2013

101 Excel Tips

To Make You
An Excel
RockStar
By: Ankit Kaul
www.exceltrick.
com

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Cont ents of this Book

Top 25 Keyboard Sh ort cut s in Excel

15 Tips To M ake Your Excel Lightening Fast

10 Sm all Tips To Ease Your Tasks In Excel

25 Formulas in Excel To Give You An Edge

15 M acro Exam ples for Begin ners

11 Secret Tricks To M ake You A Superhero

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Top 25 Keyboard Short cut s in Excel

Tip 1: To for mat any selected cell, press CTRL + 1.
Tip 2: To sum quickly select t he range and press ALT +
Tip 3: For cycling through various t ypes of cell references (absolut e & relative),
press F4 key while inserting the references.

Tip 4: CTRL+' Copies a formula from the above cell

Tip 5: Pr ess CTRL + K to open the hyperlink dialog box.
Tip 6: Use CTRL+TAB to sw itch between open Excel w indow s.
Tip 7: Pr ess CTRL+N t o opens a new w orkbook.
Tip 8: Use F2 to edit an active cell.
Tip 9: Select a cell and then press CTRL + Space t o select the w hole column.
Tip 10: Select a cell and t hen press CTRL + Shift t o select the w hole row .
Tip 11: Press F7 to run spell checker on the active sheet.
Tip 12: Use CTRL+SHIFT+F3 to insert named range for an entire table
automatically based on the column or row headings.

Tip 13: Use CTRL+Page Up or CTRL+Page Dow n t o scroll bet w een w orksheets.
Tip 14: Press CTRL + SHIFT + L t o apply a filt er t o t he select ed range.
Tip 15: Use CTRL+ ~ to view for mulas inst ead of values.
Tip 16: Use CTRL + D to copy the above cell.
Tip 17: Use CTRL + ; to ent er todays date in the cell.
Tip 18: Use SHIFT + CTRL + ; t o ent er current t ime in t he cell.

Tip 19: Use CTRL + SHIFT + ( t o unhide any hidden rows in the cur rent
select ion.

Tip 20: Use CTRL + SHIFT + ) t o unhide any hidden columns in the current
select ion.

Tip 21: Press CTRL + SHIFT + & to outline the border of select ed cells.
Tip 22: Press CTRL + SHIFT + $ t o apply Curr ency format to t he select ed cells.
Tip 23: Press CTRL + SHIFT + Plus (+) to bring up t he insert cells dialog.
Tip 24: Press CTRL + M inus (-) to bring up the delet e select ed cells
dialog. Tip 25: Press CTRL + T to displays t he Creat e Table dialog box.

15 Tips To M ake Your Excel Light ening Fast

Tip 26: Change Calculation to M anual mode. To do this navigate to: Formulas
> Calculation Options. Calculate manually using F9 only when required.

Tip 27: Delete all named ranges and un-necessary formatting to make excel
blazing fast .

Tip 28: Avoid array formulae, w henever possible.

Tip 29: Use Application.ScreenUpdat ing = False at the start in VBA M acros
and in the end w rite Application.ScreenUpdating =True. This reduces the
resource

overhead.

Tip 30: In excel sheets that have VlookUps, if the source file is not going to
change; then it is better to paste-special the VlookUp values. This is because
even a couple of VlookUps slow down the performance immensely due to
recalculation of values.

Tip 32: Avoid dumping huge dat asheets into a single spr eadsheet .
Tip 32: Try t o use SUMI F for mula inst ead of SUMPRODUCT w henever possible.

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Tip 33: Cut dow n the use of nest ed If statement

s.

Tip 34: Avoid the use of Volat ile functions. Volatile functions are simple
functions that w ill recalculat e each time a change of data occurs in any cell on
any w orksheet . M ost functions w hich are non-Volatile w ill only recalculate if a
cell that they are referencing has changed. Som e of the volatile functions are
NOW(), TODAY(), OFFSET(), CELL(),I NDI RECT(), ROW S(), COLUM NS() .

Tip 35: In Excel macros use Application.EnableEvents to false and later in the
end of code revert it back to its original form.

Tip 36: In Excel macros the use of Destination: can reduce your resource
overhead as this statement bypasses the clipboard. For example:
Instead of using:
Sheet1.Range(A1:A1000).Copy
Sheet2.Range(B1).pasteSpecial
Application.CutCopyMode=False

Use:
Sheet1.Range(A1:A1000).Copy

Destination:=Sheet2.Range(B1)

Tip 37: In Excel macros use Application.Calculation = xlCalculat ionM anual and
lat er in the end of code Application.Calculat ion = xlCalculat ionAutomatic.

Tip 38: Try to use Find and Search methods rather than looping through
cells. Loops w ork quickly when you are using them for less than 100 cells.

Tip 39: Try to minimize cross linking of spreadsheet s.

Tip 40: When using too many pivots Disable data drilling option. This
reduces file size, cache memory and speeds up the file.

10 Sm all Tips To Ease Your Tasks In Excel

Tip 41: Sele ct all your cells with a single click: Click the small triangle icon to
select all the cells at once as shown.

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Tip 42: Check Sum, Average and Count of selected cells: To check t he sum,
average and count of cells, just select them and you can see the details in the
status bar.

Tip 43: See w hat s on your clipboard: To check t he clipboard quickly just
click the clipboard button on excel as show n below.

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Tip 44: Convert formulas to literals: Copy the formula and then right click and
select the values icon as shown.

Tip 45: Force a carriage ret urn in a cell: Press ALT+ENTER keys w hile editing.
Tip 46: Quickly Transpose Dat a: Select the range t hen Navigate to Copy dat a
> Past e Special > Transpose.

Tip 47: Use Format Painter as many t imes as you like Just double click the
For mat Painter and use it multiple t imes.

Tip 48: Concat enate text easily: Use the ampersand operator to concatenate
text. For example: To concatenate text1 and t ext 2 use the for mula
= text1 & text2.

Tip 49: Clear cell formats easily: Select the cells and then navigate to Home
tab > Clear > Clear For mats as show n.

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Tip 50: Select ing all formula cells in excel: To select all for mulas, hit CTRL +
G,
select special and check formulas.

25 Form ulas in Excel To Give You An Edge

Tip 51: To generat e a random number betw een a defined range use:
=RandBetw een(lower_limit , upper_limit) e.g.

=RandBetween(100 ,200)

Tip 52: Use LCM formula to get the Low est common multiple between
multiple numbers. e.g.

=LCM(2,4,8,12)

Tip 53: Obviously there is a formula for finding Greatest Com mon Divisor too.
e.g.

=GCD(2,4,8,12)

Tip 54: To get nth largest number in a range, use the formula

=Large(range, n)

Tip 55: To get nt h smallest number in a range, use =Small(range,

n)

Tip 56: To count t he number of charact ers in a word, use =Len(Some_word)

Tip 57: To extract file name fr om a file pat h use:
=MID(A1,FIND("*",SUBSTITUTE(A1,"\","*",LEN(A1)LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1,"\",""))))+1,LEN(A1)).

Tip 58: =NOW() formula in excel is used to fetch the current date t ime.
Tip 59: Convert all characters in a word to low ercase by using formula
=LOWER(some_word)

Tip 60: Convert all characters in a word to uppercase by using formula

=UPPER(some_word)

Tip 61: Convert a w ord to proper case by using the formula

=PROPER(some_word)

Tip 62: Use TRI M funct ion to remove unnecessary spaces fr om a w ord. e.g.:
=TRIM(

some_word

Tip 63: Clean funct ion removes all non printing charact ers from a text. e.g.
=CLEAN(some_word)

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Tip 64: Excel formula to get file ext ension

=REPLACE(RIGHT(A1,5),1,SEARCH(".",RIGHT(A1,5)),"")

Tip 65: Excel formula to get the total number of w orksheet s in a w orkbooks
=SHEETS()

Tip 66:

=ROW()

function gives the row number in which the current cell is

present.

Tip 67:

=COLUMN()

function gives the column number in which the current cell

is present .

Tip 68: Find total number of instances of a particular charact er in text:

=LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(LOWER(A1),"a",""))

Tip 69: To debug your formulas in Excel, select the portions of formula and
press F9 to see the result of that portion.

Tip 70: USE REPT() function to repeat a charact er multiple t imes. This can
help you to create a micro chart.

Tip 71: USE =CELL("width") funct ion t o get the w idt h of a part icular cell.
Tip 72: Find the minimum value in an array if values by using MIN() function.
e.g.

=MIN(112,121, 101)

Tip 73: Find the maximum value in an array if values by using M AX() function.
e.g.

=MAX(112,121, 101).

Tip 74: USE Substitut e() function to replace a w ord or charact er w ith some
other t ext or charact er. e.g.

=SUBSTITUTE("EXCEL","E","Z")

Tip 75: USE M ODE funct ion t o get most recurring or repeating value from a
range.

15 M acro Exam ples for Beginners

Tip 76: M acro for counting row s and columns in the active sheet :

Sub Count()
RCount = ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count
Ccount = ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count
MsgBox "Rows = " & RCount & " Columns = " & Ccount
End Sub

Tip 77: M acro to count sheet s in a Workbook:

Sub Count2()
myCount = Application.Sheets.Count
MsgBox myCount
End Sub

Tip 78: M acro to loop all cells in the used range:

Sub Loopallcells()
For Each Cl In ActiveSheet.UsedRange
'Do whatever you want here
Next Cl
End Sub

Tip 79: Som etimes you may w ant to close all files w ithout saving. So here is
a M acro to close all files:
Sub CloseAll()
Application.DisplayAlerts = False
myTotal = Workbooks.Count
For i = 1 To myTotal
ActiveWorkbook.Close
Next i
End Sub

Tip 80: M acro to fetch the address of active cell:

Sub MyAddress()
MsgBox ActiveCell.Address
End Sub

Tip 81: A macro that runs automatically w henever you open the workbook
file.
Sub Auto_Open()
Msgbox "Hi Welcome!"
End Sub

Tip 82: A simple macro to colour the active cell.

Sub ColourCell()
ActiveCell.Interior.Color = rgbBlue
End Sub

Tip 83: Kill or delet e a file by using a small excel macro:

Sub Killfile()
Dim MyFile As String
'This line of code is optional
MyFile = "c:\folder\filename.xls"
kill MyFile
End Sub

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Tip 84: Passw ord prot ect the active sheet .

Sub ProtectSheet()
Password = InputBox("Enter the password : ")
If Len(Password) > 0 Then
ActiveSheet.Protect Password, True, True, True
Else
MsgBox "Invalid Password"
End If
End Sub

Tip 85: Unprotect the active sheet .

Sub UnProtectSheet()
Password = InputBox("Enter the password : ")
If Len(Password) > 0 Then
ActiveSheet.Unprotect Password
Else
MsgBox "Invalid Password"
End If
End Sub

Tip 86: Create a folder using excel an macro.

Sub Makefolder()
MkDir "C:\Dip"
End Sub

Tip 87: Check if a file exist s or not.

Sub RetrieveFile()
File = Dir("C:\Windows\CSUP.txt")
If Len(File) > 0 Then
MsgBox (File & " Exists")
Else
MsgBox ("File Doesn't Exists")
End If
End Sub

Tip 88: M acro that speaks out the current t ime.

Public Sub TalkingTime()
Time = Now
Application.Speech.Speak ("The Time is" & Time)
End Sub

Tip 89: M acro for deleting empty rows within the current selection
Sub DelEmptyRow()
Rng = Selection.Rows.Count
ActiveCell.Offset(0, 0).Select
Application.ScreenUpdating = False
For i = 1 To Rng
If ActiveCell.Value = "" Then
'You can replace "" with 0 to
delete rows with 'the value zero
Selection.EntireRow.Delete
Else
ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select
End If
Next i
Application.ScreenUpdating = True
End Sub

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Tip 90: Delet e all range names present in your w orkbook

Sub DeleteNames()
Dim NameX As Name
For Each NameX In Names
ActiveWorkbook.Names(NameX.Name).Delete
Next NameX
End Sub

11 Secret Tricks To M ake You A Superhero

Tip 91: You know that cells can be coloured, but do you know t hat even sheet
tabs can be coloured. See the below image t o know how.

Tip 92: Did you knew that double clicking the office button closes your excel
file?

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Tip 93: Did you know how to make your reports more aw esome. See the

image below.

To do t his simply select all t he columns to the right of your report (by CTRL +
SHIFT + Arrow (>)) and hide t hem. In t he similar w ay select all the rows below
your report (by CTRL + SHIFT + Arrow ()) and hide t hem too. Sim ple isn t it!

Tip 94: Did you know that double clicking on any top ribbon tab in Excel makes
it disappear.

Tip 95: Did you know about the xlSheetVeryHidden feature. This feature can
make your spreadsheet s hidden so that they cannot be made visible again
w ithout opening the VBA Editor.
To make them visible you need t o press ALT + F11, t hen select your sheet and
finally change its visibility propert y. See the below image

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Tip 96: When you have a w orkbook that is very large in size you can reduce
this dramatically by saving the file as " M icrosoft Excel Workbook (* .xls)" as
opposed to " M icrosoft Excel 5/ 95 Workbook (* .xls)" .

Tip 97: Did you know that you can navigate to any cell quickly by using the
excel name box. To do this simply t ype the cell address and press ent er.

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Tip 98: Did you know that M icrosoft has also given a file repairing property to
Excel. This propert y can help you to recover corr upt ed files.
To use t his, w it h an open spreadsheet press CTRL + O select the file that you
w ant to repair. After this click the dropdown on the Open button and select the

Open and Repair option as shown.

Tip 99: Pr int only the selected area from a spreadsheet . For this select an
area

then navigate to Page Layout > Pr int Area > Set Pr int Area. Now when

you print that w orksheet only the selected area will be printed.

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Tip 100: Did you know that you can make the text inside cells invisible. This
can be done by using a custom format. Follow the below st eps to do this.
1.Type some text in any cell.
2. Next press the CTRL + 1 keys to bring the format cells dialog.

3. Here, select the Cust om format and Type ;;; (w ithout quotes) as shown.
4.Click Ok and the text w ill become invisible.

Tip 101: Break the passw ord of any excel w orkbook by using this macro. Also
applicable to Excel 2013.
Sub CrackPassword()
Dim v1 As Integer, u1
Dim v2 As Integer, u2
Dim v3 As Integer, u3
Dim v4 As Integer, u4
On Error Resume Next

As
As
As
As

Integer,
Integer,
Integer,
Integer,

w1
w2
w3
w4

As
As
As
As

Integer
Integer
Integer
Integer

For v1 = 65 To 66: For u1 = 65 To 66: For w1 = 65 To 66

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For v2 = 65 To 66: For u2 = 65 To 66: For w2 = 65 To 66
For v3 = 65 To 66: For u3 = 65 To 66: For w3 = 65 To 66
For v4 = 65 To 66: For u4 = 65 To 66: For w4 = 32 To 126

ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(v1) & Chr(u1) & Chr(w1) & _

Chr(v2) & Chr(u2) & Chr(v3) & Chr(u3) & Chr(w3) & _
Chr(v4) & Chr(u4) & Chr(w4) & Chr(w2)
Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
Next: Next: Next: Next: Next: Next
End Sub

St eps For Running t his macro1 Open the excel file and press Alt + F11.
2 Under Project Window -> Right -Click -> Insert M odule and Past e the below
code.
3 Now come back to M icrosoft Excel, under M acro's Click View M acro.
4 Select M acro and click Run.
This tip is only included for educational purpose. We at Excel Trick do not
support such activit ies. Run this code at your own risk as this may be illegal in
some parts of the w orld.

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A message from Ankit

Thank you for taking the t ime to read these Tips. Enj oy using your new
Excel pow ers and keep practicing them.
If you havent subscribed to my blog then do it now using the below link:
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Kind Regards,
Ankit Kaul

You can also join my Facebook page at: w w w .f aceb o ok. com / Excel Tr i ck
Or Else you can follow me on t w itt er: ht t p:/ / t w it t er.co m / excelt r ick

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