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April 2001 PCAnswers
300 office tips Special feature
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1Convert rows tocolumnsYou can convert rows to columns
(andcolumns to rows) by highlighting thecells you want to switch
around,clicking on Edit, Copy, selecting a newcell and then going
to Edit, PasteSpecial Finally, place a tick in theTranspose box on
the dialog box andclick on OK.
2Calculate timebetween datesEnter in a cell the formula
=A2-A1,where A1 is the earlier date, and A2the later one. Dont
forget to convertthe target cell to number format dothis by
highlighting the cell, clicking onFormat, Cells, picking on
theNumber tab and selecting Numberfrom the Category: list.
3Enter URLs as text,not hyperlinksTo prevent Excel from
convertingwritten Internet addresses intohyperlinks, add an
apostrophe to thebeginning of the address, for
examplewww.futurenet.com.
4Calculate running totalsEnter the numbers to be added incolumn
A, say A1 to A5, then enter=SUM($A$1:A1) into column B.Highlight
the cells beside the ones withnumbers in (in our example, B1 to
B5)and go to Edit, Fill, Down. This places
the running total of the figures in A1 toA5 in the adjacent
column.
5Remove hyperlinksfrom your workIf Excel has already converted
yourwritten URL into a hyperlink, you cancancel it by
right-clicking on theoffending address and selectingHyperlink,
Remove Hyperlink fromthe menu that pops up.
6Fit wide tables to thepage widthTo make your tables fit neatly
on thepage, click on File, Page Setup,select the Page tab, click on
the Fit to:radio button and pick 1 page wide.Click on the tall box
and press[Delete], leaving the box empty.
7Hide your data fromprying eyesIf you want to hide from view
anysensitive data, highlight the relevantcell and click on Format,
Cells Clickon the Numbers tab, select Customfrom the Category:
list, double-clickon the Type: input box and enter ;;;.Undo the
operation to make your datavisible again.
8Use templateworksheetsTemplates can save you considerabletime
when youre setting up a newworksheet. Click on File, New, selectthe
Spreadsheet Solutions tab andchoose a template from the list.
9Access help for LotususersIf youve converted from Lotus
1-2-3and find Excel confusing, you canaccess help specific to your
situation byclicking on Help, Lotus 1-2-3 Help
10Use the formula browserSelect a cell and click on the
PasteFunction button on the main toolbar.
Pick the function you require from thelist box and click on OK.
Nowhighlight the cells on which you wantthe target to perform the
function andclick on OK.
Excel converts Web siteaddresses to hyperlinksautomatically.
Right-clickon them to remove the link.
Filling Down the easy way to performdynamic calculations.
75 tips and tricks for your favourite spreadsheet.Microsoft
Excel
11Customise yourAutoFillsIf you use the same list over and
overin different worksheets, you might wantto add it to your
AutoFill list this willsave you heaps of time in future.Highlight
your list, click on Tools,Options and select the Custom Liststab.
Click on Import, then OK.
12Use theAutoCalculatorIf you need to calculate a sum basedon a
row or a column of figures andyou cant be bothered typing in
afunction, just select your figures andglance down at the status
bar youllfind the sum of the selected cells there.
The Paste Function buttonenables you to browseformulas and is
the easiestway to enter Functions.
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PCAnswers April 2001
Screen. Click on it again to return to anormal window.17Fit
textautomaticallyMake your work look neater by selectingthe
relevant column, and clicking onFormat, Column, AutoFit
Selection.
18Fast copy, noclipboardPressing [Ctrl] + [] is a speedy way
toduplicate the formula or figure in thecell above the one youre
in.
19Fast and easymultiple entryIf you need to enter a formula in
severalcells at once, simply select all the targetcells, type your
formula as normal andpress [Ctrl] + [Enter].
20Pick cells forAutoCalculatorYou can select unconnected cells
byholding down [Ctrl] while you click onthe individual cells.
21Hide comments toreduce clutterYou can hide notes and other
commentsby using the Insert Comment function.Highlight a cell,
click on Insert,Comment and type your text. Clickaway from the
input box when youvefinished. The comment will appearwhenever you
pass your mouse overthe relevant cell.
22Re-colouring thegrid linesYou can change the colour of the
gridby clicking on Tools, Options,selecting the View tab, clicking
on theColor: list box and choosing a newcolour from the palette.
Choosing whiteeffectively removes the grid completely.
23Angle yourentriesTo make Excel display the text in cells atan
angle of 45 degrees, right-click onthe toolbar, select Chart, and
pick eitherof the ab icons on the new toolbar.
24to any degreeyou likeIf you want custom angles right-click
onthe cell and select Format CellsFrom the pop-up menu, click on
the
Alignment tab, and then drag the Textpointer in the Orientation
window.
25Zoom in to your selectionYou can have Excel display just the
areayoure working in by highlighting therelevant cells, clicking on
the arrow onthe Zoom box on the toolbar andselecting Selection from
the list.
26Another defaultentry directionWhen editing cells the cursor
movesdown when you press [Return]. Tochange the direction click on
Tools,Options and select Edit. Click on theMove selection after
Enter list box andchoose another direction from the list.
27Launch Excel, openyour fileLaunch Excel, open the file you
usemost often, and click on File, SaveAs In the Save As dialog,
navigate tothe Xlstart folder in your Office folderand click Save.
Now the file will openautomatically when you launch Excel.
28Set decimal pointsClick on Tools, Options and selectthe Edit
tab. Place a tick in the Fixeddecimal tick box and use the arrows
inthe Places: input box to set the numberof decimal places.
29Calculate themedian valueTo calculate the median value of
anumber of figures, say A1 to A10, enter=median(A1:A10) into the
target cell.
30#NAME! and#NUM! errorsExcel returns a #NAME! or #NUM!error
whenever a formula refers to non-existent names or numbers. To sort
itout, re-enter the formula correctly.
31Quick sort yourcolumnsThe quickest way to sort a column intoa
hierarchy is to select it and click onthe Sort Ascending or Sort
Descendingbuttons (the ones with the AZ arrows).
32Quickly changecell dimensionsThe quickest way to change a
columns
Whats more, if you right-click on thesum a pop-up menu will
appear offeringadditional quick calculation functions.
13A quick way toenter the timeTo enter the current date or time
clickon a cell and type =today() or =now().Excel updates the result
every time youopen the sheet, so its always current.
14Enter a fixed timeinto ExcelIf you want Excel to enter the
currentdate or time and fix it at that point forexample, to show
the last date the sheetwas modified click on a cell and press[Ctrl]
+ [;] for the date and [Ctrl] + [:]for the time.
15Find the currentlyactive cellIf youve been scrolling around
yourspreadsheet and you lose your place,you can jump back to the
currentlyactive cell by pressing the [Ctrl] +[Backspace] keys.
16See the big pictureIf youre working on a large sheet youmight
want to switch to Full Screenmode: simply click on View, Full
Special feature 300 office tips
06
Excel has two distinct datecalculators: one returns the
current date, the otherreturns the creation date.
Use angled text to addvisual interest to your lists
and graphs.
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April 2001 PCAnswers
300 office tips Special feature
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width or a rows height is to place yourmouse pointer close to
the join betweentwo columns or rows, then click andhold down the
mouse button, and dragthe column or row to the desired size.
33Erasing entrieswhile typingIf you mistype your formula,
press[Esc] to erase the cells content.
34Enter numbersequencesEnter the first number in a cell,
pressthe [Ctrl] key, and then click, hold anddrag the cells handle
until youvereached the desired number of cells.Release the mouse
button first, andthen the [Ctrl] key.
35See formulas at aglanceYou can view all of your formulas
atonce by clicking on Tools, Options,selecting the View tab, and
placing atick in the Formulas tick box.
36Highlight cells ofa kindYou can select all the cells of a
certaintype by using the Special functions.Click on Edit, Go To,
click on theSpecial button, choose the cell typefrom the dialog box
and click on OK.
37Switch off the zeroesYou can prevent zeroes from
clutteringyour sheets by clicking on Tools,Options, selecting the
View tab, andunticking the Zero values tick box.
38Protect your workOpen the sheet you wish to protect andclick
on File, Save As Click on theGeneral Options item in the Toolsmenu
(in the top right corner of theSave As dialog) and enter a
passwordin the Password to open: input box.Finally, click on the
Save button. Youmight want to make a note of thepassword before
continuing.
39Customise your datesYou can customise the format of a datein a
cell using the Custom cell formatter.To do this, enter a date in a
cell, clickon Format, Cells, click on Custom
in the Category: pane, click on theType: input box and press
[M]repeatedly until the desired format isdisplayed in the Sample
area above.
40Quick column copyYou can fill out the cells in a column
bydouble-clicking on a cells handle.Excel will place copies of the
clickedcell in each cell below, stopping whenit reaches a cell with
blanks either side.(Confused? Try this: enter a figure incell A1,
then enter figures in cells B1 toB5, then double-click on A1s
handle.)
41Merge cellcontentsTo merge the contents of cells A1 andB1,
click on cell C1 and enter =A1&B1.The result is not a sum but a
textstring, so merging 10 and 7 will return107, rather than 17.
42Use dynamicformattingYou can set Excel to alert you to
criticalfigures in cells by setting it up so thecolour or size of
text in a given cellchanges whenever a certain condition isreached.
Select a cell (say, the cellcontaining the total of your
bankbalance) and click on Format,Conditional Formatting Choose
theconditions in the pop-up dialog (sayCell value is less than 0)
and click onthe Format button. Now choose anew colour in the Color:
list box andclick on OK. Click on OK again tofinish. From now on
Excel will displayyour chosen figure in the new colourwhenever the
figure falls below zero.
43Border connectedcellsYou can place a border around a groupof
related cells all the totals, forexample by selecting them
andclicking on Format, Cells, thenselecting the Border tab and
clickingon the Outline button.
44Shrink entries tofit their cellsYou can force Excel to display
the fulltext of a cell by using the Shrink to fitoption. Click on
Format, Cells, clickon the Alignment tab and place a tickin the
Shrink to fit tick box. Obviously,the more text you have, the
smaller itll
be, so this isnt practical for small cellswith lots of
content.
45Create hyperlinksto support filesTo place links in cells that
enable youto load other documents with one click,enter a name for
the link in a cell andpress [Ctrl] + [K]. Click on the Filebutton.
Navigate to the file you wish tolink to. Double-click on it and
clickOK. From now on, whenever you clickin that cell, Excel will
jump to the file.
Prevent cellcontent fromoverlappingneighbouringcells by
shrinkingit to fit.
Select the current column [Ctrl] + [Space]Select the current row
[Shift] + [Space]Edit the active cell [F2]Move to the beginning of
the worksheet [Ctrl] + [Home]Move to the last cell on the worksheet
[Ctrl] + [End]Paste a name into a formula [F3]Paste a function into
a formula [Shift] + [F3]Alternate value/formula view [Ctrl] + [`]
(on key [1])Calculate all sheets in all open workbooks [F9]Display
the Go To dialog box [F5]Display the Find dialog box [Shift] +
[F5]Display the Format Cells dialog box [Ctrl] + [1]Create a chart
[F11]Insert a new sheet [Alt] + [Shift] + [F1]Repeat the last
action [F4]Repeat Find [Shift] + [F4]Open [Ctrl] + [F12]Exit [Ctrl]
+ [F4]Check spelling of current cell [F7]Activate the menu bar
[F10]Display the Macro dialog box [Alt] + [F8]Apply outline to
active cell [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [&]Convert to a percentage
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [%]Select all filled cells around active cell
[Ctrl] + [Shift] + [*]Move to next sheet [Ctrl] + [Page Down]Move
to previous sheet [Ctrl] + [Page Up]Complete a cell entry and move
up [Shift] + [Enter]Complete a cell entry and move right
[Tab]Complete a cell entry and move left [Shift] + [Tab]Edit a cell
comment [Shift] + [F2]
Handy keyboard tips30 shortcuts to speed up your
calculations.
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PCAnswers April 2001
7Quickly adjust fontsizes, no mouse!Getting the font sizes right
is paramountto a well-designed layout, and if youreconstantly
shifting and resizing frames,it can become a bit of a
headache.However, there is a speedy method forswitching font sizes
without any mouseoperations: highlight the text you wishto change
and press [Ctrl] + [rightsquare bracket] to increase the font
sizeby a point, and [Ctrl] + [left squarebracket] to decrease it by
one point.
8Build your ownDesign GalleryThe Design Gallery is Publishers
libraryof professionally-designed elements andobjects that help to
bring consistentdesign to your projects. Its handy for
dabblers but pretty useless formore committed users. To
get the best from theDesign Gallery, you shoulduse it to store
your ownobjects. To add an object
to the Gallery, select it andclick on Insert, Add
Selection to Design GalleryEnter a name and category in the
inputboxes and click OK.
9Check your designfor problemsOnce youve finished your project
itpays to run it through its paces in theDesign Checker and check
it for flaws:select Tools, Design Checker andclick on Options
Select the Check
separate spell-checking options tickeach box for the optimal
spellingsystem. If you want to switch the wholething off, you
should untick the secondbox in the list.
4Automaticallyaddressed emailClick on Folder, Contacts, select
thecontact you want to email and click onActions, New Message to
Contact. Anew message pane will open with thecontacts address
details alreadyentered for you.
5Track your mailYou can find out when your mail is readby
sending a receipt request with yourmessages. Click on Tools,
Optionsand select the Preferences tab. Click onthe E-mail options
and TrackingOptions buttons on the followingdialog. Finally, place
a tick in theRequest a read receipt for allmessages I send tick
box.
6Resize objects usingcentral originTo keep the centre of an
objectin the same place while youresize it, hold down [Ctrl]while
you are dragging theobjects handles.
2Shred your waste,dont bin itOutlook doesnt really delete
messages,it places them in the Deleted itemsfolder. To delete them
click on Tools,Options..., select the Other tab, andplace a tick in
the Empty the DeletedItems folder upon Exiting tick box.
3Spell check youroutgoing mailTo spellcheck your email before
yousend it, click on Tools, Options andthen on the Spelling tab.
There are five
1Find the contactyoure after quicklyTo locate a contact from
just a fragmentuse the Find a Contact input box onthe main toolbar.
Just click on the boxand enter what you remember of thecontacts
name. Outlook will find thecontact and open his or her details in
adialog box.
Special feature 300 office tips
08
Bringing up the rear are Microsofts email client, presentation,
andDTP software. Here are the hottest 15 tips and 35 shortcuts
Display Inbox [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [I]Check for new mail [F5]Reply
to selected mail [Ctrl] + [R]Create new mail [Ctrl] + [N]Send mail
[Ctrl] + [Enter]
Outlook shortcutsFive email shortcuts no one should be
without,.
Outlook
Publisher
Outlook, PowerPoint,
You can use the design gallery to store yourown page
elements.
Let Publisher solve your layoutproblems for you with theDesign
Checker.
Find a Contact brings upthe Contact Properties.
Here you can add, edit orremove the contact from
your address book.
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April 2001 PCAnswers
300 office tips Special feature
09
all problems radio button and thenboth OK buttons. Publisher now
checksthe integrity of your frames, bringingattention to any
potential problems,and suggesting remedies by way of apop-up dialog
box.
10No need to cut and pasteTo copy an object simply select
it,press [Ctrl] and drag it to a newlocation. The copy is left
behind in theoriginal position.
11Get the most fromyour videosIf youre using a video clip in
yourpresentation, make sure its in the samefolder as the
presentation, otherwise itwill display a Find Files dialog whenrun.
Once youve loaded your film youcan access its properties by
rightclicking on it and selecting Edit MovieObject from the pop-up
menu. Thedialog displays the clips total playingtime and playing
options.
12Add buttons toyour slidesButtons make your presentation
lookand feel professional. Activate theAction Buttons sub-menu on
the SlideShow menu and hover your mousepointer over each of the
availablebuttons to view their descriptions. Touse one. click on
the button and drawa square on your slide. A dialog thatenables you
to link sounds, programs
and slides to the new button will appearonce youve released the
mouse button.
13 Just pack and goIf you want others to be able to watchyour
presentations and youre not surewhether they have PowerPoint, use
theFile, Pack and Go command. ThisPack and Go Wizard enables you
tocollate all of the presentation elementsinto one standalone,
portable program.
14Make your textstand outTo add instant pizzazz to your
headingsgo to WordArt on the Drawing Toolsmenu. You can configure
WordArt textto run in a line, around a circle or in anyother shape.
It can be multi-coloured,3D or textured. Used sparingly,WordArt can
be an eye-opener.
15Use Guides toplace framesGuidelines are non-printing lines
thatenable you to align frames with ease.When you drop a frame
close to aGuideline it automatically snaps into
the same place as the line. Thismeans you can align all
thepieces of your document withvery little effort. Once
yourelements are in position youcan drag the Guides to newlocations
or you can disablethem. The frames areunaffected. To activate
theGuidelines click on View, Guides.
Insert slide [Ctrl] + [M]Move to the next pane [F6]Move to the
previous pane [Shift] + [F6]Insert a hyperlink [Ctrl] + [K]Start
slide show [F5]
Five shortcuts to increase your speed.
Toggle frame opacity [Ctrl] + [T]Nudge frame [Alt] + [Arrow]
(any of the four directions)Format copy [Ctrl] + [Shift] +
[C]Format paste [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [V]Toggle current/actual page
view [F9]
Publisher shortcutsFive essential DTP shortcuts.
Open [Ctrl] + [O]Exit [Alt] + [F4]Save [Ctrl] + [S]Print [Ctrl]
+ [P]Select All [Ctrl] + [A]Cut [Ctrl] + [X]Copy [Ctrl] + [C]Paste
[Ctrl] + [V]Undo [Ctrl] + [Z]Redo [Ctrl] + [Y]Help [F1]Open pop-up
menu [Shift] + [F10]Open window control menu [Alt] + [Space]Scroll
one page length down [Page Down]Scroll one page length up [Page
Up]Delete [Delete]Switch applications [Alt] + [Tab]Activate menus
[F10]Close menu [Alt]Select first/last menu item [Home]/[End]
Generic shortcutsThese shortcuts work in all Office
applications, aswell as some third-party software.
PowerPoint
and Publisher
Adding buttons is a simple two-step process.
Share your presentations more easily withPack and Go.
Add impact to your presentation with amovie object.
PowerPoint shortcuts