Excel Tips and Tricks: Beginner David “DK” Kornegay Dude Community Director
Excel Tips and Tricks:Beginner
David “DK” KornegayDude Community Director
Core Buttons We’ll Use in Excel
“Quick Access” ToolbarA. Right-click on
your top menu, choose “Customize Quick Access Toolbar” for features you use often, or
B. right-click on a menu function to add it to the toolbar
Spreadsheet VernacularColumns
Sheets
Rows Cell
Create a new sheetRight-click to change color, set
security, etc.
Visual Indicators / Easy Functions
» Your mouse icon changes (select vs. move vs. drag a cell)
» Cell has a Comment
» Cell has an error or inconsistencytip: click cell to get insight
» Select a series of cells and get quick functionsIncludes most used formulas, charts and more
Visual Indicators / Easy Functions» Drag to save typing or copying
tip: drag with right button vs. left for more options
» Sanity check your dragtip: this option differs based on the data (e.g., number vs. date)
vs.vs.
Data Entry Tricks
» COPY/PASTE SPECIAL» Drag/dropping and right drag/dropping» FILL options: dragging or use of shortcuts
like CTRL + D» Text» Numbers» Dates
» Remove Duplicates» Text to Columns
» AutoSplit via Flash Fill
Formatting, Finding, Filtering, Printing
» Freezing Panes: Maintain the column or row headers while scrolling through report
» Sorting: Arrange the report in alphabetical or numerical order» Filtering: Temporarily remove unwanted fields from the report
» Filtering by word or number» Filtering by color
» Sizing Your Sheet: Quickly resize column width or row height» Text Wrapping: Allows text to fit in a preset column width
Formatting, Finding, Filtering, Printing
» Backspace v. Delete: Use the backspace key to clear out contents, use delete to completely delete row or column
» Delete Column vs. Row» Number/Text/Date Formatting: drop down to modify the visual
(e.g., long date vs. short date)» Find: Use CTRL + F to quickly find a specific word or phrase» Find & Replace: Use CTRL + H to quickly find and replace a specific
word or phrase» Find & Replace for certain cells: Select only certain cells, then use
CTRL + H to quickly find and replace
Formatting, Finding, Filtering, Printing
» Cell Formatting: Display the data the way you would like via STYLES menu and FORMAT PAINTER brush
» Conditional Formatting: Display the data the way you would like in a custom visual
» Hiding Data: Hide data you don’t want to view» Print Views: button at the bottom and PAGE LAYOUT menu
» NOTE: Save as PDF will be dependent upon this also
Basic Formulas
» Sum, Average or Count a column or row» Selecting cells tips (using CTRL, commas, etc.)» FORMULAS menu for Showing a formula, its dependents, etc.
» Locking down cell ranges with $ » Named Ranges and using them in a Formula» NetWorkDays with using holidays in another tab
What We’ll Cover in Excel Advanced
» Data Quality» Advanced
Formulas» Pivot Tables» Pivot Charts» Pivot Slicers
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Excel Tips and Tricks:Beginner
David “DK” KornegayDude Community Director