Ms Office Tune Up

For you to make your MS Office work a lot harder, then you should read the following tips. This time I will list some Microsoft Excel tips to make your life easier

1. Bringing More Menus
By holding Shift as you click on menus, you can uncover a variety of hidden options, such as Close All, Save All, and Paste Picture. Some toolbar buttons also change behavior with the Shift key. For example, in Excel, the underline button becomes double underline, Align Left becomes Align Right, and Increase Decimal becomes Decrease Decimal.

2. One Page, One Chart
It’s often handy to embed a chart on a worksheet near the data to which it relates. But sometimes you may want to print the chart on a page by itself. To do this, select any part of the chart, choose File | Print, and the chart will print on a page by itself.

3. Validate Information
Excel’s Data Validation feature lets you limit the data that can be entered into a cell to what you specify as valid possibilities. For example, you can limit data to only whole numbers greater than 1,000. The Error alert you choose to use with the Data Validation rule has a significant bearing on whether or how easily invalid data can be entered. Only the Stop Style alert actually prevents invalid data being entered.
The other two options, Warning Style and Information Style, each warn that invalid data is about to be entered but allow the user to continue entering the data. The Warning Style option requires the user to select Yes to make the invalid entry. The Information Style option is less stringent, with a warning dialog that will accept the invalid data by default.

4. Custom Lists and Sorts
If you frequently enter the same data into a worksheet—a list of employee names, for example—you can speed up the process by creating a custom list. Choose Tools | Options and select the Custom Lists tab. Type the list in the List entries pane, one entry per line, and click on Add. You can also use the Import list from cells field to add a list that already appears in a workbook. Once you’ve created the list, you can type any of the list entries (one employee’s name, for example) in any cell and then drag the fill handle to fill the selected cells with the remainder of the list entries.
You can also use a list to sort data in a worksheet: Go to Data | Sort and select the column containing the list entries, choose Options, and then choose your custom list from the First key sort order drop-down menu.

5. Fast Formulas
Sometimes you need to copy a formula or data to a series of nonsequential cells. You can do this quickly without having to paste it into each cell individually. First copy the data from the source cell. Then hold down the Ctrl key as you click on each destination cell. Once all the cells are highlighted, you can paste the data by pressing Ctrl-V.
Similarly, you can type data into a series of cells. Again, while holding down the Ctrl key, click on all the cells you want to enter the text into. Next, type the text you are entering and then press Ctrl-Enter to add the text to all the selected cells.

6. Control Direction
Here’s a simple yet very handy tip. By default, the cell pointer moves down when you press Enter after entering data into a cell. But you can actually change the direction in which the cell pointer will move when you press Enter. Go to Tools | Options and go to the Edit tab. Check the box next to Move selection after Enter if it isn’t already enabled, and choose the direction you want the pointer to move in from the drop-down menu. When working in a document, you can make the pointer move in the opposite direction from the one you’ve chosen by holding down Shift while you press Enter.

7. Excel shortcut keys
Don’t get bogged down in Excel’s options and commands. Use this guide to its keyboard shortcuts to fly around the keyboard and get your work done without having to take your hands away to move the mouse all the time.

Ctrl+- Delete the current cell or selection
Ctrl+Shift++ Insert cell or selection
Ctrl+; Insert current date at the selected cell
Ctrl+Shift+; Insert current time at the selected cell
Ctrl+K Insert a hyperlink or web link
Ctrl+Tab Switch to the next worksheet in the workbook
Shift+F3 Open the formula window
F11 Create a chart
Ctrl+Space Select all of the current column
Shift+Space Select all of the current row
Ctrl+Shift+1 Format the current cell with commas
Ctrl+Shift+4 Format the current cell as currency
Ctrl+Shift+5 Format the current cell as a percentage
Ctrl+Arrow key Move to the next used cell in the direction of the arrow key
Ctrl+F Open the search box

Popularity: 3% [?]