Excel - Top 10 Tips and Tricks

1. Moving Around the Spreadsheet: Here are some shortcuts to help you move
through Excel Spreadsheets quickly:

Move between cells Tab or Arrow keys on keyboard or Enter

key on keyboard
Move Up or Down One Screen Page Up or Page Down
Cell A1 Ctrl + Home
Column A in current Row Home
Last Cell with Data Ctrl + End

2. Selecting Cells, Columns and Rows: Selecting items allows you to format text,
move or copy text and delete large amounts of text at one time. Here are some hints for
you:

Cell Click in Cell

Column Click on the Column Letter
Row Click on the Row Number
Entire Worksheet CTRL + A or Click on the gray box to the left of the Column A
and above the Row 1
Many Cells Make sure the mouse pointer looks like a white Plus sign and
click and drag to select the cells.

3. Useful Shortcut Keys:

F5 Displays GO TO box
Shift + F2 Allows you to edit the cell
Ctrl + A Select All command
Ctrl + B Bold command
Ctrl + C Copy command
Ctrl + I Italics command
Ctrl + V Paste command
Ctrl + X Cut command
Ctrl + Z Undoes last action/command
Ctrl + Shift + ‘ Applies General Number formatting (great for years – 1990, etc)
Ctrl + Shift + 1 Applies number format with 2 decimal places
Ctrl + Shift + 2 Applies Time format
Ctrl + Shift + 3 Applies Date format
Ctrl + Shift + 4 Applies Currency format

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4. Customizing the Default Workbook: To create a new default worksheet, all
you need to do is customize a new worksheet, then save it as a template so you
can use it again and again. Here are the steps to save and open a template:

a. Create and Save a New Template: You can create your

own template very easily. First create and design the
document you would like to make into a template, then follow
the following steps:
1. Once the document in completed, click on FILE Æ
SAVE AS
2. When the SAVE AS box opens, change the SAVE AS
TYPE (near the bottom of the box) to TEMPLATE.
Do not change the location or the folder!
3. Type in a name for the Template and click on SAVE.

b. Open the New Template: Once you have created a new

template, you need to know how to open and use the new
template.
1. Click on FILE Æ NEW
2. Click on the GENERAL tab
3. Double click on the template to open

5. Working with AutoFill: Excel makes it easy for you to quickly complete a
series. Ex: days of the week, months of the year, etc

1. Type in the first part of the series in the cell you would
like to begin with (for example January or Monday)
2. Move the mouse pointer to the bottom right of cell until
it looks like a Black Plus Sign.
3. Click and drag down the cells to AutoFill or complete
the series. It will fill in January, February, March, etc
or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.

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6. Keeping Titles in View by Freezing Panes:
Have you ever created a larger spreadsheet with headings in Row 1 and a
large list of data below it? If so, you know how hard it is to scroll through the
large spreadsheet and try to remember the name of each heading. You can
“freeze” the top Row (this works for columns too) so it is always visible while
you scroll through the spreadsheet.
a. To freeze the top Row, Click in Cell A2.
b. Click on Windows – Freeze Panes
c. Now when you scroll down the spreadsheet, Row 1 will still be visible.

7. Wrapping Text in a Cell

You can “wrap” text in a cell so that it displays on multiple lines with in the
cell. You can wrap text by using ALT + Enter in the cell. Or you can click
on Format – Cells – Alignment and select Wrap Text.

8. When to use Absolute References

There are two types of references that are used in Excel when you copy
formulas. Relative References and Absolute References.
a. Relative Reference – a cell reference that changes/adjusts to the new cell
location. For example, if you have a formula =A1+B1 and copy it down a
column, the next formula will be =A2+B2, =A3+B3, etc
b. Absolute Reference – used when you do NOT want a cell reference to
change. For example – if you have a formula =A1*M23 and you want A2
to be multiplied by M23, then A3 multiplied by M23, you would use
absolute referencing. Use dollar signs to make the reference absolute
$M$23. =A1*$M$23. When you copy this done the column, it will now
look like: =A2*$M$23, =A3*$M$23, etc

9. AutoSum Tricks (2003)

Most people have used the AutoSum feature in Excel to quickly add a row or
column of data. Did you know that in 2003, you can select to do additional
functions with the “Auto” feature? You can click on the down arrow next to
the to see the list of functions:

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 10. Moving the Cell Pointer after Entering Data in a Cell:
When you hit the ENTER key in Excel, you will automatically drop down a
cell. But you can change this default and/or turn off this feature.
a. Click on TOOLS – OPTIONS
b. Select the Edit Tab
c. Under Move Selection after Enter, you can either select a different
Direction for the drop down box, or remove the check in front of the
option. If you remove the check mark, the ENTER key will not move
you to another cell, you will need to use the arrow keys to move around.

Recommended Reading:
Favorite Excel Tips and Tricks
Author: John Walkenbach
ISBN: 0764598163
Paperback: 538 pages
Publisher: Wiley Publishing, Inc.