Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By : David Ringstrom
Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By: David Ringstrom

Overview of this book

David Ringstrom coined the phrase “Either you work Excel, or it works you!” after observing how many users carry out tasks inefficiently. In this book, you’ll learn how to get more done with less effort. This book will enable you to create resilient spreadsheets that are easy for others to use as well, while incorporating spreadsheet disaster preparedness techniques. The time-saving techniques covered in the book include creating custom shortcuts and icons to streamline repetitive tasks, as well as automating them with features such as Tables and Custom Views. You’ll see how Conditional Formatting enables you to apply colors, Cell icons, and other formatting on-demand as your data changes. You’ll be empowered to protect the integrity of spreadsheets and increase usability by implementing internal controls, and understand how to solve problems with What-If Analysis features. In addition, you’ll master new features and functions such as XLOOKUP, Dynamic Array functions, LET and LAMBDA, and Power Query, while learning how to leverage shortcuts and nuances in Excel. By the end of this book, you’ll have a broader awareness of how to avoid pitfalls in Excel. You’ll be empowered to work more effectively in Excel, having gained a deeper understanding of the frustrating oddities that can arise daily in Excel.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Improving Accessibility
6
Part 2:Spreadsheet Interactivity and Automation
12
Part 3: Data Analysis

Creating shortcuts for Excel macros

Excel macros are programming code written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). This is a programming language that can automate repetitive tasks in Excel. I could devote a whole book to exploring the concept of macros, but I only have a small amount of space available. Allow me to share a technique that uses Excel’s Macro Recorder to change the cell color of one or more cells to yellow, which we’ll then tie to a Quick Access Toolbar icon. Let’s begin:

  1. Select cell A1 of a blank worksheet.
  2. Choose View | Macros | Record Macro….
  3. Assign a name, such as YellowHighlight, in the Macro Name field of the Record Macro dialog box, as shown in Figure 3.13:

Figure 3.13 – Macro Recorder

Nuance

You cannot use spaces or punctuation when naming Excel macros. The first character of a macro name must be a letter or underscore. You can use numbers in the second position and beyond....