Zoom to 125 Percent – Excel 2011 Default Workbook

I want to have Excel 2011 (for Mac) open to a blank worksheet that is zoomed to 125%, and it has taken a very long time to figure this out. It involves saving a template to a buried location, and then manipulating the file in Finder to remove the extension. Simple, once you know the …

Read more

Microsoft Query Incompatible with Mac OS X Lion [Updated]

The other day I read an article on how to prepare my MacBook Pro for Lion, the new Mac OS X coming out this month, and discovered that any application that requires PowerPC is incompatible with Lion and will not work. See update at the end of this post. So I followed the instructions to …

Read more

That Damn Delete Key in Excel for Mac

I have no earthy idea why it took me so long to figure out how to delete the contents of a cell or range in Excel for Mac. Ever since I bought my MacBook Pro I’ve known the Delete key on a Mac isn’t really a Delete key. I mean, since my background is with …

Read more

A Dynamic Dependent Drop Down List

A Dynamic Dependent Drop Down List in Excel

The other day I was reading a post over at the Contextures blog about Dynamic Dependent Excel Drop Downs and realized that using an Excel Table would provide an alternative method that is both simple and flexible. Tables are available in Excel versions 2007, 2010, and 2011. In this post I’ll create a Table to …

Read more

Where is the Insert Tab in Excel 2011?

Switching to the Mac platform finds you with certain disappointments challenges. One of these is finding no Insert Tab on the Excel 2011 Ribbon. Windows versions of Excel (2007 and 2010) both have the Insert Tab on the Ribbon. So when you start using the new Mac version of Excel 2011, you can quickly become …

Read more

Worksheet Tab Protection Icon in Excel 2011

There are times when you see something new and immediately know what it means. That’s what happened to me when I opened a file from a colleague and realized the padlock icon on the worksheet tab meant that the worksheet was protected. I was right. Since I had opened this file in Excel 2011 (Mac) …

Read more

Excel 2010 Clipboard Group

Ribbon Home Tab Comparison – Excel 2010 Windows and 2011 Mac

I’ll review each hard-to-find item on the Ribbon’s Home Tab in Excel 2010 (Windows) and let you know where they are located in Excel 2011 (Mac). I’ve even got some nifty pictures to speed along that understanding. Note: The Ribbons in Excel 2010 and 2007 (Windows) are interchangeable, but I’ll only refer to 2010 below. …

Read more

My First Excel 2011 Chart

Right now I’m on the Ski slope and this particular chart served to help me kill two birds with one stone. I needed to show my daughter which ski pass would be most beneficial to her wallet and produce a chart for this article. Charts should speak for themselves, loud and clear. This one compares …

Read more

Sorting Columns From Left To Right in Excel Causes Problems

You may never have the opportunity to Sort columns of data from Left to Right, but beware of some apparent problems. A reader mentioned that when sorting from left to right the column width’s don’t change. I also found that formulas can be affected and for me that’s more problematic. I was asked if Excel …

Read more