10 Tips for MS Excel

MS Excel is a spreadsheet program, created by the Microsoft Corporation, used by businesses, educational institutions and other organizations around the world. The program is for the analysis and manipulation of numerical data. Learning how to use the program can be tricky, but with the right tips and shortcuts, you can navigate around the program with ease.

Changing to Manual Calculation
1. By default, MS Excel will automatically recalculate all formulas within a worksheet. This feature can slow down your system if your worksheet is large and contains a lot of formulas. To turn this feature off in Excel 2007, click on the "Office" button located on the upper left-hand side of the screen. Next, click "Excel Options," and an "Options" dialog box will appear. Click "Formulas." In the "Calculation Options" section of this box, click on the button by "Manual" then click "OK." Now automatic calculation is off. To recalculate your worksheet manually, press the "F9" key.
Adding a New Worksheet
2. Working on an Excel workbook and need to add a new worksheet but don't have time to navigate the menus? Press "Shift" and "F11." A new worksheet will be added before the current worksheet. Then right-click on the worksheet name at the bottom of the screen to rename.
Activating the Formula Bar Using the Keyboard
3. Don't want to stop and click on the "Formula" bar to edit formula information within a cell? Then set up a function key to access this function. Click the "Office" button in the upper left of the screen, then click "Excel Options." An "Excel Options" dialog box will appear; click "Advanced." Uncheck the box at "Allow Editing Directly In Cell" if it is checked, then click "OK." Now, to edit formulas with the keyboard, just press the "F2" key and the "Formula Bar" will appear.
Using the SUBSTITUTE Function
4. Sometimes you want to make a substitution of a number or character within a worksheet. To make this substitution, use the SUBSTITUTE function. In the "Formula" box, enter " =SUBSTITUTE(XX,"Y","Z") where the "XX" is the letter and number of the cell you want to change, the "Y" is the character you want to change and the "Z" is what you want to replace the "Y" with.
Saving Formulas for Use in Other Workbooks
5. Have a formula you need to use in another workbook? Assign a name to the formula and easily open it within the new workbook. Select the cell containing the formula you want to name, then press "F2." Next, press and hold the "Shift" key and select the entire formula by using your mouse or cursor control keys, making sure you include the equal sign. Press "Ctrl+C" then press "Esc." Make sure the "Formulas" tab of the ribbon is selected, then click "Define Name" in the "Define Names" area. The "New Name" dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your formula in the "Name" box. Select the text in the "Refers To" box at the bottom of the box and press "Ctrl+V." Your formula will now appear in the "Refer To" box. Delete any dollar signs in your formula, then click "OK."

To use the named formula in another workbook, enter an equal sign and the name of your formula into any cell in your other workbook.
Printing Large Worksheets
6. Getting large worksheets to print can be a challenge. To solve this, shrink the sheet to fit on one page. Open the worksheet you want to print and click the "Office" button in the upper left of the screen. Display the "Page Layout" tab then click the small icon at the bottom right of the "Page Setup" group. Next, select the "Fit To" option and select how many pages you want to output. Click "OK," then "Print" your worksheet.
Getting the Results From a Portion of a Formula
7. Let's say you have a large formula and need to compute only a part of the formula. Press "F2," then select the portion of the formula you want to calculate. Next, press "F9," and MS Excel will replace the portion of the formula with the result. Press "Esc" to return to the original formula or press "Enter" to change the formula to the one you just calculated.
Entering Formulas Shortcut
8. Entering data into MS Excel can sometimes be slow, especially if entering a lot of formulas and complex numbers. One shortcut is to use a "+" sign when entering formulas instead of the "=" sign, then press "Enter" after entering the formula. By doing this, you can use your numeric pad exclusively. After you press "Enter," Excel will automatically convert the leading "+" sign to an "=" sign.
Converting a Cell From Text to Numeric
9. Need to convert a text cell to a numeric cell quickly? Select the text cell you want to convert, then click "Edit" from the main tool bar. Next, select "Clear" then "Formats." Any formatting assigned to the test cell is now removed. Press "F2" then press "Enter." Your text cell is now numeric and is included in any calculations.
Canceling Commands
10. Sometimes when processing data within MS Excel, you accidentally perform a command or function and it was a mistake. To cancel, press the "Esc" key. The program will end the command or function and return you to a previous state.