left side, click “Properties” and select the radio button or option “Don’t move or size with cells” and click “Close”. There are other two options available which can be selected based on your requirement. This is the magic and also the solution to your problem. 4 – Try and Test Now, let us test it. Just try to insert new rows or change the size of rows, you could see that inserted buttons, shapes, objects in your Dashboard were never resized. Awesome! Is this not you are looking at? Hope you are happy that you have got solution now. Go and attempt it! Let us thank Rick Grantham for sharing this amazing Excel tip with us. If you have anything to share, please do let us know through comments. --- ### Weird Things You Can Do In Excel - Published: 2016-03-06 - Modified: 2023-05-26 - URL: https://excel.tv/weird-things-you-can-do-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Excel is a data analysis and visualization tool. But is this all there is to Excel? We will let our in-house experts, accompanied by Excel MVP Mynda Treacy, answer this question for you. So, let’s begin. 1 – 3D Excel Reports Spreadsheets allows users to visualize data in 2D as arrays. But, it turns out, Excel also allows you to visualize 3D arrays. The image below illustrates this for us. 2 – A Maze In Excel Jordan Goldmeier (aka Option Explicit VBA) was behind designing a maze in Excel. Yes, you can actually play it. Look at the image below if you don’t believe me! 3 – Games In Excel It is definitely possible to design various games in Excel. In the video below, Mynda recounts her incredible experience of having come across such a game. Also, Rick shows a role-playing game developed by Cary Walkin in where the player gets into battles with unicorns and elves. The game can be played for hours and hours and is built completely in Excel. 4 – Holiday Cards Technically, holiday Excel worksheets. Yes, one can design interactive and jaw-dropping holiday cards in Excel. The on the right was designed by our very own Jordan. 5 – Weird Charts There is a wealth of weird and amazing charts that can be done in Excel. From heatmaps to square charts, there are whole lots of things that have already been done. Check out the E90E50 blog by Krisztina, Gábor and Roberto if you want to see these awesome creations yourself. Note that all due credit for the things displayed and discussed on this page has been given in the video above. What’s next? You don’t need to just sit back and look at the amazing things you can do with Excel. You can take these creations for a spin as well. So go on and try them out. And do not forget to share them with your friends and colleagues. This is something which will blow anyone’s mind. --- ### Index Function In Excel To Move Columnar Lists To A Grid - Published: 2016-02-18 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/index-function-in-excel-to-move-columnar-lists-to-a-grid/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video Sometimes we have analyze or sort through data all of which is in a single column. The problem occurs when not every entry in that column represents the same type of data. For example, you might have names, addresses, email IDs and so on, all in just one column. It is really difficult to analyze it without turning it into a grid. And there might be no way to extract the data in any other format from your source. Don’t feel that you’re stuck! There is a way to save you from hours and hours of cut and paste. And this is exactly what Szilvia Juhasz (aka XSzil) is here to teach us today. So, let’s begin. 1 – The Data In Excel Is Sometimes Ugly Suppose the data we have has name of a person, followed by address line 1 and address line 2. And it is all arranged in a three-line layout followed by one blank cell for each person in the data. An illustration of the data is below. 2 – The Setup - Create a Grid In Excel The first step to converting the columnar data into a grid is a follows: Label columns of the grid with 1, 2 and 3. Yes, these represent the fact that each data point has 3 items. Label the rows using 0, 4, 8 and so on. It represents the cells each data point ends on. While labeling the rows looks like a manual task, it actually isn’t. The fact that the data has the exact same layout means that the jumps will always be of 4. One can use Autofill to get the series in seconds. 3 – Using The Index Formula In Excel We now plug in the following formula in the cell corresponding to (0, 1) in our grid, and then drag it to cover the entire grid: Note the following about the formula: We select the column with the 3-line data and turn its reference into an absolute one. This is to fix it when the data is dragged across. We fix the column of reference on 0, and the row of the reference on 1. 4 – The LookUp Results It works! As you can observe in the image below, it picks up the names in column numbered 1, address line 1 in column numbered 2, and address line 2 in column numbered 3. And there you have it, your columnar list in a grid, ready for cleaning, sorting and analysis. What’s next? Remember all that extracted data sitting in some forgotten folder? It is time to make use of it now that you know how to give it structure in seconds. And do not forget to share this wonderful technique with your colleagues and loved ones. --- ### Fonts That Make Bars Look Filled & Complete - Excel Challenges - Published: 2016-02-12 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/fonts-that-make-bars-look-filled-complete-excel-challenges/ - Categories: Excel Charts, Graphs & Data Visualization - Formats: Video Hey folks! Welcome. Excel TV wishes you a very happy new year. Excel Author Jordan Goldmeier is ready with the first Excel challenge in 2016, but as usual before looking at this episode's challenge, let us have a look at answer to previous episode's challenge. Last Week's Challenge Correct Answer from last week's Challenge If you remember, last episode's challenge was on Excel Colors. Jordan asked how the value of RGB (R,G,B) is calculated? So, here is the answer. If you remember converting numbers from one number system to another number system in school, then this would help you to answer this challenge. Here you need to consider the base as 256. So, RGB (R,G,B) is calculated as R*256^0 + R * 256^1 + R*256^2 Here, RGB (130, 210, 11) = 774786 is calculated in the same way. Hope you got it! Interesting right? Last episode's winner is "Ryan Tretter". Congratulations! What are the Fonts That Make Bars Look Filled & Complete Now, Jordan comes up with this week's Excel challenge and here it goes, You can create in-cell Sparklines using the REPT formula and the "pipe" | symbol. There are two commonly used fonts in this trick that will make the bar look filled in and complete. Name one of those fonts. Hurry up to Answer You know the answer? Then what are you waiting for? Comment your answer below this post or answer us through Facebook. You can even tweet answer @ExcelTv. Hurry Up!   --- ### Auto Resizing an Excel Spreadsheet For Your Dashboard - Published: 2016-02-10 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/auto-resizing-an-excel-spreadsheet-for-your-dashboard/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports - Formats: Video Do you know that Excel allows us to zoom to a specified area in your work sheet? Yes, you heard it right. Suppose, you have an Excel sheet and while doing demo or so, you want to zoom to specified area, it can be done easily. Our very own Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier lets us know how to auto resize an Excel spreadsheet with VBA and that too with just a single click. So, without wasting any more time, let us jump in to the implementation! Steps to Auto Resize an Excel Spreadsheet To know auto resizing an Excel spreadsheet, there are four steps to be followed as, Select the area which you want to Zoom and give it a name Add a Button in Excel Create a Macro (VBA Code. Don’t Panic. I will let you know the code J) Assign Macro to the Button. That’s it! These 4 steps as explained by Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier lets you auto resize an Excel spreadsheet. Let us look in to these steps in detail. 1 – Select the area and give it a name First step is to select the area which you want to zoom or auto resize and give it a name using Name Box. Select the area, head over to Name Box and enter the name. Selected the row 1 and gave it a name “SelectLength” in Name Box. 2 – Add a Button in Excel To add button to Excel, first add the Developer tab. Click “Developer” tab and click “Insert” and select button (first option) from the form elements. Click on the button and give the caption as “FIT TO SCREEN” 3 – Create a Macro Click “Developer” tab and click “Visual Basic” option. Copy and Paste the below VBA Code in Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications editor, Option Explicit  Public Sub FitToScreen . Select ActiveWindow. Zoom = True End Sub Jordan explained the each and every line of the code in the video very clearly. He also mentioned another code in the video, but that seems to be crashing some of the Excel sheets (but can be used). 4 – Assign Macro to Button Now we need to assign the created Macro to the button To do so, right click on the button “FIT TO SCREEN” and click “Assign Macro”. Assign Macro dialog box opens up and click on the Macro you have just created. Now, click “Ok”. By doing so, created macro has been assigned to the button. What are you looking for? We are done with the steps which we are supposed to do. Now, click on the button and you would see that, selected area has been zoomed. By, following all these steps one by one, you are able to auto resize an Excel Spreadsheet with just a small VBA code simply! What’s next? Wow! It is very interesting. Is not it? Then what are you waiting for? If you have anything to add, please do share with us through comments. --- ### How to Create Excel Training Courses with Mynda Treacy - Published: 2016-02-05 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-create-excel-training-courses-with-mynda-treacy/ - Categories: Announcements - Formats: Video Microsoft Excel Video Course Diva and Excel MVP Mynda Treacy, who runs the successful online Excel Training program (at http://myonlinetraininghub. com) with topics ranging from Excel Dashboard to Microsoft Word and Outlook courses, joins Excel TV host Rick Grantham and cohosts Excel Author Szilvia Juhasz and Microsoft Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier to discuss Excel training programs. Developing an Excel Training Catalog Rick: After the Microsoft Excel MVP Summit, Jordan relayed that there was a lot of conversation about training programs. Mynda, you have built a training empire. Can we talk about your catalog of training courses and how you created it? Mynda:I started because I wanted to teach people with small businesses about the programs they have at their fingertips. Video courses are the best fit for those types of workers who cannot leave the office to attend a class. We started with Excel-Diva. com. What program do you use to run your webinars? Mynda: I use EasyWebinar. com. I am changing it due to some issues, but for most people it would be fine. Technology To Deliver Online TrainingRick:Once you created your video, via Camtasia to create the videos, what technology do you use for your delivery mechanism? Mynda:It is pretty complicated. We have a WordPress website. We use WishList Member add-on to protect the content. (WishList is a plugin. ) We host the videos on Amazon S3 so they are in the cloud and that helps for delivery wherever you are. And we integrate that with PayPal for our payment system. We use WooCommerce, which is another WordPress plugin, as our shopping cart. We use MailChimp. com for our emails. So everything in the background is integrated. PayPal talks with WishList and MailChimp gets their email set up automatically. There are newer plug-ins that you can use, such as LearnDash which is a WordPress plug-in you can use to create course outlines or syllabus.   --- ### How To Make Radio Buttons Larger With Excel VBA - Published: 2016-01-11 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-make-radio-buttons-larger-with-excel-vba/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video Microsoft Excel allows you to create the form with radio buttons, text boxes, check boxes and everything needs to complete the form. Here's the problem though, form elements in Excel are small and you can't make them larger. Even if you try to make them larger you are not lucky enough as it does not make large enough. Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier will let you know how to make Radio Buttons larger with Excel VBA. You can apply the same technique for other form elements in Excel. Steps to Make Radio Buttons Larger With Excel VBATo proceed further as part of the tutorial, first you need to make sure that Excel you are using needs to have Developer tab and Camera icon. If they are not enabled, follow below steps. 1 - Enable Developer Tab in ExcelClick on ‘File’ Tab and then on ‘Options’ on the left side. From the ‘Excel Options’ dialog box, click on ‘Customize Ribbon’ on the left side. On right side, under ‘Main Tabs’ tick the option ‘Developer’ and click Ok. Now, you could see Developer Tab in Excel. 2 – Add Camera Icon to ExcelFollow Step 1 as above. On left side click on ‘Quick Access Toolbar’. From the dropdown ‘Choose commands from’ select the option ‘All Commands’. All options are displayed alphabetically and scroll down till you see ‘Camera’ option. Select ‘camera’ option and click on ‘Add’ button. It gets added to the ‘Customize Quick Access Toolbar’. Click ‘Ok’ and you could see that Camera icon being added to Excel. 3 – Insert Radio Buttons in ExcelNow, in this step lets us create the normal Radio Buttons which Excel provides us. Under Developer tab in Controls section, click on the Insert It shows you different form controls and click on Option button symbol from them (Last option in the first line). Now click on the spread sheet where you want to place this Option button. If you want to add more number of these buttons, copy the previous button and paste it where you want. If you see, I added 3 Options buttons in the Spread sheet. You can edit the label by right clicking on it and click ‘Edit Text’. 4 – Add Format Control to Radio ButtonsFormat Control returns the unique value for every Radio Button you selected. This will let you know which Radio Button was checked and can use that value wherever needed. Let us do that now. Right click on the Radio Button added and click ‘Format Control’. In ‘Format Controls’ dialog box, under ‘Control’ tab refer to the cell where you want to display the value of the selected Radio Button. In this example, I selected ‘G3’ cell to display the selected Radio Button. Now, let us give the name to the G3 cell as ‘CheckboxReturnedValue’ by selecting the cell G3 and typing the name in Name Box. 5 – Create Snapshots of the Added Radio ButtonsHighlight the radio button and click on the Camera Button. It copies the snapshot and click on the spreadsheet where you want to add it. Repeat this for other 2 Radio Buttons also. Now, you could see 3 radio buttons and their snapshots added. You can enlarge these snapshots by dragging the corners. Let us name each of these snapshots as Button1, Button2 and Button3 respectively using Name Box. 6 – The Trick (VBA Code)To make Radio Buttons Larger in Excel we write the VBA code now. Under ‘Developer’ tab click on the ‘Visual Basic’ option. It opens the ‘Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications’. Now, copy the below VBA code and paste it. Public Sub WriteNumberToResponseDim ButtonIndex As IntegerButtonIndex = CInt(Replace(Application. Caller, Button, "")). Value = ButtonIndexEnd SubJordan has explained the each and every line of the code in the video. 7 – Assign Macro to the Radio Button SnapshotNow, right click on the snapshot of the Radio Button and click ‘Assign Macro’ option. Next, select the created macro and click ‘Ok’. Do this for all the snapshots of the Radio Buttons. From now on, when you click on the snapshot, you could see the returned value. Get The Download --- ### Change Text Color & Font In Excel - "How To" Tutorial - Published: 2016-01-09 - Modified: 2023-11-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/change-text-color-font-in-excel-how-to-tutorial/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Have you ever thought to change text color and font in Excel? Till now, we are only aware of how to change color and font for the entire cell contents. Yes, right? But, sometimes you would be needed to changetext colorand font. I mean changing the color and text to little piece of the text. Do you know how to do it or ever thought of doing so? Do not worry. Our very own Excel expert Szilvia Juhasz lets us know how to do it simply. The trick to change text color and font is really useful, attractive and mostly very simple. What are you waiting for? First, rather than jumping in to the trick, let us look at how to color contents in a cell. 1 – How toChange Colorand Font of a Cell Contents in Excel You just need to select the cell which you are interested in. Click on the ‘Home’ tab and then under ‘Font’ section, click on ‘Font Color’ to select the color you want to apply to the cell contents. To change the font and font size, select the font and font size which you want from the font and font size dropdowns respectively. Did you see that? Color, font and font size got applied to all contents of the cell. This is the general and straight forward way to change These are the simple steps to change text color and font in Excel. Now you could see that, only particular text of the cell contents is colored. Amazing Trick! Thanks Szilvia Juhasz for this interesting trick. 3 – Advantage of this Trick This trick can be used when you want users to input values to the Excel. Let us take an example of an Excel which has VBA Code taking SQL Query as it’s input. Let us say that SQL Query has two attributes ‘StartDate’ and ‘EndDate’. To warn the users that, they need to provide these two values to run the VBA, you can add red color to these texts in the Query. In this way, users will be aware that they need to input these values to proceed further. What’s next? Give it a try buddies! Also, if you have any excel tips or want to add anything to this trick, please do share with us through comments. Share this trick with your friends and colleagues. Enjoy the trick! --- ### What Function Helps You Determine Monthly Loan Payments - Excel Challenge - Published: 2015-12-28 - Modified: 2023-11-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/what-function-helps-you-determine-monthly-loan-payments-excel-challenge/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video This time Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier comes up with the Financial functions in Excel. This proves that Excel is useful for every field. Apart from learning new things in Excel, Jordan told that this is the perfect time to win cool prizes. Last Week's Challenge Before getting in to the current episode’s question, let us have a look at the previous episode’s question. Aww! Even that was based on Financial functions in Excel. Amazing Guys! Ok, let us look in to that. Previous episode’s question was “What financial function returns the number of periods required to pay off a debt? ”. Correct Answer From Last Week's Excel Challenge The correct answer NPER. Unfortunately, there was no correct answer given by anyone and therefore no winner was announced. Do not worry for not winning it. You have got another chance to win. Monthly Loan Payments? Jordan comes up with another excel challenge of financial function and here it goes. “What excel function helps you figure out the monthly loan payment? ”. What are you waiting for? If you know the answer, please go ahead and comment you answer in Excel TV blog or Facebook Page. This time we are expecting you to win the cool prizes. Come on! Keep answering! ! --- ### Using Named Formulas In Excel - Like Yesterday() - Published: 2015-12-22 - Modified: 2024-12-12 - URL: https://excel.tv/using-named-formulas-in-excel-like-yesterday/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video What if there is a way to define new formulas in Excel without using VBA? One would be very skeptical of any such claims. But, believe it or not, it is true. Think about how easy such a technique would make your life. Not only would it allow you save a lot of time, the technique is also very handy in simplifying or restricting complex formulas to stop your audience from making blunders while using your files. Moreover, it’s extremely simple to do! Our very own Excel expert Szilvia Juhasz has uncovered this life-saving functionality for the fans, giving us all the more reasons to thank her. So, let’s see what the technique actually is. 1 – Name Manager We all are aware of how we can name ranges using the Name Manager. Let’s review it: Select a range (or even a cell) with some data. Go to the Formulas tab, and click on Name Manager. Now click “New”. Type in any name, without spaces, for the range. We will use the name “ABC”. Now click “OK” and then click “Close”. In any cell outside the range ABC, type a sensible formula which can take ABC as an input. E. g. , =PRODUCT(ABC). And you would see that it works perfectly well. 2 – Advantages of Named Ranges There are 2 apparent advantages of using named ranges. We do not have to worry about selecting the range (especially if it is big) repeatedly and carefully. It only has to be done once, followed by naming it. If our workbook has many sheets, switching between sheets again and again to select different ranges can be a pain. Named ranges eases the process dramatically. Also, if we give meaningful names to our ranges, worries about getting confused or memorizing the names go out the window. 3 – The Trick The trick uses the Name Manager and some ingenuity. Let’s take an example: we have the formula TODAY in Excel which returns today’s date. But we do not have a corresponding equivalent for yesterday, or even tomorrow for that matter. Well, with this trick, we do. Go to the Name Manager and click “New”. In the ‘Name’ box, type the name to be given to the function. It will be “Yesterday” for the sake of this example. Now, in the ‘Refers to’ box, type the formula, which would be “=TODAY-1” in this case. We can write any comments explaining the formula if we wish. Now click “OK” and then click “Close”. 4 – The Test Go to any cell and type “=Yesterday”. And, there you have it! Note that you do not need any parentheses in this case. Also, set the cell to any date format for it to appear like we would want. What’s next? Try it out! Now try it some more. Let’s make our lives simpler. And, share, share, share! Help the knowledge of your friends and colleagues grow. Also, do comment below about any creative uses of this technique you might have come across. --- ### Enlarging Form Control Option Buttons - Published: 2015-12-13 - Modified: 2023-11-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/enlarging-form-control-option-buttons/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks In a previous tip, I had complained about form control option buttons. I had argued they suffer because you can’t change the font size nor the “punch circle. ” But then an idea dawned on me that builds off of that previous tip. We could use the same dynamic described in that earlier article and combine it with the camera tool. Click here to learn more about the Camera tool. Say Cheese! Let’s take a look. On the left side, I’ve create a button list. This is just a place to store my option buttons. Notice I’ve placed them within a single cell each—this makes it easy to take a snapshot with the camera tool (since the camera will always only reference one cell).   The image below shows how  this works. Notice option buttons are all linked to cell B8, which I’ve named “SelectedIndex. ” Again, following my previous tip, we can assign each image created by the camera tool to a macro. That macro would change the Selected Index depending upon which button was selected. Let’s take a look at that macro: Public Sub OptionButtonHandler Dim Index As Integer Index = CInt(Replace(Application. Caller, "Button", "")) . Value = Index . Calculate End Sub You maybe wondering about that last line in the subroutine. Camera tool images can be a little funky. In the previous screenshot, you can see that these option buttons images are on the same tab as their form control counterparts. Presumably, you’ll place the option button images on a different worksheet tab and the original button list will live on a hidden tab. For whatever reason, whenever you place these form control images on another tab, the image won’t always sync with the right value. So making a call to recalculate will ensure that it does. The download file provided at the end of this post demonstrates a setup where the images are on a different tab. Note: I've only noticed this problem in Excel 2010. Excel 2013+ does not seem to have this issue requiring a call to calculate. I've included it here so it's backward compatible with previous versions of Excel. It's also a bit slower, so feel free to remove it completely if it's not an issue on your end.   Discussion Look, I’m probably not going to use these buttons anytime soon. I’m not saying you shouldn’t, but I don’t have a lot of use for them. I’ll still prefer my method of using shapes. However, the camera tool when combined with my earlier tip does allow you to create functionality not native to Excel. For instance, if you type a new font in one of the cells on the button list, you can even change the format of the radio button in the way it’s presented. In the image below, I’ve deleted the original caption to the option button. In its place I wrote another caption into the cell and picked a cheesy font. Yes, it doesn’t look great, but you can play with the formats and make it look better. This should give you an idea of what’s available. My hope with this article is that we keep the creative juices flowing and see what other novel ways it can be applied.   Again, I probably won’t use this, but hey, maybe you will, and that’s enough for me. I’m going to Dublin, Ireland From December 23-30, I’ll be in Dublin, Ireland on holiday with my wife. If you are in the Dublin area and would like to say hi, let me know! Otherwise, this is likely my last blog post before the end of the year, so have happy holiday and terrific new year! Download file: Large Option Buttons. xlsm Also, buy my new book! Makes a great stocking stuffer! --- ### VLookup To The Left With The Choose Function – Excel Tips - Published: 2015-12-04 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/vlookup-to-the-left-withthe-choose-function-excel-tips/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video We all know that VLOOKUP works to the right (of the column with the lookup value). But what if we want to the ability to lookup a value tothe left? One solution is to use INDEX and MATCH together. Well, there is another, more elegant solution. And Szilvia Juhasz (aka XSzil) is here to demonstrate its use to us. So, let’s get started. 1 – The Excel DataLook at the data in the image below. Suppose that you wanted to loop up the captain’s name given the team name. You will have to lookup to the left. If you also wanted to find the best week of that team using just the name, again you will have to lookup to the left. 2 – The VLOOKUP Function with ChooseThe VLOOKUP to the left is actually very easy to implement. Just use the following syntax:=VLOOKUP(lookup_value,CHOOSE({1,2},lookup_column,retrieve_column),2,FALSE)This function will first find the ‘lookup_value’ in the ‘lookup_column’. Upon finding it, it will return the corresponding value from ‘retrieve_column’. The ‘FALSE’ stands for an exact match, just like when using ordinary VLOOKUP function. 3 – The Vlookup to the Left UsageIt’s easy to see now how one can use it to VLOOKUP to the left. Let’s say I have a team’s name and I want to lookup its captain’s name. Well, I will go through the following steps:I will set the ‘lookup_value’ to that team name, like we normally would do with a VLOOKUP function. Now, for ‘lookup_column’, I will select the “Team name” column. For ‘retrieve_column’, I will select the “Team Captain” column. And, I am done. I have just used VLOOKUP to the left. Interesting, right? 4 – The Amazing Possibilities! Notice the following two things:The ‘retrieve_column’ can be ANY column, not necessarily a column to the left. So, it could be on another sheet! The ‘retrieve_column’ does NOT have to have the same row numbers as the ‘lookup_column’. This means that if my ‘lookup_column’ is A1:A10, my ‘retrieve_column’ could be C7:C16! The size of the columns just needs to be the same. So, my ‘retrieve_column’ could be on another sheet and not even in the corresponding place as my ‘lookup_column’. Now this is amazing! Get the download --- ### Number Of Period Required To Pay Off Debt - Excel Finance Function Challenge - Published: 2015-10-19 - Modified: 2023-11-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/number-of-period-required-to-pay-off-debt-excel-finance-function-challenge/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video Hundreds Of Millions Guess Wrong In our last episode, Jordan poses the question: Which Version of Excel has the Hall of Tortured Souls Easter Egg? Of the alleged millions of Excel TV viewers that pondered the previous episodes challenge there were exactly zero correct answers. Congrats: No One You are the winner of Nothing. Your Mom will be so proud.  The answer was Excel 95. What Version Of Excel Had An Easter Egg Featuring The Hall Of Tortured Souls? DataPig Contest Winner In our previous episode, Michael Alexander of DataPigTechnologies and the Bacon Bits Blog offered a contest where he would give away a complimentary ticket to his Power BI Bootcamp in Dallas Texas to a person at random that mention "ice cream sandwich" in the comments section of the episode.  Yes... you read that right. The winner was Alex Powers. Congrats Alex. This Weeks' Challenge What Financial Function Returns The Number Of Periods To Pay Off A Debt? The winner of the challenge will win an ebook version of Jordan's new book, Dashboards for Excel. So How Do I Win? Leave that guess below.  Jordan will pick a winner randomly from all the correct answers. --- ### Excel Programmers and IT Alliances - Excel Topics - Published: 2015-09-28 - Modified: 2016-09-04 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-programmers-and-it-alliances-excel-topics/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Being Excel gurus in your offices or Excel consultants to many different companies, you are always assumed to be at odds with the IT guys. But the need of the hour is not to have these alpha battles but to collaborate effectively. The technology landscape is changing really fast and the business needs are evolving even faster. Addressing this situation calls for formation of an alliance with the IT personnel. All the way from our Excel experts, we present to you some tips to achieve this outcome. Working with IT Personnel Most IT guys are expected to not be avid Excel users, let alone come from a rigorous programming background to deal with your VBA codes. Hence, it is always a good idea to bring as much into the spreadsheet as is possible and let Macros run behind the scenes. This means that developing user-friendly interfaces, where one can just input data and press a button to do something, should be the norm rather than a one-off thing. Resolving Conflicts Conflicts can never be resolved through “who’s right” arguments. Collaborating with the IT people is definitely the way forward. It is important to realize that they excel at what they do, for example pulling data into a spreadsheet from a data warehouse. And, as expert Excel users, we are better at analyzing and using that data. The functions of these two sets of people complement each other. And we need to highlight this fact. Also, it is important to note that the gap between the IT personnel and Excel experts is narrowing as Power BI is evolving into a much more complex set of tools. Sharing Your Work Sharing the spreadsheets created by you is always a dreaded task. This is so as we ultimately expect to receive hundreds, if not thousands, of queries on what is going on! Well, there are a few things you can do to make this task lesser dreaded or, maybe, even fruitful: Putting instructions in the spreadsheet: this will enable people using your spreadsheets to know where to input what data and what to do after that. Training sessions on Excel: these training sessions can range from introducing the various features and tools Excel has from increasing familiarity with VBA. It depends upon how much the audience is skilled at Excel. But one sure thing is that you will be addressing many people at one time. This not only saves your time but also reduces subsequent queries you might receive on spreadsheets created by you. Comment on code: for code-heavy files, it’s a good idea to provide comments on each line explaining them (if that is indeed the intent). Such an effort will only be appreciated by the end-user. There are two things to keep in mind though: The level of details, again, depends on the audience. But one should, at all costs, avoid putting in irrelevant information, such as dates, in comments. ii. Code for your future-self as well so that it can be edited quickly, if need be, even after a year. Using Work of Others This can be a very frustrating task. There are two things which help readability of spreadsheets or VBA codes: Neatness of the code: lines should be properly indented and comments should be appropriate. Use of sub-procedures: instead of writing one long procedure, breaking the code down into sub-procedures always helps understanding and debugging easier for other people. Hence, as Excel experts, we should encourage our colleagues to adopt these guidelines. Ultimately, they will be coming to you with their spreadsheets. Hence, this reduces your own precious time and some unnecessary frustration. Share with us what you have conquered with Excel We would love to read about your unique experiences in dealing with similar problems at work. Please leave your comments below. And... share these amazing tips with your friends! --- ### How To Run Macros In Protected Worksheets - Excel VBA Tips - Published: 2015-09-15 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-run-macros-in-protected-worksheets-excel-vba-tips/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video We know that human error often messes up complicated calculations or elegant models set up in Excel. For this reason, many of us protect worksheets using “Me. Protect” within our macros. But there is a drawback in doing that. Protecting sheets disables macros from running! ! Worry no more! Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier aka Option Explicit is here to address this issue for us. Well, Let’s Begin 1 – A Risky Way One way to work around this issue is to build a certain backdoor in our code. This backdoor is basically the following three steps: Unprotecting the sheet, Running the code we want to run, and Protecting the sheet again. It appears to be a very smart way to tackle the issue, but there is a risk. If the code breaks down into an error for some reason, the final step would not be executed. Which means that the worksheet will not be protected again. So, it’s a risky move. 2 – The Better Way While protecting a worksheet within our macros, we use the command “Me. Protect”. This enables worksheet protection and disables all macros that follow from running. Also, an error shows up saying the same. But there is an option within this ‘Protect’ method that allows only the user interface to be locked. If the command “Me. Protect UserInterfaceOnly := True” is supplied, this is exactly what happens. Only the user interface is protected. And... you guessed it right, macros that follow would be executed as they are. What’s next? It’s time to try it out yourself. And, most importantly, share this with your colleagues. It’s time to tell them that we are here to help, one problem at a time. --- ### How To Concatenate In Excel – Ampersand Shortcut - Published: 2015-08-30 - Modified: 2021-10-19 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-concatenate-in-excel-ampersand-shortcut/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Using Ampersand Formula In ExcelExcel MVP Jordan Goldmeier notes that although this quick tip if fairly straightforward, a lot of people don't know it. First off... Define ConcatenateIn the simplest terms... its slamming the contents of cells together. Like having the first name in one cell and the last name in a second cell, and wanting an end result that is the full name in one cell. Now that's a simplistic example that doesn't include the adding of spaces between the first and last name, but lets keep this simple for now. The Concatenate Formula In ExcelExcel has a built in formula for concatenation.  =CONCATENATE(,,... )Replace with a reference to a cell that has the first name. Replace with a reference to a cell that has the last name. Wallah... you just slammed some cells together. But Let's Get Fancy - The AmpersandFinding that Concatenate Formula can be some hard work.  click here, click there.  who needs that kind of hassle.  Not me.  HELL NO. So let's super simplify this thing. No need for special Excel formulas.  Just use the ampersand.  You may be saying to yourself... "Hey Self...  What's an ampersand? "glad you asked.  It's this thing. ----->I get that it's very "Tramp Stamp-ish".  Very... bad tattoo idea that was meant to mean something important... but you don't really remember now... That kind of vibe. But Here Is What You DoPlace the tramp stamp between the references to the two cells and wallah...  You just slammed some cells together. Here is what I mean. Where cell A2 is the first name and cell B2 is the last name.  =A2&B2Get The Download --- ### Excel Chart Drop Down – Video Tutorial & Sample Download - Published: 2015-07-02 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-chart-drop-down/ - Categories: Excel Charts, Graphs & Data Visualization - Formats: Video There are times when there is a need to cut down on the available data to have a focused view or to make a decision. Or, we might want to create a live tool, such as that for a Dashboard. These are mainly achieved through solutions implemented in VBA in Excel. But ... VBA is really not necessary. And Jordan (aka Option Explicit) will be showing us the ‘how’ of this. The result will be a chart controlled by a drop-down menu, which would contain different data categories. You can choose any sort of chart or any tool besides this, and select the data categories as you like. So, let’s get started! The DataHere’s a sample data set and some other things. We will see how the “other things” will help us create a live, interactive tool. LookupThis where you create a drop-down menu, in C7. Go to Data > Data Validation and select ‘List’ under ‘Validation Criteria’. Select B2:B4 under source. This array contains the categories of your data. Match LocationThis is where we try to find relative position of the category we choose in C7 from the list of data categories. Insert the formula =MATCH(C7,B2:B4,0) in C8. MATCH takes three inputs:The value to be looked up. That’s the value from the drop-down menu, i. e. C7. The array of lookup, i. e. B2:B4, our list of categories. The match type, for which we select 0 for an exact match. Note that the location is a relative one, as shown in the pictures.  The OutputHere, the data related to the category selected shows up. Insert =C7 in B11 and =INDEX($C$2:$K$4,$C$8,C10) in C11. INDEX also takes three inputs:Array, C2:K4, which contains the data. Lock it, so we have $C$2:$K$4. Row number of the data point we want relative to the selected array. The way data has been arranged, the Match Location (i. e. C8) contains the relative row. Lock this reference as well to $C$8. Column number of the data point we want relative to the selected array. This will vary depending upon whether we want the 1st point in the series or 3rd or 10th. Now drag the formula in C11 to K11. The ResultYou will see some data produced this way. Under the selected category in C7, look at the original data set. The two must be the same. You have now created a way to select the data corresponding to the category selected from the dropdown menu. Now select B11 to K11 and Insert > Column Chart. In the graph, select the chart title and type “=” without the inverted commas. Now select the cell B11. And there you have it. A live (chart) tool which can be controlled from the drop-down menu. Notice that the last step ensures that the chart title corresponds to the data depicted in the chart. This is a very neat and cool technique. You can choose to hide away the data rows or have your data in a hidden sheet. Get the Sample Download --- ### Factorials In Excel - How To Calculate - Published: 2015-06-28 - Modified: 2016-09-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/factorials-in-excel-how-to-calculate/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Have you ever tried to form a band but found it difficult to figure out what possible combinations could be made? Well, the example seems a bit stretched. But we do face problems regarding arrangements and combinations in our everyday life. From choosing which friends to go to a concert with (since you were only able to get 4 tickets) or deciding which seating arrangement would let you sit next to your crush in the cinema are all such problems. Do not worry, Oz is here to unleash the power of Excel in solving these problems. So, it’s time to get started and form a band! The Formula For example, if you had to calculate how many groups of 4 you can form out of 6 people, there is formula you can use. It does seem odd, but we will make it work. n represents the total number of people you have. So, n = 6 for this problem. r is the number of people in the group you want to form. So, r = 4 in our example. Now what is this ‘! ’ doing in the equation. Well, Excel knows what it is. The given formula is a fraction: numerator is ‘n! ’ and the denominator is a product of ‘(n-r)! ’ and ‘r! ’. If we can evaluate these expressions, then we can form the fraction and have the result with us. Factorial The ‘! ’ actually represents a factorial. So, what is meant by ‘3! ’? Just use the built-in Excel function =FACT(3) and you will see which number it represents. Hence, for our example, we will input into Excel the formula =FACT(6)/(FACT(6-4)*FACT(4)) and that’s all. The answer turns out to be 15. Remember, whatever the ‘! ’ applies to, put that inside the function FACT(... ) and you can then proceed with dealing them as ordinary numbers. A Neat Trick This complicated formula has been built into Excel to ease our problems. In our example, we had n=6 and r=4. We can directly use =COMBIN(6,4) to see that 15 groups of four can be from 6 people. Get The Download Download the File What’s next? Remember that Excel has been built to solve many of your problems. The next time you stumble on to a problem you cannot get your head around, probably Excel can do it for you! Also, share this newly discovered function with your friends. And, know that combinations have very interesting properties, so go play with them. Compare =COMBIN(6,4) and =COMBIN(6,2) and see what is being talked about. --- ### Convert Function In Excel - Video Tutorial > There Are Advantages And Disadvantages To Using The Convert Function In Excel. This Video Tutorial Show How To Use The Function - Published: 2015-06-25 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/convert-function-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video Tired of googling how to convert inches into meters or how many liters a gallon equates to? It is high time to stop being overwhelmed whenever you next face a unit conversion! And Excel is here to help. Szilvia Juhasz (aka XSzil) is there to teach us the ins and outs of this ‘where-were-you-all-my-life’ function. Let’s begin. 1- The Convert Function In Excel Type “=CONVERT(" in any cell you should start seeing the options. First specify the number you want to convert. Then specify the unit of the number. Lastly, specify the unit you want this number to get converted into. So, for example, if I want to convert 50 inches into meters, I will use =CONVERT(50,"in","m") to do it. Note that you do not need to remember that “in” stands for inches or “m” stands for meters. Once you reach the stage of putting in the unit, available options (and their keys) will show up themselves, as given in the picture on the right. So, just select from there. 2 – Advantages One feature which makes this function robust is that you cannot convert quantities into anything you like. So, units of area cannot be converted into units of volume. Similarly, units of time cannot be converted into units of distance. Once Excel asks you to input the unit you want to convert a number to, it restricts the options to the units that make sense. So, you do not have to worry about meaningless conversions. Another advantage, un-insightfully, is the time you save from searching the internet repeatedly for such conversions. 3 – A Disadvantage One disadvantage is that the list of units does not include the milli’s, the centi’s and the deci’s. For example, you may be able to convert inches into meters. But you have to manually multiply the answer with 100 if you want conversion into centimeters instead. This might have been done by Microsoft to prevent the list of units from becoming very messy. But, of course, it comes with the assumption that the user knows how to convert, let say, meters to millimeters. What’s next? The next time you have to convert quantities or units, remind yourself that Excel is ready and equipped for your needs. Share this newly discovered function with your friends. Remember, a friend in need is a friend indeed! --- ### Role of Excel Users in Business - Excel Topic - Published: 2015-06-10 - Modified: 2016-09-04 - URL: https://excel.tv/role-of-excel-users-excel-topic/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video The analytics landscape is changing at a fast pace in this ‘bring-your-own-tools’ world. The universe of data technologies has grown exponentially complex over the last few decades, particularly so after the introduction of Big Data concepts. In such a world, where does the role of an Excel user lie? Makes becomes of people like you and me? Let us explore the budding opportunities around us. Business Intelligence Nowadays, many multi-million dollar business intelligence solutions can be found in the market. And many firms are adopting these products to become efficient or to better understand their customers. But the employees of such firms, most probably, are in a habit of using Excel for their daily problem solving. Therefore, catering to these employees can become the major factor differentiating success from failure. Excel Add-Ins is one way through which these business intelligence solutions capture the market. In fact, as ‘Dirty Grantham’ puts it, these solutions should primarily act as data consolidators/providers and feed the Excel users. It is the job of the IT people to get the data to Excel users for analysis. Incorporation of tools to deal with problems that might be difficult to solve within Excel should be secondary to these technological solutions. Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises A great number of firms are years, if not decades, away from using tools like PowerPivot or PowerBI due to lack of appropriate infrastructure within the firm. So, they mostly rely on Excel to solve problems which these tools are created to deal with. This is where the nimble Excel user comes in with its enhanced capabilities to fetch and sift through data at the ground level. Databases Data cleansing at various levels in a database happens as an evolutionary process. Same is the case with the use a database’s output is put to, e. g. report calculations. If the logic working on a database changes, it can be very costly to fix the processes running inside it to let the output be as desired. Using Excel to deal with this problem is a cheaper and faster solution. Moreover, possessing know-how of the outputs of databases, Excel users can direct changes in the logic of databases to ease data analysis across the enterprise. They act as a liaison between IT and functions like finance, planning and reporting. Share with us what you have conquered with Excel Leave your comments below. And... keep an eye out for more! --- ### DAX Function Name Different than Excel Name - Excel Challenge - Published: 2015-06-04 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/dax-function-name-different-than-excel-name-excel-challenge/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video We are fresh off the heels of our greatest Excel Challenge ever.  In the previous challenge we asked our viewers "What fantastic cult movie just celebrated its 30 year anniversary? " The Excel. TV audience was spellbound.  There were no correct answers to this challenge. The correct answer would have been "Spinal Tap". Upon further investigation it was discovered that Jordan had never even seen the movie and ironically is only 29 years old, which made the question even weirder. Crickets... Let's move on. The great prizes will move on to our next challenge. Jordan asks... "Many functions in Excel have the same name in PowerPivot. Name a function in Excel with a different name than its Excel counterpart"Leave your answers in the comments section below. --- ### Standard Deviation in Excel - Video Tutorial and Download - Published: 2015-05-22 - Modified: 2016-09-06 - URL: https://excel.tv/standard-deviation-in-excel-tutorial-and-download-excel-tips/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video This doesn't have to be difficult. It doesn't have to be hard. No need to stick your head under the covers. There is no boogie-man coming to get you. Doing "mathy" type things in Excel can actually go a long way in helping you run your business or team. Quit Reacting So Much It is common for Executives, Management, Small Business Owners, etc spend way too much reacting to data that they have no need to react to.  This happens all the time.  People are used to reacting, but not necessarily used to following a process of thinking through a problem. Processes are designed to give specific outputs - within a range.  You want to spend your time reacting to things that actually require your attention -- not things that are just part of the normal fluctuations in your process. My Rules for Using Standard Deviation These are not written in stone.  But rather some high-level things I take into consideration before deciding to use standard deviation. 30+ data points. - I try to make sure that there is enough data.  The detailed reasoning for this is beyond the scope of this Excel tutorial, just know that you need enough data so that the formula makes sense.  Different books will give you different sample sizes for this.  30+ is a good number for me.  If you have too few data points, then the standard deviation tends to be very large to account for your small number of data points. Normal data - When we release a new blog post on Excel TV, traffic spikes for a day or so.  If traffic multiplies by 5, then that skews the data... meaning that the mean (average) is wildly different from the median (half higher, half lower than a number).  One or two high numbers are skewing the curve.  This also happens in home prices where a few mansions throw off the average.  Look to use standard deviations on data that is "normal".  By "normal" I mean that it resembles a bell-curve. Setting up the Formula Calculate the Mean This is simply calculating the average of your data points.  Realize that standard deviations are based on the mean, so this must be your starting point. In the example, our data points reside in cells C3:C127.  So the Mean would be... =AVERAGE(C3:C127)   Calculate One Standard Deviation Use the formula STDEV for this.  Within the parenthesis you will enter the range for the data points that you used to calculate the MEAN in step 1.  So one standard deviation would be... =STDEV(c3:C127) Hold up... wait a minute Before we move any further, we should discuss the difference between 1, 2, and 3 standard deviations. In a normal distribution a certain number of data points would typically expected to be included within 1, 2, or 3 standard deviations from the mean.   1 standard deviation encompasses 34. 1% on either side of the mean.  Which is 68. 27% of data points in perfectly normal data. 2 standard deviations = 95. 45% 3 standard deviations = 99. 73% 4 standard deviations = 99. 994% Calculate 3 Standard Deviations Take the one standard deviation output and multiply it by 3.   Set Your Control Limits In the example, I use the terms UCL and LCL.  These stand for "Upper Control Limit" and "Lower Control Limit".  If you were creating a Control Chart (like in Six Sigma) these limits would be the lines on the chart that would tell you when your process is out of control.   In the example, I set this for 3 standard deviations from the mean, so that I am only reacting 0. 27% of the time.  Reset this for a different number of standard deviations based on your business needs. For the UCL - Add the Mean plus the standard deviations.  In this instance I am using 3 standard deviations, so 496. 9+86. 6 = 583. 50 For the LCL - Subtract the standard deviations from the mean  For the 3 st dev example it is 496. 9-86. 6 = 410. 3 Set Alerts Now bring it all together with a nested IF statement.  The statement is stating that if the data is lower than the LCL or Higher than the UCL - then "ALERT", else null "". Definitely could have used conditional formatting or something more exotic here, but the point is not about this formula, but rather that you are now using alerts in conjunction with Standard Deviations to more accurately pinpoint data that requires your attention. Download the Sample Download the File What's Next? The stats show that 40% of you are repeat visitors to the website. So you might as well just join our mailing list and get alerted when we release new content. First timer?  Then tell your colleagues about us and hit one of those social sharing thing-a-ma-jigs. Attribution: "Standard deviation diagram" by Mwtoews. Licensed under CC BY 2. 5 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons. wikimedia. org/wiki/File:Standard_deviation_diagram. svg#/media/File:Standard_deviation_diagram. svg --- ### What Have You Conquered with Excel - Excel Topics - Published: 2015-05-17 - Modified: 2016-09-04 - URL: https://excel.tv/what-have-you-conquered-with-excel-excel-topics-2/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Getting stuck with having to learn new software for complex problems affects all of us. But have you ever wondered if a tool you’re already comfortable with could have helped you out? Yes, I’m referring to Excel. Knowing the possibilities of Excel can significantly alter the way we work. Our in-house experts have gathered here to detail how Excel has evolved over time. They also discuss the range of problems that Excel has the capability to solve. Changes in the Business Intelligence market Excel is being increasingly used to solve business problems of various kinds. It’s so pervasive that an entire market for reporting tools and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems that are integrated with Office products exists. Such integration allows for faster analysis of data and easier problem solving. For example, sliding in thousands of rows of company data from the ERP system into Excel and using Pivot tables to summarize it. Visualization of data is trending upwards at a very fast pace. And one of the tools of immense utility in this arena is Microsoft Power BI. It has brought in tools such as Power Query, Power Pivot, Power View and Power Map which let you do almost everything. This includes the following: Connecting to an online, corporate data source Visualizing data by creating analytical views and reports Creating complicated Data Models directly in Excel There are many other tools that Power BI has brought with it that allow for sharing of reports, natural language usage in exploration of data and cloud services. Another interesting ability that exists in Excel 2007 and above is that it allows easy creation of custom toolbars. These toolbars allow companies to save costs in buying expensive software to do things which Excel can do as well. Solving big problems Tools such as PowerPivot and Power Query now allow for analysis of tens of millions of rows of data in Excel. Also, some versions of Solver are capable of handling problems with as many as 2. 4 million decision variables. These achievements are the onset of a new era where varying, complex organizational problems can now be solved with a single, inexpensive tool! Big Data The hype around Big Data does have a substance. And plans are there to bring Big Data to Excel for sampling and summarization. Last tip Play with the data! Play with the data! Play with the data! There is nothing lost with going about the data to understand it better or to find patterns in it. But there is always a possibility that you will gain an invaluable insight that should help greatly with the problem you are tasked to do. Share with us what you have conquered with Excel Leave your comments below. --- ### Cleaning Name Suffixes with Array Formulas - Published: 2015-05-11 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/cleaning-name-suffixes-with-array-formulas/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas - Formats: Video Have you ever wondered how to sort lists using 2nd word in each cell? Sounds a bit tricky, doesn’t it? But don’t you worry, Oz du Soleil is here to help. He uses a neat trick to sort out full names by the last names. The approach is interesting and can be modified to achieve many similar task. Now, let’s explore Create a List of Suffixes Some last names may be followed by suffixes such as “Jr. ” or “PhD”. It is important to make sure that EXCEL does not pick them up as the last names of an individual. So, the first (and the only manual step) is to create a list of suffixes present in the list of names you want to sort. Note that suffixes are those which follow the last names with a space in between! Create a Table of Suffixes Now, go to Insert > Table and select the list and two more columns on its right. Let’s name the columns from left to right: New Suffix, Sfx with Space and Count Characters. Now insert the formula =" "&] in the 2nd column of the table and =LEN(]) in the 3rd column. You should be able to see that the column titles correspond with what these formulae are doing. Detecting a Suffix Now, create a 6 column table (Insert > Table) with your original data on names in the leftmost column. The columns should be named from left to right as follows: Original Data, Test 1, Count Spaces, Replace, Delimiter and Result. Go to first cell in Test 1 column. Now apply the formula =OR(RIGHT(x,y)=z) . x, y and z not to be typed! These are tasks to do. x is selecting the left cell. y is selecting the Count Characters column from your suffixes table (without the header). z is selecting the Sfx with Space column from your suffixes table (without the header). Once you’re done putting in the formula, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. This should give you an output which looks like the picture on the right. Getting to the Last Names It’s time to speed things up now! In the Count Spaces column, first cell, enter the following formula: =LEN(])-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(]," ","")) And press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Enter the following formulae using the same method as well: Replace =IF(]=TRUE,SUBSTITUTE(]," ","^",]-1),SUBSTITUTE(]," ","^",])) Delimiter =FIND("^",,1) Result =RIGHT(,LEN-) And you are done! You should now have the last names in the rightmost column now. Now Sort Them!   Get the download What's Next? Use this the next time you need to do some tricky sorting.  Share it. --- ### Oz's Memories from PASS BAC 2015 - Published: 2015-05-07 - Modified: 2016-02-21 - URL: https://excel.tv/ozs-memories-from-pass-bac-2015/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: BI Brainz, draw a picture, Grant Fritchey, Michael Pamphlet, Mico Yuk, PASS Business Analytics Conference, PASSBAC, Thomas LaRock Before the memories of the PASS Business Analytics Conference 2015 completely fade away, I want to thank the people who made the conference happen. Lots of great folks worked behind the scenes to make the Conference work: Leeza Zelmer, Teresa Cheung, Denise McInerney, Jen Underwood and Jen Stirrup. It was a pleasure to meet fellow Chicagoan, Michael Pamphlet, Microsoft Program Manager and Customer Insights Driver. Our paths have crossed before, and I really appreciate his mission to uncover more ways to help people get the most from Excel. Scary DBA, Grant Fritchey & SQLRockStar Thomas LaRock were a blast to talk with. Through our conversations, and the general mood of the Conference, I came away with a solid sense that we're truly on the same team. Whatever our respective BI tools are, we just want clean, useful data. And then there were all the great Excel folks whom I was able to meet--many for the first time.       MOST MEMORABLE: "DRAW A PICTURE! " One thing that sticks with me is Mico Yuk's keynote presentation. As she closed, she urged us to do more communication with pictures. "It doesn't have to be pretty. Draw a picture on a napkin, take a picture of it and send it to your client. " Sometimes when processes fail or a solution isn't making sense in someone else's mind, or we even need to get something straight in our own mind, it helps to step and draw or make a diagram. Words and numbers are don't easily translate a story and the level of drama that does or doesn't exist. Mico told us that we know this already. We know how much pictures can articulate. So, let's do it. Mico has given us permission! Here's a drawing I used to envision where and how data gets messed up. It starts somewhere out in whatever we call reality. Data is collected and converted into data which eventually shows up in the form of a report. Before the reports, there are definitions, business rules, and interpretations and other filters. They are all opportunities for data corruption.   Again, thanks to everyone who participated in the PASS Business Analytics Conference 2015. I hope our paths continue to cross, and we keep up the battle against crap data.     --- ### Cult Movie with 30 Year Anniversary - Excel Challenge - Published: 2015-05-07 - Modified: 2016-09-08 - URL: https://excel.tv/cult-movie-with-30-year-anniversary-excel-challenge/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video In our last episode, Jordan asked... "Before they were called Excel Tables, what name did they go by? " There were plenty of correct answers. You can find that Excel Challenge video here. The correct answer was: LISTSIn this week's challenge, Jordan channels "Friend of the Show" Szilvia Juhasz of http://xszil. com and her popular twitter page @Xszil "What fantastic cult movie also just celebrated its 30 year anniversary"? Why is 30 years relevant? Because that's how old Excel is now. Think you know the answer? Then leave your guess in the comments section below.  Jordan will pick one winner at random from all the correct answers. --- ### PASS BA 2015 Excel.TV Presentations Preview - Published: 2015-03-23 - Modified: 2023-05-26 - URL: https://excel.tv/pass-ba-2015-excel-tv-presentations-preview/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video 2015 PASS BA ConferenceThe PASS BA Conference will be held on April 20-22, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. PASS was originally known in the SQL Server world.  The SS in PASS = SQL Server.  After a few years of honing the program, they are ready for their most robust Business Analytics conference to date.  And they are smart enough to realize that you shouldn't have an analytics conference in the Microsoft space without including Excel.  And boy, have they put together an ALL-STAR lineup. This year, the conference has a large list of Excel speakers:Chandoo - The Pointy-Haired Dilbert from Chandoo. orgRob Collie - Founder of PowerPivotPro. comBill Jelen aka Mr Excel - Publisher of Excel Books and Host at MrExcel. comAvi Singh - Principal Consultant at PowerPivotProMike Allington - Owner at Excelerator BIKen Puls - The Excel Guru himselfZack Barresse - Excel Author host at ExcelTables. comBob Phillips -  Excel BI Engineer at visiBardd ld. Oh Yeah, We Will Be There TooJordan GoldmeierCreating Outstanding Spreadsheet ModelsThis is an hour-long discussion on creating outstanding spreadsheet models in which Jordan Goldmeier proposes three conceptual points to optimize: layout & design; code & formulas; and presentation. He will go through each topic and provide the audience with directives to build better spreadsheet models. Most importantly, Jordan will provide the audience with the confidence and tools to apply such principles across spreadsheet models in all fields. Making Better Decisions with DataWhat cognitive biases exist that prevent us from using data correctly--and how can we mitigate their effects? This session provides the audience with a review of common cognitive biases and places them in the context of past failures of data to predict and handle uncertainty. If we know these biases exist, we can use them to our advantage and avoid instances in which they might mislead us. This presentation will show the audience how to make better decisions with the data they already have. Rick GranthamCreating an Effective Reporting Strategy : Tools, Metrics, AnalyticsThis session provides you with guidelines for what you should be measuring, what tools to use to report on what you are measuring, and how to improve the user adoption of reporting tools. Learn how to:Determine the most appropriate BI tools to use given your organization’s BI maturity and what key performance indicators (KPIs) you should be usingIdentify the most effective way to tie KPIs to your organization’s strategic directionDetermine the appropriate analytic direction to take once a KPI measurement is missed (stop light turns red)This presentation will show the audience how to develop a reporting strategy that optimizes user adoption. Making Informed Decisions: Guidelines for Creating an Effective DashboardThis session will provide guidelines for developing a dashboard that helps your organization make better-informed decisions. By attending this session, you will:Determine the best ways to scope your dashboard project, including tips for gathering requirements and eliciting feedbackSee what’s required to build an effective dashboard, from documenting query mockups to creating dashboard prototypes. Rick will go through every step of the requirements gathering process and provide the audience with LIVE demonstrations at every step, including sample mockups and real-life examples of how to best scope your dashboard. After this session, you will know when you should (and when you should not) start your KPIs with your company’s annual report. You will be armed with the most efficient process to create the most effective dashboards. Oz du SoleilThe Pain and Glory of Data PreparationData science, predictive analysis ... the glamorous stuff makes headlines. But one realm of analytics is only for the bold. It takes a special kind of person to merge, purge, cleanse, and shape data in preparation for the fancy jobs. Without this dirty work, analysis can go wrong. The results can range from embarrassment to imprisonment. This dirty part of analytics isn’t formally taught. There are no standard tricks for cleaning data. Strategy and experience are the data warrior's weapons. People who can clean and shape data are true heroes: They can remove duplicates, get data into the right fields, merge data, and so on. Sometimes it’s elegant. Other times, it’s ugly. The result is that any, analysis, and suggestions are rooted in trustworthy data quality. In this session, you’ll learn strategies for assessing data quality, tips for cleaning and shaping data and determining how clean is “clean enough”, ideas for creating policies and processes that can guide you when working with unclean data, and which Excel features are most useful during prep work. Are You Going? If so, leave a message below and let us know. If not, what sort of presentations would you like to hear at the PASS Business Analytics Conference? --- ### PASS BA Conference Primer with SQL Server MVP Denise McInerney - Published: 2015-03-18 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/pass-ba-conference-primer-with-sql-server-mvp-denise-mcinerney/ - Categories: Announcements - Formats: Video About Denise Based out of Mount View, California.  Denise is a data architect for Intuit, you may be aware of Intuit if you use products like TurboTax, Quickbooks, Quicken or Mint. Denise became involved in PASS as Vice President of Marketing on the Board of Directors.  She got involved in 2002 during the PASS summit when it was largely about SQL Server.  PASS is largely a volunteer and has been volunteering for the last 12 years.  Denise is on the committee that helps choose the sessions and the speakers.  Over time, PASS has grown, to where in addition to the PASS Summit, there is also a PASS Business Analytics Conference "EXCELTV" Registration Code for PASS BA During the interview, Denise offered a $300 discount to the PASS BA Conference to viewers of Excel. TV.  Just enter EXCELTV as the promotional code while you are registering and you will receive $300 off. Who Should Go? Anyone that works with data.  Organizations large and small are trying to get their hands around their data.  Wrangle it together in a way that makes sense and is meaningful. Trying to develop your skills? Want to become a better analyst? Want strategies on how to create a data driven organization? Want to learn more about emerging MSFT BI technologies and techniques? Want to expand your network? Learn techniques you can use at your desktop on Monday morning? If you answered YES to any of those questions, the attending the PASS BA Conference is for you. Are You Going? Leave a comment below for Denise or any of the Excel. TV hosts.  We are anxious to talk about the Excel Gurus that will be at this conference. --- ### Spruce up you Color Palette in Excel - ColorBrewer - Excel Design Tips - Published: 2015-02-24 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/spruce-up-you-color-palette-in-excel-colorbrewer-excel-design-tips/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports - Formats: Video Tired of the same old color palette in Excel? You know what I mean. Its either Excel Green, Word Blue or Powerpoint Purple. Maybe a few different hues of each color. But if you are a "designer", it leaves something to be desired. No self respecting Excel Dashboard designer is showing up with an out of the box palette. So what do you do? How do you make the Boss think you know what to do? Jordan suggests heading over to ColorBrewer2. org  Jordan initially picked up this tip from Stephen Few.  Stephen is one of the Dashboarding design gurus, his Give your newest Excel design some pizzaz with these steps. Head over to ColorBrewer2. org This has to be the easiest step.  Just click the link This helps you create a Play around Select the number of classes and a hue that you like.  Perhaps something that is aligned with your corporate colors.  Insert the RGB Code into Excel First off select RGB from the dropdown box is ColorBrewer.  Excel likes RGB, so use it. In Excel, from your home menu (where all the formatting is) select that paint bucket...  or fill color... or whatever. Select More Colors Input the RGB codes. These now show up in your recent colors. Check out Jordan's Book Advanced Excel Essentials will question the way you attack your Excel problems.  Check it out. --- ### What Makes a Great Analyst? - Excel Gurus Discuss - Published: 2015-02-18 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/what-makes-a-great-analyst-excel-gurus-discuss/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks How Do You Solve Problems? What are the intangibles? Passion? Learning a foreign language? Being a retired football coach? In short, what makes you a problem solver?  What gives you the skills necessary to analyze a problem regardless of the tool? Kevin's Superbowl video --> Our special guest was Kevin Lehrbass of MySpreadsheetLab. com. In the video, you will hear several references to one of Kevin's videos where he discusses close Superbowl Games.  For our international audience, this is the championship of American professional football.  Its easy to just look at a final score to gauge a close game. But does that really gauge "closeness"? Kevin walks you through his thought process on how he identified "closeness".  This is critical, as its an analytical problem solving skill most people don't use. So How Does an Analyst Think? They ask questions.  They define problems.  They have the presence of mind of an analyst.  They have confidence in themselves.  They never stop thinking about how to solve a problem. Its not just about Excel.  Its not just about a tool. The Grammar Book? So this was out of left field for me.  How does a grammar What do you think makes a great analyst? Leave your comments below. --- ### Mr Excel's Logo Name? - Excel.TV Challenges - Published: 2015-02-11 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/mr-excels-logo-name-excel-tv-challenges/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Formats: Video Hello All! Hope you all are doing well. Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier is back with the interesting Excel Challenge.  But as usual, let us look in to the previous week’s Excel challenge and announce the winner. Last Week’s Challenge Last week’s challenge was “How Old is Excel? ” Hope you all answered this challenge. Correct Answer From Last Week’s Challenge Correct answer is Excel is 30 Years Old. So, the winner is Lex Rosie King. Congratulation! You will receive an eBook of Advanced Excel Essentials. What’s the guy’s name in Mr. Excel’s Logo? You all are aware of Bill Jelen’s Mr. Excel website. But, the question is what it the guy’s name in Mr. Excel’s logo? Jordan gave an hint that it is a man and not a woman. He also mentioned that, if you have seen this week’s episode, then you would answer this. Hurry Up To Answer Go ahead and comment your answer in Excel TV blog post or Facebook or comment on the video. You can even tweet to @ExcelTV or mail at Challenge@ExcelTVShow. com. Come On!   --- ### Play Sound with Excel VBA – .wav files in Excel Video Tutorial > Learn How To Play Sound With Excel VBA With This Video Tutorial. Includes Sample .wav Files For Download - Published: 2015-02-04 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/wav-files-excel-play-wav-files-excel-toolbar-excel-tips/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video There are some tips on the show that seem to take on a life of their own.  People see them and they suddenly can't wait to try it out. Szilvia Juhasz is the contributor for a good portion of those tips.  She feeds the masses.  It's a The Spreadsheet Page. Set up Your Macro Play Sound with Excel VBAAttach to the Macro to SomethingYou can attach a Macro to your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) or different criteria, like when a cell changes values or moves above/below a threshold via a worksheet event. BONUS DownloadsWhat's Next? How have you used this tip?  What sounds or files have you played?  Have questions for Szilvia?  Leave them in the comments section below.  You can also hire Szilvia at http://www. xszil. com --- ### Excel News – Spreadsheet1, Kevin Lehrbass and Excel Books – Week ending 2015-01-30 - Published: 2015-01-30 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-news-spreadsheet1-kevin-lehrbass-excel-books-week-ending-2015-01-30/ - Categories: Announcements - Formats: Video Excel. TV News & Articles We released our new website.  What do you think?  We are currently in the process of loading our previous 170+ videos to the site.  They will be categorized, etc so they will be easy to find.  This will take some time. Episode 22 with Zack Barresse, Kevin Jones and Szilvia Juhasz - Was a wild episode.  Check it out. Our LinkedIN group is approaching 200 Members.  Join the group. Others News and Posts in the Excel Community Our friends over at Spreadsheet1 have an IndieGoGo Campaign Unviewable VBA Project for Excel.  They are at 70% of their goal.  Check it out and donate. Szilvia Juhasz is releasing an Excel Conferences & Competitions PASS Business Analytics Conference April 21-22, 2015 with lots of Excel Speakers Excel Amsterdam Summit April 13-14, 2015.  Check it out here ModelOFF 2015 will be in London, UK in December 2015 Do you have News or great articles to share? The easiest way to get the word out is to leave a message in the comments section below. --- ### Conditional Formatting to Clean Your Spreadsheet - Excel Tips - Published: 2015-01-25 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/conditional-formatting-clean-spreadsheet-excel-tips/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports - Formats: Video Nick Green of http://EchoXL. com shows you how he uses conditional formatting to create a clean looking worksheet for his users. What He Does Nick uses toggle buttons to select different features on his graphs.  As the toggle buttons are selected, text that is no longer relevant seems to disappear from the spreadsheet.  Nich uses Conditional formatting so that as the toggle is selected, the text color is changed to white.  Tis causes it to blend with the background. This is a good tip to create a clean environment for your end-user. What's Next? Leave a message or question for Nick in the comments section below.  Also hit one of the social sharing buttons to share this with the world. --- ### How to Excel VBA Import CSV: Quickly importing and working with CSV files (part 2) - Published: 2014-12-05 - Modified: 2025-01-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-excel-vba-import-csv/ - Categories: Excel Power Query & Data Cleaning - Tags: optionexplicitvba This is part 2 in which I explain how I solved the problem. Make sure to read the previous blog posts. Taken together, these show I though through and ultimately solved the problem. Query Tables to the Rescue! To solve this problem, I stumbled on something I rarely use, and that’s our good ol’ friend Query Tables. I don’t think they go by Query Tables anymore, but that’s what what they’re called in the code, so that’s the terminology I’m going to use here. You might have used Query Tables as a manual feature before. For instance, to import a CSV file into Excel using Query Tables you would simply select From Text in the Get External Data Group from on the Data tab. See the snapshot below. These are Query Tables. This functionality is really meant to create a connection between Excel and some other data source. The idea being you can manipulate and analyze data using Excel as your business logic and presentation layer. But I didn’t need any of that here. I never expected the data in the underlying CSV file to change, so a connection that could refresh wasn’t necessary. Furthermore, unless you’re using these connections with PowerPivot, Excel has a bad history linking to other files. But what Query Tables brings to the table (pun intended) is that they can dump an entire table’s worth of data rather quickly into a worksheet tab in one fell swoop. Try it for yourself manually to see how quick it is. In fact, I was able to automate the entire process using the code below. 1:PrivateSubUploadFiles(FilePathAsString, WorksheetTabNameAsString) 2:OnErrorResumeNext 3: 4:DimCurrentWorksheetAsExcel. Worksheet 5:SetCurrentWorksheet = Worksheets(WorksheetTabName) 6: 7:WithCurrentWorksheet. QueryTables. Add(Connection:= _ 8:"TEXT;"& FilePath _ 9:, Destination:=CurrentWorksheet. Range("$A$1")) 10:. CommandType = 0 11:. Name ="DeleteMe" 12:. FieldNames =True 13:. RefreshOnFileOpen =False 14:. RefreshStyle = xlOverwriteCells 15:. AdjustColumnWidth =True 16:. RefreshPeriod = 0 17:. TextFilePlatform = 437 18:. TextFileStartRow = 1 19:. TextFileParseType = xlDelimited 20:. TextFileTextQualifier = xlTextQualifierDoubleQuote 21:. TextFileConsecutiveDelimiter =False 22:. TextFileCommaDelimiter =True 23:. TextFileTrailingMinusNumbers =True 24:. Refresh BackgroundQuery:=False 25:EndWith 26: 27:CurrentWorksheet. QueryTables(1). Delete 28:ThisWorkbook. Names(WorksheetTabName &"! DeleteMe_1"). Delete 29:EndSub So let’s go through how this works. First, the way my program works is that the user supplies a folder containing the CSV files. Then, when they hit a button that says “Run,” I have Excel iterate through the contents of the folder. When I’ve verified a file in the folder is a correct file that will work with my application, I call theUploadFilesmethod just shown. The FilePath parameter contains to the direct path to the CSV file whose contents I’d like to upload; and the WorksheetTabName parameter refers to the worksheet where’d I’d like the contents to be dumped. As you can see, on line 8, FilePath is supplied to the connection string when the query table is created. CurrentWorksheet is then used to tell Excel where the data will be placed (line 9). On line 11, you see I named this query “DeleteMe. ” Whenever Excel creates a new Query Table, it also creates a new named range in the background. There’s a default name Excel uses, but you can overwrite it with your own name. In this case, I use “DeleteMe” in place of the default as a reminder that the range shouldn’t exist (if my code errors out, I will see a DeleteMe named range in the name manager). You can see this happening below. It really helps with debugging. The reason there are so many repeats is that each name created by the code above is scoped locally to the sheet in which it was created. Excel also adds that “_1” to the end. I imagine if I had multiple connections on the same sheet it would increment that last number. But maybe someone with more experience could confirm that for me? In any event, we want to ensure there are no traces of the connection settings. So the BackgroundQuery setting to FALSE on line 24 ensures there are no direct updates from the backend data. Line 27 deletes the QueryTable we just created. Don’t worry this just deletes the connection behind the scenes, but it keeps the data that’s been dumped. Finally, line 28 removes the range that was just created. Since it’s local to the worksheet, we can refer to it as “WorksheetName! DeleteMe_1” and then delete it. So let’s recap. I’ve created a mechanism to quickly import the data from CSV files. I used the functionality incorporated into Query Tables to bypass other solutions that either were not as good or weren’t feasible. In particular, I was  able to get around two solutions I particularly hate: (1) the iterative algorithm; and (2) copying and pasting from other files. All told, this solution works great! Right now, Excel will iterate through a folder of about eight CSV files and place the data from each CSV file rather quickly. In fact, it happens so quickly, I had to add a completion msgbox just to ensure the code was actually being run! Neither the iterative or copying/pasting solution can boast these results. Remember, whenever possible, do more with less. --- ### Mastering IF Statements for Efficient Data Analysis - Published: 2014-11-19 - Modified: 2024-08-23 - URL: https://excel.tv/mastering-if-statements-for-efficient-data-analysis/ - Categories: Excel Functions & Formulas In case you missed it, my new book, Advanced Excel Essentials, was released in early November. Many early readers have already provided me with positive feedback about the book. In particular, several have mentioned they enjoyed my comments on using the IF function. So I delve into that in more detail in this blog post. My thoughts on IF aren't really new or original. In fact, what got me thinking about IFs at all was Daniel Ferry's article, I Heart IF, at his ExcelHero blog. Daniel's work opened my eyes. It didn't so much convince me that IFs were overused; rather, it provided a deeper understand of Excel formulas and their applications. That understanding formed much of the material presented in Advanced Excel Essentials. My argument about IFs, and really about all functions and formulas, is that they should be a natural fit to the underlying problem.  In particular, nested IFs are often employed as the solution to every complicated scenario. A good example of this is Microsoft's own help section on using nested IFs, which I'm excerpting below: Without a doubt, the nested IF setup Microsoft presents works as intended. However, we have to think about what nested IFs are saying about the underlying problem. So let's get a little philosophical about this. Let's say your raw score for the overall course was a 65--so you should receive a D (next time, turn in your homework). But think about this: was the reason you received a D the direct consequence of not receiving an A, then not receiving a B, then not receiving a C? Not really. Receiving a D is the result of your raw score; it's not conditionally dependent upon not receiving A, B, C or F. In other words, finding what letter grade you receive is really a lookup problem. It doesn't require branching conditions. If that all sounds confusing, think of the problem this way. How would these nested IFs above appear as a decision tree? It would be a bit of a mess, since you would be testing for the numerical region at each step. Again, however, finding where your letter grade falls within numerical bounds is not a decision problem. So I'm advocating we use nested IFs when the underlying problem can be described as a decision problem. In short: if you can draw a nice decision tree out of the problem, chances are nested IFs are a good fit. The real question however is who cares? If a given solution works, why should it matter? My answer is simple. When we use IFs, we're often modeling complex problems. If we hand the spreadsheet off to someone else, it will be that much harder for them to understand what's going on. When IFs are a natural fit however, comprehension is much easier. And this makes sense: since the formulas simply become an extension of the underlying problem. But the real person you should do this for is yourself. Not you, right now; but the the you six months from now, who is going to look back at his or her old workbook. Using the correct formulas to match the underlying problem creates what I call, development memory. And it's much easier to access previous development memory when the problem and implementation are intrinsically connected. Underlying all of this is rethinking how we interact with our technology. Some people have pushed back on what I've been advocating. Usually the argument is some form of, I use what works for me, and that's all that matters.  But the last few years have presented significant interest in spreadsheet errors and their impact. I'm simply advocating that Excel be more than just a tool for data. If we think of Excel, and related technologies, as extensions of underlying problems, we'll potentially mitigate the problem in which our model implementations become so complex, they're hard to work with and understand. However, if we view Excel as an extension of the underlying problem, than our work is only as complicated as the problem itself. --- ### Number of Worksheet Functions in Excel 2013 - 009 VBAExpress Forums Challenge - Published: 2014-06-07 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/number-of-worksheet-functions-in-excel-2013-009-vbaexpress-forums-challenge/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video Hello every one. Excel MVP Jordan Goldmeier is here with VBA Express Weekly Challenge. Looks like you all will like this week’s Excel challenge a bit more when compared to previous ones. But, before that let us look at the previous week’s Excel challenge, it’s answer and the winner. Last Week’s Challenge Last week’s challenge was “What is the maximum zoom percent that will show range names on a spreadsheet? ” Correct Answer From Last Week’s Challenge Thanks a lot for the huge response for this challenge. So, the correct answer is 39% and the winner is Aditya Srinivaasan. Congratulations! You will earn a prize from Excel TV. Number of Worksheet Functions in Excel 2013? This week’s Excel challenge is special as it comes to us from Rahim Zulfiqar Ali who runs excelbasement. org. His question is “How many worksheet functions are there in Excel 2013? ” So, here Jordan is expecting the count of worksheet functions available in Excel 2013. There might be a difference of +5 or -5 and you will be eligible to be a winner. So, hurry up and earn surprising Challenge@ExcelTVShow. com. Come On!     --- ### Zoom Size for Regions in Excel - 007 VBAExpress Forums Challenge - Published: 2014-05-01 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/zoom-size-for-regions-in-excel-007-vbaexpress-forums-challenge/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video Hello Excel TV Lovers! Excel MVP Jordan is here with us with new Excel TV Challenge. This is one more from VBA Express Weekly Challenge. Before letting you know the present week’s challenge, let us first look at the previous week’s challenge. Last Week’s Challenge Last week Excel author Jordon Goldmeier asked “Who is the long running Excel MVP”. Have you answered it? We will let you know the correct answer and also the winner. Here it is! Correct Answer From Last Week’s Challenge So, the correct answer for the last week’s challenge is “Bob Ulmas”. Winner is “Ryan Wilson”. Congratulations Ryan Wilson! You won free ticket for webinar from VBAExpress. com. Jordon will get in touch with you and will let you know how you can claim your win! What is the maximum zoom size for regions in Excel? If you zoom out far enough in Excel, the name of a given named range will appear on top of it’s defined region. Have you observed it? So, this week’s Excel challenge is “What is the maximum zoom percent that will show a name on top of it’s region? ” Hurry Up To Answer This is really an awesome chance to grab two rewards apart from learning new. Go ahead and comment your answer in Excel TV blog post or Facebook or comment on the video. You can even tweet to @ExcelTV or mail at Challenge@ExcelTVShow. com. Come On! --- ### Me vs Bill Jelen on the value of Option Explicit - Published: 2014-04-13 - Modified: 2021-10-16 - URL: https://excel.tv/me-vs-bill-jelen-on-the-value-of-option-explicit/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba - Formats: Video Watch me argue it out with the wise and venerable (but ultimately incorrect) Bill "Mr. Excel" Jelen on the topic of using Option Explicit in your code. I argue for the affirmative (that you should use it) while Bill takes the status quo. Let me know your thoughts. http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=yJRLzN3Dzmw --- ### Excel Enable Grayed Out Form Controls - 004 VBAExpress Forums Challenge of the Week - Published: 2014-03-27 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-enable-grayed-out-form-controls-004-vbaexpress-forums-challenge-of-the-week/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros - Formats: Video Hey Guys! How are you doing? Welcome to Excel TV. Are you waiting for this week’s Excel Challenge? Yo! Excel Author Jordan Goldmeier is also ready with some good and interesting challenge. But, stay there! Before going forward, let us have a look at the previous episode’s challenge. Last Week’s Challenge Last week Jordan shared a snapshot of his quick access toolbar which has icons and you were asked to name each of them. Remember that? I think, it’s yes from you. So, did you get them right? Let us look at correct answer for that. Correct Answer From Last Week’s Challenge As it is not possible to explain each icon here (I mean in text: D), Jordan explained named each of the icon in the video. Please check out the video below, to know name of each icon. The winner of last week’s challenge is Bryan from Cincinnati, Ohio. Congratulations! You received 12 months paid membership Mynda Treacy Dashboard Course. Keep going buddy! How To Enable Grayed Out Form Controls in Excel What do you do when you want to insert form controls? You will just follow the path as Developer tab > Controls group > Insert and you now you could see Form Controls dropdown. Here, you could see three controls are grayed out. Jordan highlighted them in the video below. Now, the question is how can we enable them? Hurry Up To Answer This is really an interesting challenge. Go ahead and comment your answer in Excel TV blog post or Facebook. You can even leave your answer in the comments section below. Come On!   --- ### It’s time to say “Goodbye,” to Hungarian Notation - Published: 2014-02-17 - Modified: 2014-02-17 - URL: https://excel.tv/its-time-to-say-goodbye-to-hungarian-notation/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Most of us code using the Hungarian notation style when writing VBA code. Basically, that’s when you prefix an abbreviated description of a variables’ type or class in front of its name. For example, the ‘d’ below is a prefix for a variable of type double. You get the idea. 1:DimdDoubleAsDouble2:DimsStringAsString3:DimcmdButtonAsCommandButtonI’m not really sure why Hungarian Notation has not yet been replaced—or, at the very least, discouraged for VBA coding. But here’s some speculation:  (1) it’s a leftover from Visual Basic 6. 0; (2) because what has been put forth to replace it (specifically, Pascal or “CamelBack” Notation) looks like C/C++ and many VBA and Visual Basic 6. 0 coders fear that C-languages are too overly complicated for them; and (3) having a bad style guide is better than no style guide. Let’s be honest: there’s really no value added with VBA and Hungarian Notation. It makes code ugly-looking and hard to follow (despite what we’ve been told). And, not every coder uses the same style abbreviations. Heck, even the list of abbreviations Microsoft recommends is too large to memorize. Think about this: Does cmbDisplayValues refer to a command button to display values or a combo-box of displayed values? It’s hard to tell—and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Just take a look at the argument names of Excel’s internal object methods. Notice how virtually none of them use Hungarian Notation. They employee variable names like “Target,” and “Index. ” How many times have you confused these names as referring to different types? Probably not that often, if it all. Certain keywords in variables names, like “Count” and “No” almost always refer to integers, so why not use them instead? I argue that you should use a descriptive name that imbues the meaning of the variable—nothing more. A variable called ProjectNPV is likely to be a double if it indeed refers to a net present value calculation for a project. You don’t need to put a ‘d’ in front of it. Not convinced? Think about this Excel’s internal objects. What is the collection called that holds all the information about every series in the Excel chart? It’s called a SeriesCollection  and not cltSeries; ListObjects not lstObjects; Workbooks not wkbObjects. The point is made: if Microsoft doesn’t use Hungarian Notation anymore, then neither should we. In the forthcoming weeks, I’ll be posting more on this subject. It’s time we changed the way we develop with Excel. Out with the old, in with the new. Let’s make 2014 the year of good code. --- ### Effective means of display in Excel - Published: 2013-12-29 - Modified: 2022-07-22 - URL: https://excel.tv/effective-means-of-display-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks There are many great articles and tutorials on how to build interactive data displays in Excel. However, there are few articles on how best to effectively display data in Excel. I think this is an important subject that every Excel user should at least think about. On the other hand, I personally don’t like any set of rules that say this key performance indicator or metric or chart must always be used. If we think about the best books on English, say The Elements of Style, or even the best books on data visualization, say The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, we find neither author posits their principles as hard and fast rules. Rather, they submit a set of guidelines, heuristics to help us test and decide. The Excel developer world should have such guidelines, to which I present the following for effective means of display in Excel : - Mutual Exclusivity - Common Interpretation - Sufficiency Mutual Exclusivity Mutual exclusivity speaks to presenting data and metrics whose different meanings do not overlap. I say “meanings,” here, because there may be instances in which metrics overlap, but their meanings do not. Consider a simple income statement. We all know Gross Profit = Revenue – Costs. If we were to ignore meaning when applying the test of mutual exclusivity, we might venture to only include two of these measures, since the third measure is only one algebraic calculation away. (For instance, we could divine Gross Profit in our heads by only present Revenue and Costs. ) In this sense, there is surely overlap in all three of these metrics. But in our understanding of business performance, showing all three is the best option because the meaning they impart is separate and independent. On the other hand, take a look at the following chart. The addition of a total measure into the Unit Sales chart does little help us divine regional sales differences. Indeed, the total is already plotted to a certain extent – it’s the aggregation of the other regions. Now consider the average measure. The data variation between regions is such that we can gauge the average with our eyes (perhaps not with granularity, but the additional metric does not help us with this either). I argue these two metrics provide an unjustifiable overlap already inherent within the presented regional sales differences. (But you may want to include these metrics for good reason, and we’ll deal with a way to do that by the end of this article. ) Common Interpretation Common interpretation refers the organizational, institutional, and even societal paradigm through which we understand and interpret data. That may have been a mouthful, but it simply means this: all the people looking at the same metrics must understand them in the same way. This is especially important for metrics created by and for a specific organization or market. Most of us agree on how to calculate the Current Ratio (we should, there’s really only one way to do it). On the hand, a single organization could come up with its own metric. Consider a performance metrics that results in a score within the boundaries of zero and one. For those familiar with the metric, the results are easy to interpret. But for those on the outside, there may be puzzlement. And unless everyone agrees, placing it on your dashboard or report is sure to generate confusion. I speak from experience. I’ve watched organizations argue over such metrics and what they mean. When this happens it’s time to take a second look at the measure. Or, consider this scenario: an organization rates its employees once a year. One underperformer receives a 3 out of 5 each year, which according to the company definition of its own metrics is a “good” score. However, compared to his 5 out of 5 peers, he is an underperformer. The employee is fired for underperforming but sues the organization since a 3 out of 5 is considered good on paper. Who’s right? This is an example of an uncommon interpretation. Sufficiency Sufficiency speaks to whether there are too many or too few metrics to sufficiently deliver the message required. Sufficiency is related to mutual exclusivity. However, sufficiency deals with the extraneous and insufficient inclusion of metrics. For example, you may find some white space on your dashboard that could be filled in with even more information. If that information doesn’t aid in the understanding of that data already included therein—don’t add it! The whitespace might feel like empty real estate, but not every metric needs a neighbor. Let’s go back to the first chart presented. Here again, average and total are the problem, but removing them might also present an insufficiency in what information should be delivered. If the aim of the chart is to present the intra performance of regional sales, then the inclusion of these metrics certainly inhibit our understanding. For example, the inclusion of the total requires we stretch the chart range out considerably, thus dampening the variation between each region. But we can still present this information in a way that doesn’t compete with its message while presenting a sufficient amount of information. The chart below demonstrates one such way you could use in a pinch. Conclusion The most important thing to remember is that these aren’t hard and fast rules. Consider them as a guide as you continue your Excel journey. As we are now merely scratching of what Excel can do, effective means of data display will serve us well. ------------------------------------------------------------- Adapted from the field Value Focused Thinking and quite specifically from the work of Gregory Parnell. Parnell, G. S. , Chapter 19, Value-Focused Thinking Using Multiple Objective Decision Analysis, Methods for Conducting Military Operational Analysis: Best Practices in Use Throughout the Department of Defense, Military Operations Research Society, Editors Andrew Loerch and Larry Rainey, 2007. link --- ### Excel Holiday Card - Published: 2013-12-22 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-holiday-card/ - Categories: Excel VBA & Macros Wishing everyone a happy holiday and a terrific new year! Download file: Happy Holidays. xlsm --- ### 100+ Best Excel Resources And Websites - Published: 2013-12-20 - Modified: 2025-01-03 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-resources/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks I went to ALL the Excel Discussion Groups on the internet and asked all the Excel Gurus, MVPs etc one question... --- ### Miami Valley XL User Group - Published: 2013-10-23 - Modified: 2024-11-28 - URL: https://excel.tv/miami-valley-xl-user-group/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba Based on the great reception Rob Collie has had in Cleveland, I am attempting to create an XL User Group here in the Miami Valley area. Do you live in our around Dayton, Cincinnati, or Columbus? Would you be interested in attending/hosting an Excel user group in these areas? If so, please send me your information by clicking here. --- ### Creating a Spreadsheet-Based Wizard - Published: 2013-10-17 - Modified: 2018-06-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/creating-a-spreadsheet-based-wizard/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba First of all, happy spreadsheet day! It was on this date today that VisiCalc was first shipped to the masses. The rest, as they say, is history. So let’s talk about creating a spreadsheet-based wizard. By “spreadsheet-based,” I mean no Userforms. That’s right. There are many good Excel tutorials out there on developing wizards with UserForms, and I can certainly see their appeal. For example, if you are creating an add-in for Excel, then a wizard created with UserFroms is the best way to go. However, if you are making a spreadsheet-based decision tool or dashboard, I say you should opt for a spreadsheet-based wizard. For one, I think you can make them more quickly. And second, UserForms can carry unnecessary bloat. Finally, I’ve found UserForms to be somewhat unpredictable in terms of layout across different monitors and resolutions. That said, a spreadsheet-based wizard might still look off on different monitors, but I think using the spreadsheet as a canvass makes this problem easier to prevent, diagnose, and fix. So this is what a spreadsheet-based wizard looks like. Pretty simple, eh? You’ll be amazed by how quickly you can throw what of these together. So here’s how it works. Each panel or view is a named range of group of cells stretching across all rows. The Next and Back buttons simply show and hide these views accordingly. Below, I’ve unhidden each view in the example wizard and then zoomed out so their names are displayed. Note the naming and ordering scheme utilized. If I were to add another panel at the end, I’d call it Wizard. View5. This ordering scheme, as we shall see, is what makes these wizards so simple and easy. Traversing the wizard The Next and Back buttons employ pretty similar code. The Next contains a test to see if we’ve reach the end of our panel set; the Back contains a test to see if we’re at the beginning panel. There’s some extra stuff to test which view we’re in (View 2 requires some special instruction), but it’s all pretty simple. Below, I’ve excerpted the procedure called when Next is pressed. Public Sub GoNext Dim index As Integer index = index = index + 1 If index > Then Exit Sub Wizard. Range("Wizard. View" & index). Columns. Hidden = False If index = 2 Then DisplayCheckboxes Else HideCheckboxes End If If index > 1 Then Wizard. Range("Wizard. View" & index - 1). Columns. Hidden = True End If = index End Sub   The way we know and manage which view we’re currently looking at is through a helper cell on a Helper tab (the Helper tab is in the example file). This cell holds a number representing the index of the view we’re looking at. I’ve named this cell Helper. CurrentPageIndex. In addition, I’ve also stored a variable to keep track of total views, Helper. TotalPages. In this example file, I’ll update the total manually when I add a new view (by typing in the new total). But you could automate this process if you felt so inclined. In fact, you should. In this example, Helper. CurrentPageIndex stores a number between 1 and 4 inclusive. If it equals 1 then we’re looking at the first view. When I press Next, the index is incremented and the next panel is displayed; the previous panel is then hidden. As you see from the code, I simply need to read in the index stored in Helper. CurrentPageIndex. This is why the numbering scheme is so great: the index is the only specific information required to act as a pointer to each view. In fact, with this setup, my panels don’t even need to be in order. Of course, you should try to plan ahead so that you aren’t making view out of order – going out of order seems like a headache to me - but the option is there if you need. While I’m thinking about it, you could even change that last panel to something like Wizard. ViewFinished. Then you would make as many additional panels as you wanted thereafter. You would just need something in your code to test when you’ve reach that second to last panel so that users are directed toward Wizard. ViewFinished. It wouldn’t be hard, just one more IF statement. The numbering mechanism makes this part easy. View Content Editing each view is also fairly simple. If you want to see all views at once, you can simply unhide everything. When you’re ready to hide them again, pressing the Next and Back buttons in each direction should bring you back to hiding/showing each view as necessary. (In the example file, try unhiding everything and then pressing the Next and Back buttons – you’ll see what I mean. )  And, just like with UserForms, you place inside the view what you want for Excel to display when it’s in view. For input cells, it’s just a matter of creating a border around a cell range. Pictures and shapes do require the extra step of selecting the Move and size with cells option from within the properties settings. The only tricky items are form controls, which are sometimes really weird about sizing. This weirdness is only confounded by Excel 2013’s properties menus. Take a look at the picture below. If you’re looking in the Format Control dialog box (on the left), the Move and size with cells option appears disabled. Now compare that to Excel 2013’s new properties pop-up thingy on the right. The option is now available. In any event, form controls seem to become displaced across the different resolutions and dpi settings of individual machines. Sometimes they’ll get caught overlapping between two different view panels. When this happens, funkiness ensues. The form control’s size gets mangled. Sometimes Excel ends up copying that form control to that same spot over and over again. You find that you have 10 different checkboxes with the same name. If this has happened to you before, then you know the frustration. For the dubious who’ve never experienced this problem, it’s real. I’m not making it up. I swear. So your best defense when using form controls on ranges that you intend on showing and hiding is to anchor each control to certain place on the spreadsheet. In this case, I’ve defined a section of cells and called them Wizard. CheckboxAnchor. I’ve also named each check box something like Check1, Check2, Check3 ... etc. When I want to view these checkboxes, I’ll call the DisplayCheckboxes procedure. In my Back and Next buttons, I’ve incorporated a test in the GoNext and GoBack procedures to show/hide the checkboxes for each view accordingly. For example, we only need to see these checkboxes when the second step is in view. Scroll up to the code listing view this test. Below, I’ve excerpted the DisplayCheckboxes procedure which is called when Step 2 is in view. Private Sub DisplayCheckboxes Dim i As Integer For i = 1 To . Rows. Count Dim currentCheckbox As Excel. Shape Set currentCheckbox = Me. Shapes("Check" & i) With . Rows(i). Cells currentCheckbox. Width = . Width currentCheckbox. Height = . Height currentCheckbox. Top = . Top currentCheckbox. Left = . Left End With currentCheckbox. Visible = True Next i End Sub   Notice how this code is very  similar to the view controller mechanism from in the GoNext procedure. Again, I group similar spreadsheet objects together by name. I use the suffix as an Id. Information Panes I use some conditional formatting in the left information pane to highlight which step I’m looking at. And, on the right, I have a bit of dummy text that would otherwise act as instructions. Take a look at the formula below. I’m not using any VBA directly to change the Instruction text. In this setup, instruction text for each step is stored in the Helper tab in the Instructions Table. Thoughts I like this method for creating wizards because it’s quick to cook up. Once you’re pleased with your design, you can save it as a simple template. Later it becomes a boilerplate from which to create different wizards for your different projects. You’re also not limited to this type of layout, of course. You could place the information panes on the top instead - you would hide/display rows rather than columns. Personally, I’ve used both and prefer the layout employed in this example. Left for you to do I’ve created a simple example that does require more work before it can be deployed. Specifically, for each panel, it’s a good idea to activate the first cell or input item. This will always place the selector in view. Second, the input items in this example aren’t linked to anything. You'll want to link these to some backend database or spreadsheet tab devoted to storage - especially if you expect a user to use the wizard several times over to create a list of items. You’ll also want to clear out data entry each time you start over with the wizard. Finally, it might be a good idea, when testing for certain view in the GoNext and GoPrevious procedures,  to use constants instead of literal numbers. I leave these taskings to you. One last thought, I promise. As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve moved away from Hungarian notation for naming spreadsheet objects. The idea of using a “dot” for named ranges came from a blog post I had read on Charley Kyd’s blog. I’ve tried really hard to find that article again, but I can’t seem to locate it. (So the former link just goes to his blog home page. ) In any event, I think it’s a good idea to name your wizard items following this nomenclature. In the input section of the first panel, consider giving the First Name input a name of something like “Wizard. View1. FirstName,” or “Wizard. Introduction. FirstName. ” I find when you refer to named ranges like these in your code – and even in formulas – they’re so much easier to read and understand than something like “valFirstName. ” Happy spreadsheet day. Here's the download file: Wizard Example --- ### A Dynamically Linked Checkbox Matrix with Microsoft Excel - Published: 2013-08-26 - Modified: 2013-08-26 - URL: https://excel.tv/a-dynamically-linked-checkbox-matrix-with-microsoft-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Edit: sorry for some of the squashed images you see in this and other posts. I’m still working on my layout. In the meantime, click on an image to view it in full if you’re having trouble. Today, I want to show you what I liked to call a “ dynamically linked matrix. ” I’ll post an animated gif of the final product at the end of this discussion. I actually started with the gif at the top, but as I began writing, I found the gif nauseating! So if you want to skip ahead to see the final product, scroll down to the bottom of this post. Checkbox Matrices I recently had a project that required the user to toggle a list of features using a matrix similar to the one below. Here, I’ve replaced the grid headings with numbers and letters, but hopefully you can think of a few use-case examples where such a matrix would prove useful. I like how form control checkboxes can be linked to other cells on a spreadsheet. One advantage of this linkage is that I don’t have to handle each click through the VBA. No code is required to allow the user to toggle between two different states; updating the spreadsheet and checkbox is taken care of for me. In the matrix above, I wanted each cell to be a clickable area, so even if the checkbox itself was not clicked, I could still capture the same click event if there was a click anywhere in the cell. To achieve this, I created a named range out of the matrix above and called it Main. CheckboxMatrix. Then in Main. CheckboxMatrix, I went through each cell and created a checkbox to be placed directly on top of it. I set the top, left, width, and height values for each checkbox to the same as the cell. I also removed the caption to give the effect above. Here’s the relevant code from the project. For Each rngCurrent In     Dim chkbxTemp As CheckBox    Set chkbxTemp = Me. CheckBoxes. Add(1, 1, 1, 1)        itr = itr + 1    Dim rowIndex As Integer    Dim colIndex As Integer        rowIndex = (itr - 1) \ 5 + 1    colIndex = (itr - 1) Mod 5 + 1        With chkbxTemp        . Caption = ""        . Display3DShading = False        . Width = rngCurrent. Width        . Height = rngCurrent. Height        . Left = rngCurrent. Left        . Top = rngCurrent. Top        . Name = "Main. chbx" & itr        . Value = Me. Range("link" & itr)         . OnAction = "Main. RespondToShift"   End WithNext rngCurrent   Note: I create the checkbox first with dummy top, left, width, and height values (in this case, I set everything equal to one). I change them later. Dynamic Linking To create the effect of “dynamic linking,” I had to go through each checkbox and set a reference to the backend data it represents. I find that making a named reference for each checkbox works best. In my example, each reference is named linkXX where XX is a number. If you look at the code above, I also name each checkbox Main. chbxXX where XX is a number. The numbers at the end of each name allow me to easily associate a checkbox with a link by using a common index. The following code is found in the worksheet’s change event. When another entry of the dropdown is chosen, I go through link reference to update where it points.   For Each curName In ThisWorkbook. Names    Dim strName As String    Dim index As Integer    Dim chkbx As CheckBox        strName = curName. Name    If InStr(1, strName, "link") > 0 Then         index = Replace(curName. NameLocal, "Main! link", "")         Dim rowIndex As Integer        Dim colIndex As Integer                rowIndex = (index - 1) \ 5 + 1        colIndex = (index - 1) Mod 5 + 1         curName. RefersTo = Data. Range("Data. " & Target. Value). Cells( _            rowIndex, colIndex)            End IfNext Note that I do no need to reassign the value of each checkbox. Because each checkbox is assign to a link, only updating the links is necessary. Conditional Formatting To help provide visual cues about what items have been toggled, I’ve employed conditional formatting on the cells behind the checkboxes. You can reach these cells by clicking on a cell outside of the matrix and using your arrow keys to traverse your way in. On a much larger matrix, you’d probably want to using the Selection Pane to hide the checkboxes.   The table on the right helps define the conditional formats for each cell (see the image below). In a final project, you’d want to hide this table by hiding its columns or by setting the font and border colors to white (to blend in with the background). As you might have guessed, the conditional format table is also linked to the backend data. Note that this parallels how the checkboxes are linked.   Flagging You might run into a situation where you just want to flag a feature to think about it later. To achieve this, you’ll need to create a third state. Checkboxes will show a check or unchecked boxes for TRUE/1 and FALSE/0 values. However, they will also show a “mixed” state for NA values.   To flag a feature, the user holds down SHIFT as they click on a checkbox. Using code I’ve borrowed code from Chip Pearson, each checkbox has been assigned the same macro to test if the SHIFT button is held down. That macro is shown below. Public Sub RespondToShi ft    Dim index As Integer        index = Replace(Application. Caller, "Main. chbx", "")        If IsShiftKeyDown Then        ThisWorkbook. Names("link" & index). RefersToRange. Formula = "=NA"    End IfEnd Sub Again, following the index numbering convention, we only need to use one macro to handle everything verses using creating a dependent macro for each checkbox. The reason we can do this because the name of the CheckBox is passed into the macro through the Application. Caller variable. If the SHIFT key is held down, we can tell Excel to set the backend data to NA. What I like about dynamic linking One great feature of this example is that all information has been linked. When you toggle a feature, the backend data is changed automatically. Very little VBA is used except to set up the spreadsheet (only performed once, ideally) and to help us relink the different elements together. Get the download file Checkbox Matrix Example. xlsm --- ### The two WORST Excel Errors EVER - Published: 2013-08-22 - Modified: 2018-06-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/the-two-worst-excel-errors-ever/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba In my opinion, these are the two worst Excel errors ever: Code execution has been interrupted, and There was a problem sending the command to the program A casual Google search will show these errors are as common as they are arcane. Below I’m going to detail my experiences with these errors and how I’ve fixed them. I won’t pretend my experiences are exhaustive, but hopefully they’ll contribute to our understanding of these errors. Code execution has been interrupted The problem When you run a macro, execution is constantly interrupted with a dialog box that says “Code execution has been interrupted” and you’re given a choice to continue, end, debug, or get help. If you press continue, the dialog will keep reappearing. You’ve looked through your code but found no errors—and yet, the dialog will not stop appearing. What I think is happening I’ve found this error often appears in VBA code using loops. Let’s say you realized you’ve accidentally written an infinite loop, so you use CTRL + Pause Break and then tell Excel to end execution. Or, alternatively, a runtime error results in your loop and you tell Excel to end execution rather than fixing the code and continuing. I’m not an expert on how Excel works in the background, but it appears that when you break execution, that breakpoint is written somewhere in memory. If you do multiple breaks, you may end up writing that breakpoint multiple times. For whatever reason, these breakpoint instructions aren’t cleared when you stop your code. My guess is, when you run your code again, Excel attempt to use an address in memory that still has a breakpoint instruction in it. How to fix it The most immediate fix is to save and then restart your computer. This will wipe out any data stored in your RAM. In addition, Dave left the following comment in response to this article: When the “Code execution has been interrupted” dialogue box appears hit debug and then hit ctrl break again (sometimes it you have to hit ctrl break more than once). This seems to reset what ever setting within excel was set after the first ctrl break. How to prevent it Try your best not to break execution while in a loop if you don’t need to. I realize however, that’s not realistic advice. So here’s what I do: I plan my loops accordingly. Before running a loop, I include a comment  above about my loop’s terminating condition. If I must press CTRL+BREAK during the loop, I never instruct Excel to END execution. Instead, I press Debug and in the line following the place execution has stopped, I write some code to help the loop terminate safely. For do/loop and while/wend loops, often this mean setting a Boolean condition to true or false. For for/next loops, this means setting the iterator to its max value. You can also do this for runtime errors. What NOT to do A few forums have suggested you add the following line to your code: Application. EnableCancelKey = xlDisabled This code will disable execution breaks in your code. That means, if you get caught in an endless loop, you won’t be able to use CTRL+BREAK stop it. Therefore, I strongly advice against use this approach. It doesn’t really solve the problem, it ignores it. And, you lose the ability halt all code execution. It’s not a good idea. What hasn’t really worked for me When I first encountered this error, I though maybe there was something wrong with the file. So I copied all the code into another file. I also used the various code cleaner products out there written by Excel MVPS. It’s my belief – and I could be wrong about this – these fixes have only appeared to work when I’ve also reset my computer concurrently. I don’t advise against your trying them, but I can’t say for sure if they really solved the problem. In my experience, properly handling breaks in loops is the best prevention. There was a problem sending the command to the program The problem You open an Excel file and the first thing you see is a message box that says “There was a problem sending the command to the program. ” Then the file does not open. This error appeared for me when I had some code that opened another spreadsheet. The code tested for certain items in the other spreadsheet. If a division by zero error occurred, I used the ON ERROR handler to close the other file and then close the current file running the code. Afterward, when I opened the current file again, I saw this popup. What I think is happening Again, I’m not an expert on what happens behind the scenes in Excel. However, when you open another file with Excel, Microsoft appears to take advantage of something called the Dynamic Data Exchange, which is what Office applications use to communicate to one another. While handling my error, I never actually cleared the error out, I just told Excel to save and quit. Because of this, some error instruction was written into this file’s memory – and when I open the file again, the error persisted. How to fix it The most immediate fix is to do a clean start of Excel, and then to deselect Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) from Excel’s options menu. If you have Excel 2010 or 2013, you can find this item by clicking File > Options > Advanced tab > General section. For Excel 2007, click the Office Button > Excel Options > Advanced tab > General section. How to prevent it If you are handling errors, make sure to use Err. Clear in your error handler. Don’t let Excel close without handling and clearing all runtime errors. In fact, don’t do what I did: don’t use ON ERROR to handle errors you can anticipate. Test for those instead. Use ON ERROR for errors you can’t anticipate.   What NOT to do If you encounter this problem in your spreadsheet, make sure you understand what’s causing the error, even if it doesn’t happen very often. The fix above will allow you to once again open the file. But make sure to investigate the root cause, and try your best to make sure all potential errors are handled. I’ve seen Excel add-ins that instruct users who’ve had to perform a forced-shutdown of Excel that the method above is the “fix” to the problem. I suppose not all errors are foreseeable, but preventing forced shutdowns should be a primary goal of any product. What hasn’t really worked for me In this case, restarting my computer didn’t seem to provide any relief. --- ### Excel Fortune Cookie (…in bed?) - Published: 2013-05-12 - Modified: 2013-05-12 - URL: https://excel.tv/excel-fortune-cookie-in-bed/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Here’s a fun little fortune cookie program. The fortunes are generated from a list of random words. I developed four different grammars for the fortunes, which you can find in the backend data. (Is “grammars” the right word? I’m not sure. ) Some of the fortunes, like the one above, seem to make sense. Here are a few I’ve captured, which appear thoughtful and humorous, perhaps even poetic. The ugliest way finds evil. If you satisfy this empty girl generously, you are the one who ... does it even matter? . Who wants the answer to be 42? The mammoth formula does! Who finds true love? The beautiful water does! The easy government gives up now. Want the story now? Reluctantly face your family. Most fortunes, however, come out as nonsense. For example: Want the head now? Frenetically melt the day. That’s great advice. Feeling lucky? You should. Fortune Cookie. xlsx (If the file doesn’t download immediately from Google drive, press the black down arrow in the upper left of the screen, under the menu. ) --- ### The Excel Lab: Soundex Search - Published: 2013-05-04 - Modified: 2022-07-22 - URL: https://excel.tv/the-excel-lab-soundex-search/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Every once in a while, I have a spreadsheet that sits in my ‘lab’ for way too long. At a certain point, I have to admit that I’m never going to finish it completely or do a full blog post on it. I’ve decided just to release one such spreadsheet as is. Perhaps you will be the one to carry it forward? (or, write to tell me I’ve wasted my time? ) Soundex Search I while ago, I read about a phonetic algorithm called Soundex. Soundex is useful (well, there’s some argument about that) for searching through a list of surnames while compensating for common misspellings in those names. Using a dummy dataset and UDF developed by Richard Yanco, I created the following: As the animation demonstrates, you can type in your search term into the ActiveX textbox and both the listbox and graph will automatically update to show you relevant search results and corresponding values. I’ve added some additional search functionality beyond Soundex as well. For each name in the dataset, I’ve assigned a random value to plot. I’m rather unconvinced of the usefulness of this. I’ll put it you to see if you have any luck with it. For what it’s worth, the mechanism is formula driven. I didn’t use VBA except to set the original Soundex values for each surname (which, you could also probably do without VBA if you were so inclined. ) Download the source file: soundex. xlsm --- ### Directly link Excel form controls to backend data with dynamic references - Published: 2012-12-24 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/directly-link-excel-form-controls-to-backend-data-with-dynamic-references/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Form controls are great for reporting information about groups of items, like a list of programs or accounts. They are often used on Excel dashboards and reports that demand interactive capabilities. One such type of capability provides the user with a list of items to choose from. When the user makes a selection, a macro is executed that populates a table holding referenced values. Those values are linked to a series of form controls on the frontend. This interactivity is displayed below:Step 1Step 2Step 3There is a final step, which I haven't included. The user would make changes to the project under the Options table. They would press a "Save" button and their changes would be copied from the Linked Values table back onto the backend data in the column corresponding to the selected project using VBA. The No-VBA wayThere's nothing wrong with this method in and of itself, but I want to propose a method that requires no VBA. The advantage of this new method is that it links directly to the data itself and bypasses the need for the Linked Values table.  We can do this by allowing the form controls to take advantage of dynamic references. Typically, form controls can only do direct, absolute references. You cannot, for example, use As you can see from the picture, I use the fourth row to connect to checkbox Stage 4 and the selection value to inform Excel to pull from the fourth column in the backend data (which is Project 4, if you recall). Finally, I can simply link these named ranges to their associated checkboxes:Using this method, changes to the checkbox automatically change the backend data. There is no intermediate table required -- like the Linked Values table above -- to interface between the frontend and the backend. That's all for now - have a happy and health holiday season! Update 25 December:Make sure to see the download file - Direct Links. xlsm. --- ### Handling Rollover Clicks Without Using the Worksheet_SelectionChange Event - Published: 2012-09-20 - Modified: 2018-06-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/handling-rollover-clicks-without-using-the-worksheet_selectionchange-event/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba You probably noticed a "bug" while playing around with my Interactive Periodic Table of Elements in Excel. When you click down into the Table of Elements (or really, anywhere on the sheet), one of the chemical classifications will become "selected," despite your not having clicked on it directly. This happens because I've used the ScrollArea property to set the clickable bounds of the spreadsheet to just the range containing the chemical classifications. When you click on one of those classifications, Excel handles the "click" through the Worksheet_SelectionChange event. So even if you don't click into any part of the clickable area defined by the Worksheet's ScrollArea property, Excel can still fire the Worksheet_SelectionChange event. And then there's this other bug, too: If you try to click on one of those classifications more than once (without clicking onto something else first), you'll notice that nothing happens. This is because your "selection" hasn't changed (that black selector is still in the same spot). Such are the problems when using the Worksheet_SelectionChange to handle rollover interactions. So the fix? Don't use the Worksheet_SelectionChange. As Chandoo demonstrates in his One race, Every medalist ever – Interactive Excel Visualization article, the rollover UDF can take ranges as input parameters. Take a look at this sample UDF below:Public Function RolloverSelection(Index As Integer, curRange As Range)'... .   End FunctionNotice that the second parameter will take a range as its argument. That means on my Excel spreadsheet, in cell D5, I could write something like this cell for my rollover formula:=IFERROR(HYPERLINK(RolloverSelection(2,D5),4),4)See that highlighted portion? I'm just passing in a reference to the cell that holds the formula. Ok, so where am I going with all of this? Well, remember that whenever we click on a "clickable" cell (that is, a cell allowed within the desired ScrollArea), the black selector changes. But how then do we find if the the selector has changed its location? We use the Selection object, of course! Thus, to test if the user has clicked onto one of our rollovers, we simply test if the address of the curRange (that's D5 above) is the same as the address of the selector. In other words:Public Function RolloverSelection(Index As Integer, curRange As Range)      'Do other stuff here          If curRange. Address = Selection. Address Then              'Handle clicks inside of here      End IfEnd FunctionUsing the above function, we are able to fix both problems described that stem from using the Worksheet_SelectionChange event. In addition, we provide an even more robust mechanism for handling user clicks. ***So here's the funny story surrounding this post. I was updating a dashboard I had worked on previously this year. As I was trying to become once again acclimated to my previous work, I couldn't understand how my code was handling user clicks. There was no code in my Worksheet_SelectionChange. So after some investigation, I saw the code above and it all came back to me. But holy crap, I must have been on something. I didn't even remember to use it for the Periodic Table of Elements.  Sheesh.   --- ### Interactive Periodic Table of Elements in Excel - Published: 2012-06-21 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/interactive-periodic-table-of-elements-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Power Query & Data Cleaning I've been on a real rollover kick lately. I'm really trying to figure out if it can be useful. Earlier today I started making a Periodic Table of Elements using Excel. I employed the rollover technique to allow the user to gain information about an element simply by rolling over a cell. Well, for some reason, I couldn't stop there. So what was meant to be a small project ballooned into something larger. Unfortunately, my sticking to good coding practice didn't keep up with craving to do more. So what I present to you below isn't really a polished product. If you poke through the named ranges and the rollover indexes, you'll probably see that I add and subtract one to them somewhat randomly (a cheap trick - this is  due to my trying to reconcile the table copied from Wikipedia with my indices). As you can see below (sorry for the graininess of the recorder--be sure to download it to get the full effect), you can not only gain information about an element but you can also toggle on and off different element groupings. If you want to "crack" the file, the first thing you'll need to do is reset the ScrollArea (Click on a cell. Go to the Developer tab, click Properties. Delete the reference in the ScrollArea box. ). Then just unhide everything. Good luck. Periodic Table. xlsmUpdate -Reader Dario found an error in the spreadsheet (see the comments) - this is the result of some carelessness and cheap tricks on my part. An updated version will be released tonight. In the meantime however, you can still poke around the file :). Another Update -I've since fixed the bug described in the reader comments. If you find anything else, let me know! --- ### How to: highlighting cells using the rollover technique in Excel - Published: 2012-06-20 - Modified: 2018-06-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-highlighting-cells-using-the-rollover-technique-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba In my last post I used my patented rollover technique to create an effect similar to the one shown below:Neat, huh? When you place your mouse over a cell, it changes color to show that you are selecting it. It's a true "rollover": no mouse-clicks required. In my last post, I show how that might be useful. Wondering how I did it? Checkout this file:Rollover Surprise. xlsm --- ### Easy One-Way Sensitivity Analysis on Weighted Sum Models in Excel (Part 1) - Published: 2012-04-15 - Modified: 2012-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/easy-one-way-sensitivity-analysis-on-weighted-sum-models-in-excel-part-1/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks This article describes what I like to call "Easy One Way Sensitivity Analysis" in Excel.  I've used it before in several dashboards.  If you want to try it out for yourself before reading ahead, both Healthcare dashboards on the Fun Downloads page implement my Easy One Way Sensitivity Analysis method.  Here's a pic of one of those dashboards:Above, you can use the scroll bars to change the weights for each given metric.  As you change one weight, the others change proportionally, just as you would expect with one-way sensitivity analysis.  In Part 1, I discuss how to build the structure that drives this functionality.  In Part 2, I'll discuss how to put it on your dashboard. Below I begin with a review of sensitivity analysis and weighted-sum models.  If you'd like, you can skip the review and go right to the instructions, here. ReviewThe title of this article may seem like a mouthful, but don’t let the technical words fool you.  It’s likely you’ve seen this stuff before. Imagine, for a moment, you are evaluating the healthcare systems of different nations.  After considerable research and many hours with healthcare experts, you decide there are five key criteria you will use to evaluate each nation’s system.  They are:Health level - a measure on the overall health of a countryHealth distribution - a measure of how equally healthcare resources (above) are distributed across the countryResponsiveness - a measure of the speed of health services, doctor’s choice, amenities, etc. Responsiveness distribution - a measure of how equally healthcare responsiveness (above) is allocated across the countryFinancial fairness - a measure of how citizens in each country “fairly” distribute the financial burden of the healthcare systemNot every metric is equal, however.  And, after some careful thought, you decide that each criterion should be weighted by a proportion of its importance to the overall performance of each system.  The weights are as follows:This model may not look familiar, but, in fact, it’s the very same criteria and weights used in the landmark World Health Organization study, World Health Report 2000: Health Systems, Improving Performance, which assigned a rank to 191 different countries based on the performance of their healthcare systems.   Indeed, this model is used in many published rankings. It works like this: you define the key metrics about the subject you want to investigate and assign each a weight.  You then collect data about each metric resulting in an overall score for that metric. For example, you could collect surveys from healthcare professionals ranking their healthcare networks on a scale from 1 to 10 and then average the results (I'm simplifying a bit). Finally, you would multiply each metric by its associated weight then sum those products together to come up with an overall score. If you understand me so far, then you get the weighted-sum model. In the published rankings above, the weighted sum model is used to evaluate many different countries. Broadly, you’re simply investigating a resultant list of alternatives whose scores follow directly from the importance of each input defined in the first step. As such, you may want to investigate how changing the importance of inputs impacts the overall score. This is called sensitivity analysis. One-Way Sensitivity AnalysisOne simple, if powerful, sensitivity analysis method is to vary only one weight at a time while maintaining the proportional importance of the other weights. This is called one-way sensitivity analysis and it works like this:Say I want to test what happens if I increase Health Level by 4%.  First, lets divide the weights into two theoretical groups,The rule here is that each group must always sum to 100%. So, if we add 4% to Health Level, we have to subtract it from the other group. Now that the overall sum of the "other group" has changed, the weights that make up that group are adjusted while maintaining the same proportion to the group's sum as they did before.  First we find the proportion... Then multiply by the new group weight... Finally,... our weights again add up to 100. 0%Easy One-Way Sensitivity Analysis in ExcelThe above method may appear daunting, but we can make Excel do most of the work for us. I call my "easy" because it's both straight-forward and requires no VBA to implement.  However, it has some limitations that will become clear by the end. Step 1 - Set up your calculations tableThis is how I set up my calculations tab tab:Note that I have my weights listed on the left side.  I'm given some space between my weights and my score table.  Note, too, that I have all the multiplication set up.  You'll likely want a similar layout. Of course, to save some time, you can download the workbook above with the layout already set up (use the Example tab). Step 2 - Insert Form Control Scroll Bars, One for Each Weight Go to the Developer tab.  Select Insert > Form Control Scroll bar.  (If you don't see the Developer tab on your Excel screen, you'll need to enable it. ) Insert five different scroll bars below the weights table.  Or, better yet, insert one, then copy and paste. Step 3 - Link each Scroll Bar Insert a new column between columns B and C.  Put a new heading in the new column titled "Linked Weight. "  We want to link each scroll bar to a metric so that we can use the scroll bars to change the weights.  To link a scroll bar to a value on a sheet, right click on the left-most scroll bar and select Format Control.  In the Cell link field, select the cell that will hold the current value of the scroll bar. You will also need to set Minimum Value to 1. From the left-most scroll bar to the right, you'll want to link them to cells starting C3 all the way down to C7. Once the cells have been linked, go ahead and click the down arrows on each scroll bar. You should see the values change as you scroll down. This will also allow you to double-check that each scroll bar is associated with the correct cell. Step 4 - Adjust Each ValueWe have a small problem: the scroll bars increase their cell's values when scrolling down. While there's nothing wrong with that per se, it's counter intuitive to how we think. For our purposes, we'd like the action of scrolling up to actually increase the resulting value and scrolling down to decrease. So we need to adjust the values on the spreadsheet to reflect this preference. Insert another column between C and D.  Name it "Adjusted Weights. "  In each cell next to the Linked Weights, you will take the cell to its left and subtract 100 (the max value of the scroll bar).  You can do this with a formula like the one shown below. Play around with the scroll bars. Note that the adjusted weights now increase and decrease intuitively. Step 5 - Sum and Define ProportionsAt the bottom of the Adjusted Weight column, add a SUM cell. Now you will overwrite the values in your Final Weights column.  For each cell in Final Weight, you will divide the cell to its left (in the Adjusted Weight column) by the total sum you've just calculated.  Use the formula below as a guide. At this point you're finished with Part 1. If you play around with the scroll bars, you will see that you can change the weight of one criteria at a time, while maintaining the proportionality of the others. The final scores update automatically! The scroll bars also adjust the location of the selector (that little gray bar) accordingly. LimitationsAs you may have already noticed, the scroll bars appear to have a limit. (Scroll one of them to its maximum value to see what I mean. ) For some applications, this limitation isn't a real problem; but you may create a model where the "easy" method is not useful. Additionally, because we use formulas to derive the final weights, you can't type a desired weight into the Final Weights column without breaking part of the scroll bar mechanism. (But you can fix this problem with some VBA. )In Part 2, we'll talk about putting this structure into a dashboard layout. Download the fileOne Way Sensitivity Analysis. xlsx --- ### Change the Font Size, Color, and Style of an Excel Form Control Label - Published: 2012-04-05 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/change-the-font-size-color-and-style-of-an-excel-form-control-label/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Anyone who has used a Form Control Label likely knows its limitations: you can't increase the font-size, -color, or style.  Below, you can see that these formatting items have been "grayed out" in the Font group on the Excel Ribbon. To be sure, the Label control has received a lot of flack for these deficiencies.  A look through some Excel forums shows suggestions to use a TextBox shape or an ActiveX Label instead of the hapless Label control. It's a tragedy since the other form controls are lightweight and easy to use. Some forum posters even said Labels are best used to cover cells you don't want the user to click. So sad.   But things are looking up.  I've since discovered you can take a boring Label Control from this... ... to this! How? As it turns out, Labels take on the text-font and -size features of a referenced cell.  So, to make my label look this this, I simply linked it to a pre-formatted cell, like G2, below. In fact, this is the same mechanism to link a Textbox shape to a cell.  The difference here is that a Textbox can take an unformatted cell and apply new formatting on the front-end, when it's displayed to the user.  Above, we see that the cell must first be formatted, then linked.  In fact, whatever formatting exists in the cell when you first make the link, the label will maintain this format until a new link is created.  For example, if I were to change G2 to a black color and a smaller font, the label would not show these new changes (however, it would change its text if I changed the value in G2 to something else).   So to change the Label's formatting -- even when it's linked to the same cell -- you'll need to click the label, click the formula bar, and retype the cell link.  Admittedly, everyone else might have already figured this one out.  However, I'm still very excited.  Don't get me wrong, Textbox Shapes are great, but having too many could become expensive on your spreadsheet, especially if you are constantly updating the screen (how many redraws can your computer handle before things start to slow? ).  Labels, as Form Controls, inherently carry less bloat and overhead.  They're perfect for dynamic dashboards.   --- ### Numbering Grouped Data for Pivot Tables - Published: 2012-03-22 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/numbering-grouped-data-for-pivot-tables/ - Categories: Excel Power Pivot, Pivot Tables & Data Analysis We've all had some experience with Excel's automatic numbering.  For example, if you have a simple list and you would like to add consecutive numbers to a column next to your data, you'd simply select the cells containing your first two numbers and then drag accordingly.  Take a look at the sheet below to see an example. But real-world lists aren't always so simple.  And for certain data, a simple consecutive list just won't do.  Sometimes we receive spreadsheets that have some type of intrinsic grouping but no unique group identifier. The challenge is that we would really like to apply Pivot Tables to this data, but we can't do anything until there exists some type of group identifier. Problem #1: Items grouped without collationTake a look at the datasheet below from my nonexistent accounting information system. Because I'm smart(ish), I know that a new group begins every third row of data.  The first three rows of data (Excel rows 2,3, and 4) represent store 1, the next three store 2, and so forth.  I would like to add an additional group_id column such that each grouping is numbered consecutively.  Something like this:How?  I use this formula, =INT((ROW-2)/3) + 1then fill downward.  This works by applying integer division in the amount of each item in a group to the current row.  So, for row 3, we have =INT((ROW-2)/3) -> =INT((3-2)/3) - > =INT(1/3) -> = INT(0. 33) = 0.  (If it's been a while since your last algebra class, just think of it as dividing and then "rounding down" the result. )I add one ("+ 1") at the end of the formula so that my grouping doesn't start at zero.  That's optional. Notice though, that I subtract 2 because my data starts on row 2.  If I had started on row 1, I would likewise subtract 1; for row 3, subtract 3.  Here's a cheat sheet:For Items Grouped Without Collation=INT((ROW-First row of data on spreadsheet) /# Items per Group) optional  Problem #2: Items grouped with collationIn the following spreadsheet, we've culled information from many different spreadsheets maintained by many different people. The problem is that each spreadsheet administrator used a different naming convention for the same account (see the highlighted accounts).  And take a look at the final Retained Earnings and note that it is labeled "  RE. "  Those extra spaces can creep into the spreadsheet and easily go unnoticed.  What a nightmare. But wait, our list has some semblance of order: accounts can be grouped every sixth row.  We just need to group each item, one through five, until the end of the list.  Like so,How?  With this formula,=MOD(ROW - 2,5) + 1This should look familiar to the one above.  But instead of using integer division, we're now using modulo division; that is, we're interested in the remainder.  Take row 3=MOD(ROW-2, 5)+1 -> =MOD(3-2, 5)+1  - > =MOD(1, 5)+1  -> = 1+1 =2. Here's the cheat sheet:For Items Grouped With Collation=MOD((ROW-First row of data on spreadsheet,# Items per Group) optional  Final Thoughts1.  Once you've created your new group_id column, it's a good idea to select your new work, copy, and then paste as values.  If the groupings aren't going to change later, there's no reason to keep it as a formula.  Remember, fewer formulas means better Excel performance -- especially if you plan to use a Pivot Table later. 2.  If you're not into the numbering scheme, create a lookup table that maps the numbers to a proper name.  Create another column at the front of your data and use a lookup method, like Index, to map the correct names.  Then do a copy/paste values. 3. If you have a list scheme you use quite often, you can actually save it as a --- ### Truncating Long Text to Fit into Cells - Published: 2012-03-21 - Modified: 2018-06-27 - URL: https://excel.tv/truncating-long-text-to-fit-into-cells/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba Have you had a list of names but found your cell width too small to show every name?  Take a look at this:I had my nonexistent secretary print out this fake itinerary for me.  Nothing lines up neatly.  Look how some of my events overlap the cell boundary between columns B and C.  My 2012 End-of-world Steering Committee meeting on February 1st, 2013 goes long and is then cut-off by the date! To fix this, you could have Excel automatically size Column B, but that's a bit unpredictable to have on a dashboard (what if other content is sized off the screen? ).  We'll just have to accept that we can't show everything, but we can make it look neater.  We'll employ some type of text truncation method similar to what Microsoft uses to display the names of files in Windows Explorer: if the text to be displayed is greater than a certain character length, simply truncate and add a "... ". The "Original Recipe" MethodFirst thing we'll need to do is figure out how many characters we'll want to display before truncation.  There's really no way to do this without trial and error. But, to make life easier, we can use=LEN("Your Text Here")to return the length of yourtext; or, we can use something like  =LEFT(B3, 4)to return the first four characters of text in cell B3.  Keep trying until you find a good character length.  Hopefully, you got a good handle on usingLENandLEFTabove because we'll be using them from here on out.  Also, I'm going to use 25 characters as my desired character length before truncation.  Below I use LEFT to pull the first 25 characters from each event name. Now we'll need to know which names to add the "... " to.  Following ExcelHero's discussion on using IFs, we'll avoid using one here; not to worry, we don't really need it. As it turns out,LEFTcan take a zero value character length -- it just returns nothing.  So to have Excel automatically return what we want, we'll do this:=LEFT("... ",LEN(B3)>25)Take a look at that second argument on the right.  It takes the length of our event name and tests if it's greater than our cutoff length of 25.  If it's less than 25, Excel will return a zero and display nothing.  If it's greater than the cutoff, Excel will return a 1 and display the first character in our text.  But there's something I found out while writing this tutorial, I expected Excel to only return one period (". "), but instead it returns all three ("... ") even if you only put a 1 in on the right.  I'm guessing that the ellipses are treated as one character; however, I'm dubious that this works in every case on every computer, so to have your formula return three characters or zero, you'll simply change it to:=LEFT("... ",(LEN(B3)>25) * 3)Now you'll need to concatenate both strings together using the concatenation operator,&. Finally, as you can see in cell, H7, there is a space between the event name and the ellipses.  This is because the last character before the cutoff was a space.  To fix this, surround the first string formula with theTRIMfunction; this will automatically delete any leading or ending spaces.  Putting it all TogetherTo finish, we'll combine all our steps into one formula, like so:=TRIM(LEFT(B3,25)) & LEFT("... ",LEN(B3)>25)To get:... mmmmmmuch better! Download my example: Spillover Design Example. xlsx --- ### A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel (part 2) - Published: 2012-03-16 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/a-dynamic-dashboard-for-project-durations-and-costs-in-excel-part-2/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports In the last post, A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel, we talked about using VLOOKUP as means to map references to their costs.  At the end of the post, I admitted that I didn't really like the solution.  Specifically, I didn't like how the user had to type in each reference manually and then go back and ensure their numbers were correct (for example, if execution is nine months long, the user would need to ensure they type the number 2, nine times).  In this post, we'll talk about how to automate this process.  When we're finished, you'll only need to type the number 9 into a box and the rest will update automatically.  The Advanced MethodStep 1: Use the REPT formulaThe REPT formula (short for "Repeat") allows you to repeat a character a certain amount of times.  For example, if A1 has the formula =REPT("A", 6), then A1 will display the value "AAAAAA. "  Now think about how that might be useful here.  We could simply input the number "6" for IT Services in the Execution phase and Excel will generate a reference string "222222. "Consider below:In this case, =REPT(C$11$, C3) is telling Excel to repeat the value 1 (our reference to planning) a total of two times.  In other words,  =REPT(C$11$, C3) -> =REPT("1", 2) -> 11.  (Remember, "11" is two 1's, not eleven. )Step 2: Create the reference stringNow concatenate each string reference (using the concatenation operator "&") to form the entire reference string.   Step 3: Read from the reference string using the MID formula into your References TableThe MID formula allows you to take a string and read its characters starting from a specific position to a certain character length.  For example, =MID("Jordan",2,2) returns "or" since the first 2 tells Excel pull from the second character in "Jordan" and the second two tells Excel the amount of characters to return.  For our purposes, we'll only need to return one month at a time.  And since our reference table incidentally uses numbers for months, we'll reuse those numbers to tell the MID formula our desired character position.  When you supply a character position greater than the character length of the given text string, MID simply returns nothing.  Above, we tell Excel to take the corresponding reference string for IT Services and use Month 1 to pull from position one in the reference string. Fill in the information going across, then down.  Consider what we've done so far.  Now when you change the information in your Months in Step table, the reference strings change, which makes updates to the Reference Table automatically!   Step 4: Convert references to numbers in your Values TableWe have a small problem. Our Reference Table may be displaying the correct information, but it's actually displaying the information as text and not a number (this is because we used String formulas above, which work on and return text).  If we try to add the the numbers for the IT Services row in our Reference Table above, the result will actually be zero since, despite appearances, no numbers actually exist in the row.  Luckily, the fix is simple.  We'll use the VALUE formula to convert the strings back to numbers.       Step 5: Ditch In this case, we need only use the INDEX formula.  The INDEX formula allows us to pull from a specific row and/or column in specified range.  For example, we could take the last column above and use the numbers in our Reference Table to identify the desired row.  Take a look below:The Values Table uses 1 in the References Table to pull from the first row of our lookup.  Step 6: Use IFERROR for months with zero valuesAnother small problem.  The INDEX formula above is reading in blank values and returning errors!  You'll need to tell Excel to return $0 for those months.  To do so, you'll use the IFERROR formula.  IFERROR works by attempting to execute a given formula; if the formula returns an error, IFERROR will direct Excel to return another value instead of an error. Take a look: Step 7: Sum the Values Table, then graphSummaryHopefully that wasn't too bad.  I wanted to show how many different formulas can interact to create an automated dashboard.  Of course, you could tighten some formulas up.  For example, instead of using VALUES, you could simply use the "--".  And, you could even do away with the IFERROR by retooling your lookup table.  I'll leave that up to you.  Something to try... Use the reference table and conditional formatting to create a gannt chart! We're still missing some desired functionality.  Wouldn't it be neat to be able to set the date when each project begins?  We'll talking about that in Part 3.  Don't miss the riveting, final conclusion! Download the example file: Dynamic Duration Example. xlsx --- ### A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel - Published: 2012-03-15 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/a-dynamic-dashboard-for-project-durations-and-costs-in-excel/ - Categories: Excel Power BI, Dashboards & Reports Make sure to checkout A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel (part 2) for the example file! Let’s say you are the manager of a portfolio of projects at your company.  While each project under your aegis is different, they have a few things in common; specifically – and for the sake of our example – they all go through (or, are currently in) three different phases, and each phase has a different cost per month, but the cost doesn’t differ between each project.  In our example, the phases are:Phase NameCost of each stage per month1. Planning$250/month2. Execution$500/month3. Maturity$125/monthThe idea is to capture both the cost in any given month and the overall cost over the life of the project.  For example, you have an IT Upgrades project in your portfolio.  You think that you will spend two months in Planning, nine months in Execution, and one month in Maturity after which the project will be closed.  Thus, the overall cost of your project is expected to be,Planning @ two months: 2 months * $250 $/month  = $500Execution @ nine months: 9 months * $500 $/month = $4500Maturity @ one month: 1 month * $125 $/month = $125Planning + Execution + Maturity =  $500 + $4500 + $125 = $5125The problem is that each project is different.  One project might spend more time in the first phase than the other.  Moreover, for some projects you have a good idea of how long they will stay in each phase, and for some you are a bit less sure.  Boy, you say, wouldn't it be nice to change how long a project stays in each phase to compare costs.  Wouldn't it be nice to see it on a chart?  Let's see what we can do. Using a VLOOKUP might seem like an obvious choice for our solution.  Here's how to do it.   The Dynamic Step 2: Create a Reference TableThe Reference Table is a time-series table that holds the numerical references to your VLOOKUP table.  If IT Services has two months of Planning, then the Reference Table will show two 1's in the first two months, respectively. Step 3: Create a Values Table to map each reference to its monthly cost using VLOOKUPNow, you'll make another table that is essentially a mirror image of your Reference Table. This table, however, maps each reference to the correct cost.  So, for Month 1 in the Values Table, VLOOKUP will use the corresponding reference (1) in the Reference Table to indicate the project is in the Planning phase and the associated cost is $250. Step 4: Sum the Values Table, then graphSummaryOur dynamic VLOOKUP method works: the manager (that's us) can replace the values in the Reference Table to update how long a project stays in each phase.  We would simply repeat numbers in the Reference Table in the amount of months a project is in a particular phase.  Our Values Table automatically updates based on each change. So here's the thing.  I don't like this method at all.  For one, we need a VLOOKUP in for every month, for every program.  Our example only displayed a few projects in a small time frame, but the real world might have many projects over many years!  That's a real problem because VLOOKUPs can become computationally expensive as our spreadsheet grows. And there's another problem, too.  The manager – that's us, remember – must hand-jam the references in for every month. What if there are many years to account for?  We could Copy/Paste to make life easier, but this method is so very, very error-prone.  There should be a way for us to simply enter the months a project is in a given phase and have Excel automatically generate all the required reference information. Let's talk about how to do that in the next post. If you're having trouble with the work above, take some time to see if you can recreate your own version in Excel.  Even if you have followed everything so far, consider the VLOOKUP method and the importance of using numeric references.  They will play a very key role in part 2.  -----Now Available: A Dynamic Dashboard for Project Durations and Costs in Excel (part 2) --- ### Toward a Proper Excel Filename Style - Published: 2012-03-07 - Modified: 2023-04-15 - URL: https://excel.tv/toward-a-proper-excel-filename-style/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks - Tags: optionexplicitvba Most importantly, use your wordsAn ideal Excel filename should be two or three succinct words and contain few numbers. Current operating systems no longer constrain filename character length, so there is neither excuse for nor cleverness in using shorthand. Capitalize each word as you would a document title.     Only abbreviate proper nounsIf your file is an example to someone, it should have the full word “Example” not “ex” in its title. If your Excel dashboard is the second version of the “Cost Analysis and Reporting System” you may abbreviate your filename to “CARS v2. xlsx,” but a VBA Chart Tutorial should never be named “VB ChrtTut. xlsm. ”Always connect words with a space and nothing elseThe name of your file is not a programming variable or engineering quantity. The words in your filename should not be connected with underscores (“_”) nor dashes (“-“). Use clear dates, but don’t include dates in every filenameUnless your file is a report that comes out on a specific, periodic schedule, there’s likely not a good reason to put today’s date in your filename. If you must put a date in your file, place the date at the beginning, left-hand side of the filename so it appears first. This ensures the date is not cut off when viewed in a file explorer. Dated files are likely to be stored with similar files in the same folder, so cutting off the last bit of each filename on the right is less harmful than cutting off the date. If the workbook is a monthly report, the name should by the three character month followed by the year, then another space for the filename (e. g. “May 2012 Cost Report”). For reports that occur more frequently, a MM-DD-YYYY is preferable for sorting within the file directory.  \However, dates must always be clear; do not write “03-12” as this could mean March 12 or March 2012. Finally, full dates should not be clumped together without a dash (bad: “03122012”). Numbers are preferable to datesIf you have several iterations of a file, use a numbering system instead of dates. Using dates leads to the horrible practice of adding extra numbers at the end of the filename. For example: “InventoryList 22 Feb 2001_1. xlsx”, “InventoryList 22 Feb 2001_2. xlsx” ... etc.  Moreover, using dates and the former practice will not instantly make clear the latest version of your file when viewed in a file directory. However, placing a number at the end of your filename (“Inventory List 1. xlsx”, “Inventory List 2. xlsx”) always will make clear the latest (and first) iteration of the file whether sorted by filename, file type, or date modified when viewed in a directory (these files will always be either first or last). Numbers always should appear as the last character on the right. --- ### One Size Fits All Excel Dashboard - Published: 2011-10-19 - Modified: 2023-04-29 - URL: https://excel.tv/one-size-fits-all/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks Anyone who has a made a dashboard in Excel before has probably experienced this problem: a dashboard that fits nicely on your screen but not so nicely on your client’s. Yes, it’s the age old problem of differing monitors, resolutions, font-sizes and other settings that make what looks great on your screen look too small or too big on another’s. I’ve seen a few ideas to get around this problem that include resizing the spreadsheet controls to resizing the Excel window. Here’s my idea. Most likely, your current Dashboard is already zoomed to its “best view. ” By that I mean your current spreadsheet is at the proper zoom level such that your dashboard is displayed most effectively. If it’s not, go ahead and set it to the optimal zoom for your screen. Use the picture below as a guide for your dashboard and adjust the zoom levels (down in the lower-right corner) accordingly. In this next step you’ll want to take note of the columns spanning your screen. Above, you’ll see that I’ve selected columns “A1:Z1,” but left the final column, “AA1” unselected. I would suggest highlighting all except for the last column as I did above—when we are finished, the last column will act as a nice margin. Jot down your selection; we’ll be using it in a moment. Fire up the Visual Basic editor. Since we want our Dashboard to be in the correct view whenever someone opens the file (otherwise, what’s the use? ) we’re going to add some code to be executed right when the workbook is first opened. In the upper-left hand corner of the Visual Basic Editor you’ll see a box labeled Project, which contains your Microsoft Excel objects. Double click ThisWorkbook—the workbook object belonging to our project. In the code window, select “Workbook” from the object dropdown on the left. Then select the “Open” method from the method dropdown on the right. The Workbook_Open procedure should appear on the screen as shown below. Now enter the following code into your new procedure. Remember the range I said to jot down for later? Use that range in the quotes as I have for “A1:Z1. ” Now to see if our code actually works! Go back to the spreadsheet and, for testing purposes, zoom really far out to a level that your dashboard should never go. Now save and quit. (Make sure you save it as a . xlsm macro enabled workbook. ) Open your dashboard! Neat, huh? If you want to make your dashboard super snazzy, take the row selection you jotted down above and do Merge and Center on it. Now add a nice title to it for a nifty dashboard banner. --- There are a few things I should mention. The user might have to hit “Enable Macros” before the code takes effect, but there’s not a ton you can do about that. And if Excel wasn’t closed correctly on a previous use, that box showing unsaved files will most likely appear and your dashboard, left with less screen real estate, will probably not zoom correctly. Finally, sometimes Excel will not open to a maximized state – but you can fix this with some VBA code. I’ve found this to be a good workaround in my projects– but I haven’t worked with every different client computer, either. Let me know what you guys think – was this useful? How do you get around displaying the same thing on different screens? --- ### How to Create a Rollover Effect in Excel: Execute a Macro When Your Mouse is over a Cell - Published: 2011-04-09 - Modified: 2011-04-09 - URL: https://excel.tv/how-to-create-a-rollover-effect-in-excel-execute-a-macro-when-your-mouse-is-over-a-cell/ - Categories: Excel Tips & Tricks "Rollover B8 OV1" (like Rollover Beethoven... ? get it? )Update 17 July 2011: This blog entry was featured in Chandoo's latest post. So if you're coming here from his site -- welcome! original post:This post was inspired by Chandoo's post on hyperlinks in Excel. If you haven't checked his website out yet - you should. It's excellent. In this post, I suggest a method for creating a "Rollover" effect for your mouse on an Excel spreadsheet. Rollover techniques (also called "Mouseovers") are useful to (1) display quick information to the user; (2) to execute a function when a user puts their mouse over a specific region; and (3) to make neat graphical effects. For item 1, my technique isn't really necessary. If you want to display brief information to the user when he or she rolls over a cell, the best way to do this is to insert a comment. But comments are pretty limited. You can only write so much information in a comment before it becomes too cluttered to be useful. Moreover, comments are static. What if you want the information concerning the "target" cell (that is, the cell to be rolled over) to change based on different items in your spreadsheet? We can use the in-cell Hyperlink formula to accomplish this. The Hyperlink formula looks like this: =Hyperlink(location, )location -Here you write the intended address of your hyperlink. This can be a webpage (i. e. "http://www. google. com") or a file on your computer. - This is an optional field that provides a caption to your hyperlink. If you leave it blank, it will simply display the address in the previous parameter. To begin our example, you'll need to create a User Defined Function (UDF) to be executed when the rollover event is initiated. So go into the Visual Basic Environment, create or find a free module and create a UDF that looks something like this. Public Function MyMouseOverEventSheet1. Range("A1"). Value = "Event Fired! "End FunctionI can understand if you're puzzled at this point. UDFs are not really allowed to change values in other cells. However, since we'll be calling this function from within the Hyperlink formula, you'll see this limitation no longer exists. So now go to Sheet1 and click on cell A2. In that cell, type in the following formula:=HYPERLINK(MyMouseOverEvent,"Click here")Upon hitting Enter, you should get a#VALUE! error, but ignore it for a second. Roll your mouse over cell A2 - and viola! - Cell A1 should now say "Event Fired! "But what about that pesky#VALUE! error? Remember the limitation that UDFs can't change other cells? Well, even though Excel let's you change a value from within your UDF, it still recognizes that it wasn't supposed to! To get rid of that error is pretty simple. Just rewrite the function in your cell as follows:=IFERROR(HYPERLINK(MyMouseOverEvent,"Click here"), "Click here")And that's it. If you like this technique and find some cool uses for it, drop me an email and show me. Here's some graphical fun I created using this technique. Putting the mouse inside the black rectangle creates a fading snake-like pattern based on your mouse movements. Check out the screen capture:Make sure to check out my latest (and greatest) example of this technique, here:Periodic Table of Elements in Excel: Rollover Edition! ---