With a whopping 750 million users, Microsoft Excel is super
popular around the world. Yet only a tiny proportion of people use this
powerful spreadsheet software to its fullest potential!
Are you trying to become a master of
spreadsheets and know the struggle? Want some pro advice to speed up the
process? Keep reading to learn 5 time-saving Excel tips and shortcuts.
1.
Leverage Templates
There’s no point recreating the
wheel, right? Why go through the hassle of creating your own special spreadsheets
if there’s a no-cost option already available?!
That’s where pre-formatted Excel
templates come into play. Whether you want to write a balance sheet, track your
expenses, or put a to-do list together, there’s a pre-made template for the
task. Head to the Microsoft website (or visit the plethora of other template
sites online) to check out your options.
2.
Freeze Your Sheets
Got an enormous Excel spreadsheet
full of data on your hands? Scrolling up, down, left, and right can be super
frustrating. It’s all too easy to lose track of the headings as you scroll
around, forget what’s on a certain line; you find yourself constantly flicking
back and forth.
Freezing certain rows and columns
will solve the problem. Simply head to ‘View’, click ‘Freeze Panes’, and select
which row/column you’d like to ‘freeze’. It’ll then remain in place as you
navigate around the spreadsheet!
3.
Remember the Backspace
Does freezing your sheets sound like
too much hard work? Hitting ‘Cntrl + backspace’ could be an even simpler alternative
to a similar problem.
If you’ve scrolled a long way from
the top of your spreadsheet, this keyboard shortcut will transport you straight
back to wherever your ‘active’ cell’s located (FYI, the ‘active’ cell is
whichever one you last clicked on!). It’s another quick and easy hack to try
whenever you’re struggling with big spreadsheets.
4.
Use the AutoSum Shortcut
Anybody who hates maths will love
the AutoSum shortcut. Imagine that you’ve just inserted a long row or column of
numbers on a spreadsheet and need to add them together. In the cell beneath
(for columns) or next to (for rows) those numbers, hit the ‘Alt’ and ‘+’ keys
at the same time, followed by ‘enter’. It’ll sum the numbers automatically!
Oh, and for an even easier way to do
the same thing, you can click the ‘AutoSum’ button at the top of the sheet.
This may not be rocket science or c# Excel interop stuff, but it’s sure to save you
masses of time.
5.
Find Info With Ease
Finding single pieces of data on big
spreadsheets can be tough. Unless that is, you know the ‘Cntrl + F’ shortcut!
Hitting those keys will bring up a box in which you can type the digits,
keywords, or phrases for which you’re hunting.
Hit enter and it’ll show you exactly
where they are on the sheet! Oh, and if you hit ‘Cntrl + H’ instead, you’ll
have an option to replace those items with new ones too.
Put
These Microsoft Excel Tips Into Action
Excel’s used by hundreds of millions
of people all over the world. Yet far fewer people know how to use it! We hope
the Excel tips in this post will help in this regard.
Keep them in mind and you’ll soon be
saving time on this essential piece of software. Would you like to read more
articles like this one? Search ‘computers’ on the website now.
