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

Data Bars

Data Bars are charts that appear within cells to provide a sense of proportionate scale within a column of numbers. As you’ll see, numbers can appear in the cell with the charts, or you can hide the numbers. Cells D3:D22 of the Data Bars worksheet in the example workbook for this chapter show how numbers and Data Bars can coexist in the same cell. To create this type of formatting, do the following:

  1. Select a range of cells that contain numbers, such as K3:K22 of the Data Bars worksheet.
  2. Choose Home | Conditional Formatting | Data Bars and select from the Gradient Fill or Solid Fill sections.

Tip

Most Conditional Formatting rules in the desktop versions of Excel offer live previews as you craft a rule, or when you hover your mouse over a particular data bar, color scale, or icon set.

  1. As shown in Figure 4.10, the Data Bars are commensurate with the size of the numbers in a cell in comparison to the other numbers in the list. Thus, the largest...