MS Excel Tips & Shortcuts

Microsoft Excel is a handy tool for accountants, business people and those who need to manage personal finances. Excel is extremely useful because it allows you to create simple spreadsheets to calculate figures and keep track of your expenses. Your time spent making edits and creating Excel spreadsheets might be reduced if you are aware of a few quick tips and shortcuts.


Right Bottom Corner Drag
1. When you are creating a series of data in your Excel spreadsheet, you do not have to type in every number or letter in the series. Just type in the first five elements of the series, such as "1, 2, 3, 4, 5," each in its own row. Then select these first five rows. You will see a tiny square at the bottom of the last cell---click and hold that square and then drag it down for as many cells as you'd like. The rest of the series, in this case "6, 7, 8, 9" and beyond, will be filled in automatically. As long as the series is sequential, as in the case of "ABC" and "123," this shortcut should work.
Create a Quick Table
2. A table is cleaner (visually) and easier to read than leaving your Excel data in the standard cell format. You can add colors, borders and headers to your table. To make a table out of your data quickly, select the data and then click "CTRL" plus the letter "L" or "T." You will be asked to confirm the cells that you want to convert into a table---press "OK." This will make an instant table out of your selected data.
Fit to Cell
3. If you have data that tends to run outside of the bounds of your cell, there is a simple and quick fix for this. Right click the cell or cells that are running over. Choose "Format Cells." Then click the alignment tab to correct the problem. You can either click the box that says "Shrink to fit" to make all of the data smaller so that it will fit in the box or "Wrap text" to make the text overflow fall to the next line within that cell.
Use Comments
4. Oftentimes, when you are creating databases and spreadsheets, you are left with unanswered questions that you need another party to answer. You want to be able to have that other party fill in the information before the data goes "live" to other parties. Go to "Review" or the similar option on your Excel program (depending on the version) and click "Add Comment." You can then type in a quick sticky note, save the file and email it so that the other party will be able to answer the questions quickly.