Microsoft Excel, along with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook, is the heavyweight Office application finding its use on a daily basis. Microsoft Excel is the standard spreadsheet application which can be used appropriately in business ventures, big or small. It can help you with a large number of functions like manipulating and analyzing a plethora of data on the spreadsheet. Some people might find excel quite cumbersome, and no one has the time to study volumes of books, so certain hacks are a blessing in disguise, especially for small business ventures. Let’s find out what some of the popular hacks are.
Add and delete rows and columns
Select the row or column, select the insert option on the cell function and click on insert rows or columns. To delete, select row or column and go to delete option. Alternatively, you can right-click on the row or column and select the same from the drop-down menu.
Freeze cells
If you want to browse through spreadsheets but want to keep looking at a particular section of the spreadsheet, you can use this hack. Select the area of the spreadsheet you want to keep constant, go to the view tab and choose freeze panes option there.
Prevent editing of a certain section of the spreadsheet
If a worksheet can be accessed by multiple people, you can keep a section of spreadsheet protected from accidental editing. Click on format menu, then choose protect the sheet. Choose the kind of modification you want to prevent, enter your password, click ok and choose the area of the spreadsheet you want to protect.
Do a quick analysis of a cell
Select a cell and click on the quick analysis option on the bottom right corner of a cell. Excel will automatically analyze the raw data using formatting to give you an idea what the data is about.
Use the IF option
This helps to perform a certain action on the excel sheet when certain conditions are met which helps to customize the data. The form of the IF function is IF (logic_test, value if true, value_if_false). The function will be executed only if true. You can check the sites like Excel Semi Pro for more detailed guidance.
Concatenation
This is useful for adding two or more strings together like the first and last name by using formula concatenate (cell number1, cell number2).
Get the minimum and maximum value
Select the number of cells ranging from 1 to 255 and go to Function tab. Then choose the appropriate function to find out the maximum or minimum value.
Autofill subsequent cells
It is one of the most important time-saving function of Excel where if it determines a pattern, it auto fills the rows and columns according to the series.
Dollar sign
By putting a dollar sign before each element, the reference number of a cell doesn’t change on being copied from one cell to another.
Excel is one of the basic requirements for managing a small scale business, and once you learn to use it along with certain hacks, it will make life much easier for you.
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