10 of the Best Excel Tips To Optimize Your Use
Microsoft Excel has a variety of functions and tools for formatting, organizing, calculating, and arranging data sets. If your profession requires you to organize and handle data, following Excel tips can help you use the software to its full potential and better grasp its functionalities, whether you’re a novice or an expert user.
We present 10 Excel ideas in this post to help you optimize the program’s capabilities for your job.
What exactly is Excel?
Excel is a spreadsheet tool that may be used for data analysis and documentation. The spreadsheet is made up of rows and columns that overlap to form rectangles known as cells. Each cell can include information such as a word, phrase, or figure. Excel also allows you to include formulas to help you filter, organize, and gain more information from the data contained in each cell and across your spreadsheet.
Excel tips to help you get the most out of it
Here are some pointers to make your usage of Excel more efficient and effective:
1. Make use of the format painter.
The “format painter” tool in Excel allows you to easily apply a format or combination of formats to many cells. This is handy if you want content in select cells to be emphasized as well as color-coded. To utilize Format Painter, first pick the cell with the formatting you wish to replicate, then open the main menu and choose “Format Painter.” Then, just choose the cell where you want to paste the formatting and press the Enter key. Double-clicking the icon for multiple cells keeps it active until you deselect it.
2. Choose the whole spreadsheet.
You may need to make changes to a complete spreadsheet. Click the “Ctrl” and “A” keys to pick every single cell. This allows you to choose the complete spreadsheet rather than manually scrolling through it using your computer’s mouse.
3. Data Import
If you’re dealing with a more sophisticated piece of data, you may need to import it rather than copy and paste it. In Excel, accomplish this by going to the “Data” tab and then selecting the option to acquire external data. Then, as instructed on your screen, retrieve and import the data from the external source into your sheet.
4. Copy and paste into many cells
If you want to copy and paste the same information into many cells, pick the cells you want to paste the information into and add the information you want to copy to the last cell you select. Then, using the “Ctrl” and “Enter” keys, copy and paste the data from the previous cell. It then fills all of the cells you choose.
5. Display all formulae
You may operate in a position where you must frequently share spreadsheets with others. If you get a spreadsheet and wish to discover which formulae were used by the creator, go to the “Formulas” tab. Then, click the “Show formulas” button to see the formulas that others have created.
6. Rows and columns should be frozen.
Some spreadsheets might become more difficult to manage as you add more data to them. To rapidly retrieve the information you need, you may freeze specific rows and columns on your spreadsheet. To begin, go to the row or column on the spreadsheet that you wish to freeze. Then, on the “View” tab, choose “freeze panes” from the drop-down menu.
7. Recreate patterns.
If you want Excel to quickly reproduce a pattern, enter the first few figures of the pattern in separate cells in the relevant row or column. Then, choose the little square in the bottom right corner of the last cell. Drag the square to choose the cells you wish to move.
8. Make rows and columns invisible
When working on a spreadsheet, you may wish to conceal some columns that you aren’t presently working on to make more room. Hide rows or columns by choosing the header of the row or column to be frozen and heading to the “format” option from the main menu. Then, pick “hide columns” or “hide & unhide” before selecting “hide columns.”
9. Transfer data across spreadsheets by copying and pasting.
Depending on your function, you may be required to duplicate the same information or computation across many spreadsheets. Open both worksheets and press “Ctrl” while clicking on the tab of the worksheet where you wish to copy the information.
10. Take care of line breaks
Excel may be used for both numbers and letters, however writing phrases, sentences, or even whole words might take up more than one cell. You can avoid this by utilizing line breaks and wrapping your content to make your work simpler to read. To begin, choose the cell containing the text you wish to wrap, then click the “home” tab and then the “wrap text” button.
