How-to basics
Everyday tasks: sorting, filtering, formatting, printing, shortcuts.
- Excel Very Slow Saving Files? Causes and FixesIf Excel is very slow saving files, first save a copy to a local folder and compare the time with the original…
- Excel Copy and Paste Slow? Practical Causes and FixesWhen Excel is very slow copying and pasting, the usual causes are a large or complex selection, heavy formatting, formulas that recalculate,…
- Excel Bar Plot: How to Create and Format OneIn Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, select your category and value columns, then choose Insert > Insert Column or Bar Chart…
- Excel Bar Names: What Each Part of the Window DoesIn Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, the main interface areas people call “bars” include the title bar, Quick Access Toolbar, ribbon,…
- Excel Day Tracker: Build a Daily Log for Work and HabitsAn Excel day tracker is a spreadsheet for recording what happens or what needs doing each day. The simplest version uses columns…
- Excel Day Trading Journal: Build a Useful Trade LogYes—Excel can track day trades, calculate profit and loss, and help you review whether your strategies and rules are working. Start with…
- Excel Not Tabbing to Next Cell? Fixes That WorkIn Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, pressing Tab while a worksheet cell is selected normally commits any entry and moves the…
- Media Excel Shortcuts for Images, Links, and ObjectsExcel has no single keyboard shortcut for all media. In Microsoft 365 for Windows, use Ctrl+V to paste a copied image, Alt+F10…
- Average Excel File Size: What to Expect and Why It VariesThere is no single meaningful average Excel file size: a simple workbook may be only a few dozen kilobytes, while a workbook…
- Excel Sum Shortcut Keys: AutoSum, Examples, and TipsIn Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Alt+= to insert an AutoSum formula; check the highlighted range, then press Enter to…
- Excel Sum Keyboard Shortcut: Use AutoSum in SecondsIn Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, press Alt+= to insert AutoSum, which creates a SUM formula for a nearby range; press…
- Excel Sum Filtered List: SUBTOTAL and SUMTo sum only the rows currently visible after filtering in Excel, use =SUBTOTAL(109,B2:B6), assuming the values are in B2:B6. SUBTOTAL recalculates as…
- Excel SUM Divided by Count: Calculate an AverageTo add a range in Excel and divide by the number of numeric cells, use =SUM(B2:B6)/COUNT(B2:B6) when the values are in B2:B6.…
- Excel Sum by Color: How to Total Cells by Fill ColorExcel for Microsoft 365 does not include a built-in SUMBYCOLOR formula. The simplest dependable method is to filter the rows by fill…
- Excel Sum by Cell Color: Methods That Actually WorkExcel does not have a built-in SUMIF function that adds cells based on fill color. To total one color, filter the range…
- Excel Max Cell Height: The 409-Point Row Height LimitIn Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows, the maximum row height is 409 points, or about 5.68 inches (14.4 cm). A cell…
- Excel Modify Drop-Down Lists: Steps, Tips and FixesTo modify an Excel drop-down list, select a cell that uses it, open Data > Data Validation, and edit the entries in…
- Large Excel File Won’t Open? Causes and Practical FixesIf a large Excel file won’t open, first copy it to a local drive, close other programs, and try opening Excel in…
- Excel Mode With Text: Find the Most Frequent Text ValueExcel’s MODE.SNGL and MODE.MULT functions work with numbers, not words. To find the most frequent text value, count each entry with COUNTIF,…
- Roundup Excel Without Decimals: 10 Reliable MethodsTo round a value in Excel to the nearest whole number, use =ROUND(A2,0); to make every positive value round upward, use =ROUNDUP(A2,0).…
- Excel MODE.MULT: Find Multiple Modes in a Data SetYes. In Microsoft 365 Excel for Windows, use MODE.MULT to return every value tied for the highest frequency in a data set.…
- Excel Days, Hours, and Minutes: Format DurationsTo show an elapsed time in Excel as days, hours, and minutes, keep the duration as a number and either format it…
- Excel Day School? Meaning and How to Identify One“Excel day school” does not identify one universally recognized school: it may refer to a particular school named Excel, or to a…
- Excel Day Number: Serial Dates, Day of Month and YearIf A2 contains a valid Excel date such as June 15, 2024, and you want its day of the month, enter =DAY(A2);…
- Excel Day Month Year Format: Dates That Display ClearlyTo display Excel dates as day, month, year, select the date cells, press Ctrl+1, choose Custom, and enter dd/mm/yyyy for a numeric…
- Excel Not Moving From Cell to Cell? Fixes That WorkIf Excel is not moving from cell to cell when you press the arrow keys, turn off Scroll Lock first: it makes…
- Excel Day Hour Minute Second Format: Display DurationsTo display an elapsed time in Excel as hours, minutes, and seconds, apply the custom number format [h]:mm:ss. The square brackets keep…
- Excel Day of Year: Find the Day Number for Any DateTo find the day of the year in Excel, put a real Excel date in A2 and enter =INT(A2)-DATE(YEAR(A2),1,0) in another cell.…
- Excel Day Counter: Count Days Between DatesWith a start date in A2 and an end date in B2, enter =B2-A2 to count the days between them. For example,…
- Excel Date Difference: Days, Workdays, and Inclusive CountsTo find the number of days between two dates in Excel, subtract the earlier date from the later one. With the start…