Beginner level information
I’m a longtime user of Excel for Windows, but recently a newbie with Excel 2008 for Mac where I found that out the Windows shortcut F4 doesn’t work to switch between relative and absolute references when editing a formula. Thankfully Excel 2011 has a Switch Reference toolbar icon on the Formulas Ribbon, as shown below. …
I often download an iTunes playlist just to see the time increments for each song, but iTunes only gives you the number of seconds for each song duration. In a previous post I spent a great deal of time showing how to use a combination of various formulas to convert these seconds, when it’s really …
The IF Function is used to evaluate a logical test, then if TRUE do something or if FALSE do something else. A familiar construct. The IF Function has three arguments: IF(logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false]) Argument 1 The first argument, logical_test, is required. It’s any value or expression that can be evaluated to TRUE or FALSE. This …
I normally don’t think absolute and relative cell references are difficult, until I try and mix them in one formula with two cell references. Come along and see what I mean. Relative Cell Reference The first example is a worksheet with data for Quantity, Price, and Total. The formula in cell C2 is Price times …
In the Excel 2003 menu system, two clicks of the mouse will switch between workbooks. In the menu conflagration for Excel 2007 and 2010 it’s three clicks: View, Switch Windows, then pick the workbook. (As shown below) This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it bugs the heck out of me. So I added …
I’m new to Excel 2008 for Mac and have some expectation of continuity with the Windows versions, so was surprised when I found out recently the column width units are “inches.” Excel 2003, 2007 and 2010 have a standard column width of 8.43 characters, which is what I’ve been working with for the last 23 …
If you need to include multiple lines of text within a single cell of a worksheet, you can start a new line in Excel cell by using a line break. This will allow you to organize the information in a more structured and easy-to-read manner. Using this feature, you can avoid cluttering the cell with …
The Name box is a quick and easy way to move around and select ranges in a large spreadsheet. While writing this post I also discovered you can select multiple, non-contiguous ranges with it. The Name box is located next to the Formula bar, however in Excel 2008 for Mac, Formula Bar has to be …
I must be dense. All these years I’ve had one main gripe about Excel and that’s always having to format numbers with a thousands separator and two decimal places, and no easy way to do it. Now I find out there’s been a shortcut for it all along. Ctrl+Shift+! I found the shortcut in Excel …