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

Summary

In this chapter, you learned how you can use Conditional Formatting to identify data in worksheet cells based upon criteria that you specify. Excel offers several built-in rules that are easy to apply, such as when you want to identify the top or bottom values in a list, or dates within a given period. However, these rules only scratch the surface of Conditional Formatting’s potential. You can now use Conditional Formatting to provide a visual cue to users that attempt to overwrite a formula with a static value. You can also easily identify unlocked cells in a worksheet, which makes it less likely that you’ll inadvertently leave key input cells locked and inaccessible when the worksheet is protected. You also now know how to craft rules that will format certain cells based upon the value of an input cell.

Custom Conditional Formatting rules can be tricky to perfect because a single misplaced $ can cause a formula to behave in an unexpected fashion. In other...