Microsoft Excel is one of the most common business software. Despite its popularity, the full capabilities and uses of Excel are poorly understood by the mass.
If you frequently use Microsoft Excel, you must familiarise yourself with all the tools and simple techniques that you can use. You can save time and gain more efficiency if you know how to use the software properly. Even though Excel has served as the lifeline to corporates and research firms, Excel is equally powerful and handy for everyday users. Whether you want to manage a small business, a household budget, or a school teacher using it to enter marks and attendance, Excel can make your life simpler if only you learn to use it.
Learn to remove duplicate data points
While dealing with large sets of data, there is always a chance for you to end up with duplicate content. If you wish to remove duplicates from your spreadsheet, highlight the column or the row in which you want to remove the duplicates. Go to the “Data” tab and click on “Remove Duplicates”.
Use PivotTables
Use PivotTables to count, total, average, or sort data stored in a single large spreadsheet and display them on a new table. You can cut and paste the table however you like. This feature is trivial if you only want to look at sales figures for certain product lines, marketing channels, or countries. But your data must be clean.
Add Multiple Rows or Columns
It is probably one of the most frequently and commonly carried out activities in Microsoft Excel. For adding multiple rows or columns, Ctrl-Shift + is the shortcut, but to save time, you can simply right-click on the row numbers on the left of the Excel display. And if you want to add multiple rows or columns, select as many as you would like to add and then Right Click and select "Add".
Extend Formula Down or Across
The beauty of Excel lies in its easy scalability. Once you get the right formula, Excel will churn out the correct calculations almost a million times. The + crosshair is a very useful tool. Simply double-clicking it will take it all the way down in case you are working with continuous data. Sometimes a copy and paste (either paste formulas or regular paste) will serve you faster.
Flash Fill
In 2013, Microsoft Excel developed a mind of its own. For instance, you have entered two columns of names, and you have to construct email addresses for all of them; you only need to do it for the first row, and Excel will do it for the rest. This feature is much faster, and if Flash Fill is turned on, it will start working just as you type. Or you can activate it manually by clicking data and selecting "Flash Fill" or pressing Ctrl E.
Using these cool techniques, you can display more efficiency and save a great deal of time.
