Top Excel Tips and Tricks to Make You a

PRO in 2023 (Basic to Advanced + Free PDF)

Table of Content  Close 
1. Add Serial Numbers
2. Insert Current Date and Time
3. Select Non-Continues Cells
4. Sort Buttons
5. Move Data
6. Status Bar
7. Clipboard
8. Bullet Points
9. Worksheet Copy
10. Undo-Redo
11. AutoFormat
12. Format Painter
13. Cell Message
14. Strikethrough
15. Add Barcode
16. Month Name
17. Highlight Blank Cells
18. Font Color with Custom Formatting
19. Theme Color
20. Clear Formatting
21. Sentence Case
22. Random Numbers
23. Count Words
24. Calculate the Age
25. Calculate the Ratio
26. Root of Number
27. Days in a Month
28. Month’s Last Date
29. Reverse VLOOKUP
30. SUMPRODUCT IF
31. Smooth Line
32. Chart Formatting
33. Hide Axis Labels
34. Display Units
35. Round Corner
36. Hide Gap
37. Pictograph in Excel
38. Chart Template
39. Default Chart
40. Hidden Cells
41. Print Titles
42. Page Order
43. Print Comments
44. Scale to Fit
45. Custom Header-Footer
46. Center on Page
47. Print Area
48. Custom Margin
49. Error Values
50. Custom Start Page Number
51. Tracking Important Cells
52. Flash Fill
53. Combine Worksheets
54. Protect a Workbook
55. Live Image
56. Userform
57. Custom Tab
58. Goal Seek
59. Text to Speech
60. Named Range
61. Trim
62. Remove Duplicates
63. Combine Text (Fill Justify)
64. Remove Specific Character
65. Combine Text
66. Unpivot Data
67. Delete Error Cells
68. Arrange Columns
69. Convert to Date
70. Negative to Positive
71. Format Painter
72. Rename a Worksheet
73. Fill Handle
74. Hide Ribbon
75. Edit a Shape
76. Column Width
77. Go to the Last Cell
78. Chart Formatting
79. Pivot Table Double Click
80. Drag Drop Menu
81. Default File Saving Location
82. Disable Start Screen
83. Developer Tab
84. Enable Macros
85. AutoCorrect Option
86. Custom List
87. Apply Table
88. Gridline Color
89. Pin to Taskbar
90. Macro to QAT
91. Select Formula Cells
92. Multiply using Paste Special
93. Highlight Duplicate Values
94. Quick Analysis Tool
95. RUN Command
96. Open Specific File
97. Open Excel Automatically
98. Smart Look Up
99. Screen Clipping
100. Locate a Keyboard Shortcut
101-300
One of the FASTEST ways to Learn Excel is to learn some of the Excel
TIPS and TRICKS, period and if you learn a single Excel tip a day you
can learn 30 new things in a month.
But you must have a list that you can refer to every day instead of
searching here and there. Well, I’m super PROUD to say that this is
the most comprehensive list with all the basic and advanced
tips that you can find on the INTERNET.
In this LIST, I have covered 300+ Excel TIPS and TRICKS which you
can learn to Level Up your Excel Skills.
(Video Tutorial) - Excel Tips and Tricks for this Year
0 of 21 minutes, 0Volume 0%
08:27

00:03
21:00
 

1. Add Serial Numbers

If you work with large data then it’s better to add a serial number
column to it. For me, the best way to do this is to apply the table
(Control + T) to the data and then add 1 in the above serial number,
just like below.

To do this, you simply need to add 1 to the first cell of the column and
then create a formula to add 1 to the above cell’s value. As you are
using a table, whenever you create a new entry in the table, Excel will
automatically drop down the formula and you will get the serial
number.

2. Insert Current Date and Time

The best way to insert the current date and time is to use the NOW
function which takes the date and time from the system and returns it.
The only problem with this function is it’s volatile, and whenever you
recalculate something it updates its value. And if you don’t want to do
this, the best way is to convert it to hard value. You can also use the
below VBA code.
Sub timestamp()
Dim ts As Date
With Selection
.Value = Now
.NumberFormat = "m/d/yyyy h:mm:ss AM/PM"
End With
End Sub
Or these methods to insert a timestamp in a cell.

3. Select Non-Continues Cells

Normally we all do it this way, hold the control key, and select cells
one by one. But I have found that there is a far better way for this. All
you have to do is, select the first cell and then press SHIFT + F8.

This gives you add or remove selection mode in which you can select
cells just by selecting them.

4. Sort Buttons
If you deal with data that needs to sort frequently then it’s better to
add a button to the quick access toolbar (if it’s not there already).

All you need to do is click on the down arrow on the quick access
toolbar and then select “Sort Ascending” and “Sort Descending”. It
adds both buttons to the QAT.

5. Move Data
I’m sure you think about copy-paste but you can also use drag-drop
for this.

Simply select the range where you have data and then click on the
border of the selection. By holding it move to the place where you
need to put it.

6. Status Bar
The status bar is always there but we hardly use it to the full. If you
right-click on it, you can see there are a lot of options you can add.

7. Clipboard
There is a problem with normal copy-paste that you can only use a
single value at a time.
But here is the kicker: When you copy a value, it goes to the
clipboard and if you open the clipboard you can paste all the values
which you have copied. To open a clipboard, click on the go to Home
Tab ➜ Editing and then click on the down arrow.

It will open the clipboard on the left side, and you can paste values
from there.

8. Bullet Points
The easiest way to insert bullet points in Excel is by using custom
formatting and here are the steps for this:
1. Press Ctrl + 1 and you will get the “Format Cell” dialogue
box.
2. Under the number tab, select custom.
 3. In the input bar, enter the following formatting.
1. ● General;● General;● General;● General
4. In the end, click OK.

Now, whenever you enter a value in the cell Excel will add a bullet
before that.

9. Worksheet Copy
To create a copy of a worksheet in the same workbook drag and drop
in the best way.
You just need to click and hold the mouse on the sheet’s name tab
and then drag and drop it, to the left or right, where you want to
create a copy.

10. Undo-Redo
Just like sort buttons you can also add undo and redo buttons to the
QAT. The best part about those buttons is you can use them to undo a
particular activity without pressing the shortcut key again and again.

More Basic Tips: Delta Symbol | Degree Symbol | Formula to

Value | Concatenate a Range of Cells | Insert a Check Mark Symbol in
Excel | Convert Negative Number into Positive | Highlight Blank Cells in
Excel
11. AutoFormat
If you deal with financial data, then auto format can be one of your
best tools. It simply applies the format to small as well as large data
sets (especially when data is in tabular form).
 1. First of all, you need to add it to the quick access toolbar
(here are the steps).
2. After that, whenever you need to apply the format, just
select the data where you want to apply it and click on the
AUTO FORMAT button from the quick access toolbar.
3. It will show you a window to select the formatting type and
after selecting that click OK.
The AUTOFORMAT is a combination of six different formattings and
you have the option to disable any of them while applying it.

12. Format Painter

The simple idea with the format painter is to copy and paste
formatting from one section to another. Let’s say you have specific
formatting (Font Style and Color, Background Color to a Cell, Bold,
Border, etc.) in the range B2:D7, and with format painter, you can copy
that formatting to range B9: D14 with a click.
 1. First of all, select the range B2:D7.
2. After that, go to the Home Tab ➜ Clipboard and then click
on “Format Painter”.
3. Now, select cell C1 and it will automatically apply the
formatting on B9: D14.
The format painter is fast and makes it easy to apply to format from
one section to another.

Related:  Format Painter Shortcut

13. Cell Message

Let’s say you need to add a specific message to a cell, like “Don’t
delete the value”, “enter your name” or something like that.
In this case, you can add a cell message for that particular cell. When
the user will select that cell, it will show the message you have
specified. Here are the steps to do this:

1. First, select the cell to which you want to add a message.

2. After that, go to the Data Tab ➜ Data Tools ➜ Data
Validation ➜ Data Validation.
3. In the data validation window, go to the Input Message tab.
4. Enter the title, and message, and make sure to tick mark
“Show input message when the cell is selected”.
5. In the end, click OK.

Once the message is shown you can drag and drop it to change its
position.
14. Strikethrough
Unlike Word, in Excel, there is no option on the ribbon to apply
strikethrough. But I have figured out that there are 5 ways to do it and
the easiest of all of them is a keyboard shortcut.
All you need to do is select the cell where you want to apply the
strikethrough and use the below keyboard shortcut.
Ctrl  +  5

And if you are using MAC then:

⌘  +  ⇧  +  X

Quick Note: You can use the same shortcut keys if you need to do
this for partial text.

15. Add Barcode

It is one of those secret tips that most Excel users are unaware of. To
create a bar-code in Excel all you need to do is install this bar-code
font from ID-AUTOMATIC.
Once you install this font, you will have to type the number in a cell for
which you want to create a bar code and then apply the font style.
learn more about this tip

16. Month Name

Alright, let’s say you have a date in a cell, and you want that date
to show as a month or a year. For this, you can apply custom
formatting.

 First, select the cell with a date and open formatting options
(use Ctrl + 1).
 Select the “Custom” option and add “MMM” or “MMMMMM”
for the month or “YYYY” for the year format.
 In the end, click OK.
Custom formatting just changes the formatting of the cell from date
to year/month, but the value remains the same.

17. Highlight Blank Cells

When you work with large data sheets it’s hard to identify the blank
cells. So, the best way is to highlight them by applying a cell color.

 First, select all the data from the worksheet using the shortcut
key Ctrl + A.

 After that, go to Home Tab ➜ Editing ➜ Find & Select ➜ Go

to Special.

 From Go to Special dialog box, select Blank and click OK.

 At this point, you have all the blank cells selected and now
apply a cell color using font settings.
…but you can also use conditional formatting for this

18. Font Color with Custom Formatting

In Excel, we can apply custom formatting and in custom formatting,
there is an option to use font colors (limited but useful).

For example, if you want to use the Green color for positive numbers
and the red color for negative numbers then you need to use the
custom format.

[Green]#,###;[Red]-#,###;0;
 1. First, select the cells where you want to apply this format.
2. After that open the format option using the keyboard
shortcut Ctrl + 1 and go to the “Custom” category and the
custom format in the input dialogue box.
3. In the end, click OK.

19. Theme Color

We all have some favorite fonts and colors which we use in Excel. Let’s
say you received a file from your colleague and now you want to
change the font and colors for the worksheet from that file. The point
is, you need to do this one by one for each worksheet and that takes
time.

But if you create a custom theme with your favorite colors and fonts
then you can change the style of the worksheet with a single click. For
this, all you have to do is apply your favorite designs to the tables,
colors to the shapes and charts, and font style, and then save it as a
custom theme.

1. Go to the Page Layout Tab ➜ Themes ➜ Save Current

Theme. It opens a “Save As” dialogue box, names your
theme, and saves it.
2. And now, every time you need just one click to change any
worksheet style to your custom style.

20. Clear Formatting

This is a simple keyboard shortcut that you can use to clear formatting
from a cell or range of cells.

Alt  ➜  H  ➜  E  ➜  F

Or, otherwise, you can also use the clear formatting option from the
Home Tab (Home Tab ➜ Editing ➜ Clear ➜ Formats).

21. Sentence Case

In Excel, we have three different functions (LOWER, UPPER, and
PROPER) to convert text into different cases. But there is no option to
convert a text into a sentence case. Here is the formula which you can
use:

=UPPER(LEFT(A1,1))&LOWER(RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-1))
This formula converts the first letter of a sentence into capital and the
rest all in small (learn how this formula works).

22. Random Numbers

In Excel, there are two specific functions that you can use to generate
random numbers. First is RAND which generates random numbers
between 0 and 1.

And second is RANDBETWEEN which generates random numbers

within the range of two specific numbers.
ALERT: These functions are volatile so whenever you re-calculate your
worksheet or hit enter, they update their values so make sure to use
them with caution. You can also use RANDBETWEEN to generate
random letters and random dates.

23. Count Words

In Excel, there is no specific function to count words. You can count
characters with LEN but not words. But, you can use the following
formula which can help you to count words from a cell.

=LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1,” “,”))+1

This formula counts the number of spaces from a cell and adds 1 to it
after that which equals the total number of words in a cell.

24. Calculate the Age

The best way to calculate a person’s age is by using the DATEDIF. This
mysterious function is specifically made to get the difference between
a date range.
And the formula will be:

=”Your age is “& DATEDIF(Date-of-Birth,Today(),”y”) &” Year(s), “&

DATEDIF(Date-of-Birth,TODAY(),”ym”)& ” MONTH(s) & “& DATEDIF(Date-of-
Birth,TODAY(),”md”)& ” Day(s).”

25. Calculate the Ratio

I have figured out that there are four different ways to calculate the
ratio in Excel but using a simple divide method is the easiest one. All
you need to do is divide the larger number into the smaller ones and
concatenate it with a colon and one and here’s the formula you need
to use:

=Larger-Number/Smaller-Number&”:”&”1″

This formula divides the larger number by the smaller one so that you
can take the smaller number as a base (1).

26. Root of Number

To calculate the square root, cube root, or any root of a number the
best way is to use the exponent formula. In the exponent formula, you
can specify the Nth number for which you want to calculate the root.

=number^(1/n)

For example, if you want to calculate a square root of 625 then the
formula will be:

=625^(1/2)

27. Days in a Month

To get a total number of days in a month dynamically you can use the
following formula:

=DAY(EOMONTH(TODAY(),0))

28. Month’s Last Date

To simply get the last date of a month you can use the following
dynamic formula.
=DATE(YEAR(TODAY()),MONTH(TODAY())+1,0)

29. Reverse VLOOKUP
As we all know there is no way to look up to left for a value using
VLOOKUP. But if you switch to INDEX MATCH you can look up in any
direction.

30. SUMPRODUCT IF
You can use the below formula to create a conditional SUMPRODUCT
and product values using a condition.

=SUMPRODUCT(–(C7:C19=C2),E7:E19,F7:F19)

⇠ Top 100 Excel Formulas List

31. Smooth Line
If you love to use a line chart, then you are awesome but it would be
more awesome if you use a smooth line in the chart. This will give a
smart look to your chart.

1. Select the data line in your chart and right-click on it.

2. Select “Format Data Series”.
3. Go to Fill & Line ➜ Line ➜ Tick mark “Smoothed Line”.

32. Chart Formatting

Copy Chart Format in Excel

33. Hide Axis Labels

This charting tip is simple but still quite functional. If you don’t want to
show axis label values in your chart you can delete them. But the
better way is to hide them instead of deleting them. Here are the
steps:

1. Select the Horizontal/Vertical axis in the chart.

2. Go to “Format Axis” Labels.
3. In the label position, select “None”.

And again, if you want to show it then just select “Next to axis”.

34. Display Units

If you are dealing with large numbers in your chart, you can change
the units for axis values.
 1. Select the chart axis of your chart and open the format
“Format Axis” options.
2. In axis options, go to “Display Units” where you can select a
unit for your axis values.

35. Round Corner

I often use Excel charts with rounded corners and if you like to use
round corners too, here are the simple steps.

1. Select your chart and open formatting options.

2. Go to Fill and Line ➜ Borders.
3. In borders sections, tick mark rounded corners.

36. Hide Gap

Let’s say you have a chart with monthly sales in which June has no
amount and the cell is empty. You can use the following options for
that empty cell.
  Show the gap for the empty cell.
 Use zero.

 Connect data points with the line.

Here are the steps to use these options.

1. Right, click on your chart & select “Select Data”.

2. In the select data window, click on “Hidden and Empty
Cell”.
3. Select your desired option from “Show Empty Cell as”.

Make sure to use “Connect data points with the line” (recommended).

37. Pictograph in Excel

How to Create a Pictograph in Excel

38. Chart Template

Let’s say you have a favorite chart formatting you want to apply every
time you create a new chart. You can create a chart template to use
anytime in the future and the steps are as follow.
  Once you have done with your favorite formatting, right-click
on it & select “Save As Template”.

 Using the save as dialog box, save it in the template folder.

 To insert a new one with your favorite template, select it from
templates in the insert chart dialog.

39. Default Chart

You can use a shortcut key to insert a chart, but the problem is, it will
only insert the default chart, and in Excel, the default chart type is
“Column Chart”. So if your favorite chart is a line chart, then the
shortcut is useless for you. But let’s conquer this problem. Here are the
steps to fix this:

 Go to Insert Tab ➜ Charts.

 Click on the arrow at the bottom right corner.
 Then in your insert chart window, go to “All Charts” and then
select the chart category.
 Right, click on the chart style you want to make your default
Select “Set as Default Chart”.
 Click OK.

40. Hidden Cells

When you hide a cell from the data range of a chart, it will hide that
data point from the chart as well. To fix this, just follow these steps.

1. Select your chart and right-click on it.

2. Go to ➜ Select Data ➜ Hidden and empty cells.
3. From the pop-up window, tick the mark “Show data in
hidden rows and columns”.
41. Print Titles
Let’s say you have headings on your table, and you want to print those
headings on every page you print. In this case, you can fix “Print Titles”
to print those headings on each page.

 Go to “Page Layout Tab” ➜ Page Set Up ➜ Click on Print

Titles.
 Now in the page setup window go to the sheet tab and
specify the following things.

1. Print Area: Select the entire data which you want to print.

2. Rows to repeat at the top: Heading row(s) which you want
to repeat on every page.
3. Columns to repeat at the left: Column(s) which you want
to repeat at the left side of every page (if any).

42. Page Order

Specifying the page order is quite useful when you want to print large
data.

 Go to File Tab ➜ Print ➜ Print Setup ➜ Sheets Tab.

 Now here, you have two options:
 The First Option:  To print your pages using a
vertical order.
  The Second Option:  To print your pages using a
horizontal order.

43. Print Comments

If you add comments to your reports then you can print them as well.
At the end of all printed pages, you can get a list of all the comments.
 Go to File Tab ➜ Print ➜ Print Setup ➜ Sheets Tab.

 In the print section, select “At the end of the sheet” using the
comment dropdown.
 Click OK.

44. Scale to Fit

Sometimes we struggle to print entire data on a single page. In this
situation, you can use the “Scale to Fit” option to adjust the entire data
into a single page.
 1. Go to File Tab ➜ Print ➜ Print Setup ➜ Page Tab.
2. Next, you need to adjust two options:
1. Adjust % of normal size.
2. Specify the number of pages in which you want to
adjust your entire data using width and length.

45. Custom Header-Footer

Instead of using the page number in the header and footer, you can
also use a custom header and footer.
 Go to File Tab ➜ Print ➜ Print Setup ➜ Header/Footer.
 Click on the custom header or footer button.
 Here you can select the alignment of the header/footer.

 And the following options can be used:

 1. Page Number
2. Page Number with total pages.
3. Date
4. Time
5. File Path
6. File Name
7. Sheet Name
8. Image

46. Center on Page

Imagine you have less data to print on a page. In this case, you can
align it at the center of the page while printing.

1. Go to File Tab ➜ Print ➜ Print Setup ➜ Margins.

2. In “Center on Page” you have two options to select.
 Horizontally: Aligns data to the center of the
page.
 Vertically: Aligns data to the middle of the page.
Before printing a page make sure to see the changes in the print
preview.

47. Print Area

The simple way to print a range is to select that range and use the
option “print selection”. But what if you need to print that range
frequently, in that case, you can specify the printing area and print it
without selecting it every time.

Go to the Page Layout Tab, click on the Print Area drop-down, and

after that, click on the Set Print Area option.

48. Custom Margin

 Go to File Tab ➜ Print.
 Once you click on print, you’ll get an instant print preview.
 Now from the bottom right side of the window, click on the
“Show Margins” button.

It will show all the margins applied and you can change them just by
dragging and dropping.

49. Error Values

You can replace all the error values while printing with a specific value
(three other values to use as a replacement).

 Go to File Tab ➜ Print ➜ Print Setup ➜ Sheet.

  Select the replacement value from the “Cell error as”
dropdown.
 You have three options to use as a replacement.
1. Blank
2. Double minus sign.
3. “#N/A” error for all the errors.

 After selecting the replacement value, click OK.

I believe using a “Double minus sign” is the best way to present errors
in a report while printing it on a page.

Related:  Ignore All the Errors

50. Custom Start Page Number

If you want to start the page number from a custom number let’s say
5. You can specify that number and the rest of the pages will follow
that sequence.
 Go to File Tab ➜ Print ➜ Print Setup ➜ Page.
 In the input box “First page Number”, enter the number from

where you want to start the page number.

 In the end, click OK.

This option will only work if you have applied the header/footer in
your worksheet.

51. Tracking Important Cells

Sometimes we need to track some important cells in a workbook and
for this, the best way is to use the watch window. In the watch window,
you add those important cells and then get some specific information
about them in one place (without navigating to each cell).
  First, go to Formula Tab ➜ Formula Auditing ➜ Watch
Window.

 Now in the “Watch Window” dialog box, click on “Add

Watch”.

 After that select the cell or range of cells that you want to
add and click OK.
Once you hit OK, you’ll get some specific information about the cell(s)
in the watch window.

52. Flash Fill

Flash fill is one of my favorite options to use in Excel. It’s like a
copycat, perform the task which you have performed. Let me give you
an example.
Here are the steps to use it: You have dates in the range A1: A10 and
now, you want to get the month from the dates in the B column.

All you need to do is to type the month of the first date in cell B1 and
then come down to cell B2 and press the shortcut key CTRL + E. Once
you do this it will extract the month from the rest of the dates, just like
below.

53. Combine Worksheets

I’m sure somewhere in the past you have received a file from your
colleague where you have 12 different worksheets for 12 months of
data. In this case, the best solution is to combine all of those
worksheets using the “Consolidate” option, and here are the steps for
this.
 First, add a new worksheet and then go to Data Tab ➜ Data

Tools ➜ Consolidate.

 Now in the “Consolidate” window, click on the upper arrow to

add the range from the first worksheet and then click on the
“Add” button.
 Next, you need to add references from all the worksheets
using the above step.
  In the end, click OK.

54. Protect a Workbook

Adding a password to a workbook is quite simple, here are the steps.

 While saving a file when you open a “Save As” dialog box go
to Tools General Options.

 Add a password to “Password to Open” and click OK.

 Re-enter the password and click OK again.

  In the end, save the file.
Now, whenever you re-open this file it will ask you to enter the
password to open it.

55. Live Image

In Excel, using a live image of a table can help you resize it according
to space, and to create a live image there are two different ways in
which you can use it.

One is camera tools and the second is the paste special option. Here
are the steps to use the camera tool and for paste special use the
below steps.
1. Select the range you want to paste as an image and copy it.
2. Go to the cell and right-click, where you want to paste it.
3. Go to Paste Special ➜ Other Paste ➜ Options Linked
Picture.

56. Userform
A few of the Excel users know that there is a default data entry form is
there which we can use. And the best part is there is no need to write
a single line of code for this.
Here’s how to use it:

1. First of all, make sure you have a table with headings where
you want to enter the data.
2. After that select any of the cells from that table and use the
shortcut key  Alt  +  D  +  O  +  O  to open the user form.

57. Custom Tab

We all have some favorite options or some options which we use
frequently. To access all those options in one place you create a tab
and add them to it.
 1. First, go to File Tab ➜ Options ➜ Customize Ribbon.
2. Now click on “New Tab” (this will add a new tab).
3. After that right-click on it and name it and then name the
group.
4. Finally, we need to add options to the tab and for this go to
“Choose Commands From” and add them to the tab one by
one.
5. In the end, click OK.

58. Goal Seek

In simple words, Goal Seek is a problem-solving tool. It helps you find
the input value by proving the value you want in the result.

…here is the complete guide to learning about it.

59. Text to Speech

This is an option where you can make Excel speak the text you have
entered into a cell or a range of cells.

60. Named Range

To create a named range the easiest method is to select the range and
create it using the “Create from Selection” option. Here are the steps
to do this:

 Select the column/row for which you want to create a named

range.
 Right-click and click on “Define name…”.

 Select the option to add the name for the named range and
click OK.
That’s it.

61. Trim
TRIM can help you to remove extra spaces from a text string. Just refer
to the cell from where you want to remove the spaces and it will
return the trimmed value in the result.

62. Remove Duplicates

One of the most common things we face while working with large
data is “Duplicate Values”. In Excel, removing these duplicate values is
quite simple. Here’s how to do this.
 1. First, select any of the cells from the data or select the
entire data.
2. After that, go to Data ➜ Data Tools ➜ Remove Duplicates.
3. At this point, you have the “Remove Duplicates” window,
and from this window, select/de-select the columns which
you want to consider/not consider while removing
duplicate values.
4. In the end, click OK.
Once you click OK, Excel will remove all the rows from the selected
data where values are duplicates and show a message with the
number of values removed and unique values left.

63. Combine Text (Fill Justify)

Let’s say you have words in the range A1: A5 and you want
to concatenate all of them in a single cell.
 1. First, make column A enough wide so that the entire text
can be combined into one cell.
2. After that, select the entire range.
3. Now, go to Home Tab ➜ Editing ➜ Fill ➜ Justify.
Related:  Concatenate (Combine) Cells with a Comma

64. Remove Specific Character

In the range, A1: A5 and you want to concatenate all of them in a
single cell. Here’s how to do this with fill justify.

1. All you need to do is select that column and open the find
and replace dialog box.
2. After that click on the “Replace” tab.
3. Now here, in “Find What” enter the character you want to
replace and make sure to leave “Replace with” blank.
4. Now click on “Replace All”.
The moment you click on “Replace All” Excel will remove that
particular character from the entire column.

Related:  Remove First Character from a Cell in Excel

65. Combine Text

So, you have text in multiple cells, and you want to combine all the
text into one cell. No, this time not with fill justify. We are doing it with
TEXT JOIN. If you use Office 365, there is a new function TEXTJOIN
which is a game-changer when it comes to the concatenation of text.
Here’s the syntax:

TEXTJOIN(delimiter, ignore_empty, text1, [text2], …)

All you need to do is to add a delimiter (if any), and TRUE if you want
to ignore empty cells, and in the end, refer to the range.

66. Unpivot Data

Look at the below table, you can use it as a report but you can’t use it
further as raw data. No, you can’t. But if you convert this table to
something like the one below you can use it easily anywhere.
But if you convert this table into something like the one below you can
use it easily anywhere. So how to do this?

here are the simple steps you need to follow.

67. Delete Error Cells

Mostly while working with large data it is obvious to have error values
but it’s not good to keep them. The easiest way to deal with these
error values is to select them and delete them and these are the
simple steps.
  First of all, go to Home Tab ➜ Editing ➜ Find & Replace ➜
Go To Special.
 In the Go To dialog box, select formula, and tick mark errors.

 In the end, click OK.

Once you click OK it will select all the errors and then you can simply
delete all by using the “Delete” button.

68. Arrange Columns

Let’s say you want to arrange columns from the data using custom
order. The normal way is to cut and paste them one by one.
But we also have an out-of-the-box way. In Excel, you can sort
columns just like you sort rows and by using the same methods you
can arrange them in a custom order.
⇢ Complete Tip

69. Convert to Date

Sometimes you have dates that are stored as text and you can use
them in a calculation and further analysis. To simply convert them
back to valid dates you can use the DATEVALUE function.

Other ways to convert text to date

70. Negative to Positive

The easiest way to convert a negative number into a positive is by
using the.
71. Format Painter
Before I started to use format painter for applying cell formatting, I
was using paste special with the shortcut key.

1. Select the cell or a range from where you want to copy cell
formatting.
2. Go to ➜ the Home Tab ➜ Clipboard.
3. Make double-click on the “Format Painter” button.
4. As soon as you do this, your cursor will convert into a
paintbrush.
5. You can apply that formatting anywhere in your worksheet,
in another worksheet, or, even in another workbook.
72. Rename a Worksheet
I always found it quicker than using a shortcut key to change the name
of a worksheet. All you have to do is just double-click on the sheet tab
and enter a new name.

Let me tell you why this method is faster than using a shortcut.

Suppose if want to rename more than one worksheet using a shortcut
key.
Before you change the name of a worksheet, you need to activate it.
But if you use the mouse it will automatically activate that worksheet
and edit the name with only two clicks.

73. Fill Handle

I am sure shortcut addicts always use a shortcut key to drag formulas
and values in downward cells. But using a fill handle is more
impressive than using a shortcut key.

1. Select the cell in which you have a formula or a value that

you want to drag.
2. Make a double click on the small square box at the right
bottom of the cell selection border.
This method only works if you have values in the corresponding
column and it works only in the vertical direction.

74. Hide Ribbon

If you want to work in a distraction-free mode, you can do this by
collapsing your Excel ribbon.
Just make double-click on the active tab in your ribbon and it will
collapse the ribbon. And if you want to expand it back just double-
click on it again.

75. Edit a Shape

You often use shapes in our worksheets to present some messages
and you have to insert some text into those shapes. Besides the typical
method, you can use a double click to edit a shape and insert the text
into it.

You can also use this method to edit and enter text in a text box or
into a chart title.

76. Column Width

Whenever you have to adjust the column width you can double-click
on the right edge of the column header. It auto-sets the column width
according to the column data.
The same method can be used to auto-adjust row width.

77. Go to the Last Cell

This trick can be useful if you are working with a large dataset. By
using a double click, you can go to the last cell in the range which has
data.

You have to click on the right edge of the active cell to go to the right
side and on the left edge if you want to go to the left side.

78. Chart Formatting

If you use Control + 1 to open formatting options to format a chart,
then I bet you’ll love this trick. All you have to do is just make double-
click on the border of the graph to open the formatting option.
79. Pivot Table Double Click
Let’s say someone sent you a pivot table without the source data. As
you already know Excel stores data in a pivot cache before creating a
pivot table.

You can extract data from a pivot table by double-clicking on data

values. As soon as you do this Excel will insert a new worksheet with
the data which has been used in the pivot table.

80. Drag Drop Menu

There is a right-click drop-down menu in Excel that few users know
about. To use this menu all you need to do is select a cell or a range of
the cell and then right-click and while holding it, drop the selection to
somewhere else. 
81. Default File Saving Location
Normally while working on Excel I create more than 15 Excel files every
day. And, if I save each of these files to my desktop it looks nasty. To
solve this problem, I have changed my default folder for saving a
workbook, and here’s you can do this.

1. First, go to the File tab and open Excel options.

2. In Excel options, go to the “Save” category.
3. Now, there is an input bar where you can change the
default local file location.
4. From this input bar, change the location address and in the
end, click OK.
From now onward, when you open the “Save As” dialog box Excel will
show you the location you have specified.

82. Disable Start Screen

I’m sure just like me you hate when you open Microsoft Excel (or any
other Office app) and you see the start pop-up screen. It takes time
depending on your system’s speed and the add-ins you have installed.
Here are the steps to disable the start-up screen in Microsoft Office.
 1. First, go to the File tab and open Excel options.
2. In Excel options, go to the “General” category.
3. From the option, drill down to the “Start-Up” options and
un-tick the “Show the Start screen when this application
starts”.
4. In the end, click OK.
From now onward, whenever you start Excel it will directly open the
workbook without showing the start-up screen.

83. Developer Tab

Before you start writing VBA codes the first thing you need to do is
to enable the “Developer Tab”. When you first install Microsoft Excel, a
developer wouldn’t be there. So, you need to enable it from the
settings.
 1. First, go to the File tab and click on the “Customize Ribbon”
category.
2. Now from the tab list, tick marks the developer tab and
click OK.
Now when you come back to your Excel window, you’ll have a
developer tab on the ribbon.

84. Enable Macros

When you open a macro-enabled file, you need to enable macro
options to run VBA codes. Follow these simple steps:

1. First, go to the File tab and click on the “Trust Center”

category.
 2. From here click on “Trust Center Settings”.
3. Now in “Trust Center Settings”, click on macro settings.
4. After that, click on “Enable all macros with Notifications”.
5. In the end, click OK.

85. AutoCorrect Option

If you do a lot of data entry in Excel, then this option can be a game-
changer for you. With the auto-correct option, you can tell Excel to
change a text string into another when you type it.

Let me tell you an example:

My name is “Puneet” but sometimes people write it like “Punit” but the
correct spelling is the first one. So, what I can do is, use autocorrect
and tell Excel to change “Punit” into “Puneet”. Follow these simple
steps:

1. First, go to the File tab and go to options and click on the

“Proofing” category.
 2. After that, click on “AutoCorrect Option” and this will open
the auto-correct window.
3. Here in this window, you have two input bars to specify the
text to replace and text to replace with.
4. Enter both values and then click OK.

86. Custom List

Just think like this, you have a list of 10 products that you sell.
Whenever you need to insert those product names you can insert
them using a custom list. Let me tell you how to do this:

1. First, go to the File tab and go to options and click on the

“Advanced” category.
2. Now, drill down and go to the “General” section and click
on “Edit Custom List…”.
3. Now in this window, you can enter the list, or you can also
import it from a range of cells.
In the end, click OK.
Now, to enter the custom list you have just created, enter the first
entry of the list in the cell and then drill down that cell using the fill
handle.

87. Apply Table

If you use pivot tables a lot then it’s important to apply the table to
the raw data. With a table, there is no need to update the pivot table’s
data source, and it drag-down formulas automatically when you add a
new entry.
To apply the table to the data just use Ctrl + T keyboard shortcut key
and click OK.

88. Gridline Color

If you are not happy with the default color of cell gridlines then you
can simply change it with a few clicks and follow these simple steps for
this:

 First, go to the File tab and click on the “Advanced” category.

 Now, go to the “Display options for this workbook” section
and select the color you want to apply.
  In the end, click OK.
Related – Print Gridlines

89. Pin to Taskbar

This is one of my favorite one-time sets up to save time in the long
run. The thing is instead of going to the start menu to open Microsoft
Excel, the best way is to point it to the taskbar.

This way you can open it by clicking on the icon from the taskbar.

90. Macro to QAT

If you have a macro code that you need to use frequently. Well, the
easiest way to run a macro code is to add it to the Quick Access
Toolbar.

1. First, go to the File tab and click on the “Quick Access

Toolbar” category.
2. After that, from “Choose Command from”, select Macros.
3. Now select the macro (you want to add to QAT) and click
on add.
4. From here click on “Modify” and select an icon for the
macro button.
5. In the end, click OK.
Now you have a button on QAT that you can use to run the macro
code you have just specified.
Related – How to Record a Macro in Excel

91. Select Formula Cells

Let’s say you want to convert all the formulas into values and the cells
where you have formulas are non-adjacent. So instead of selecting
each cell one by one, you can select all the cells where you have a
formula. Here are the steps:
1. First, go to Home Tab ➜ Editing ➜ Find & Select ➜ Go To
Special.
2. In the “Go To Special” dialog box, select formulas and click
OK.

92. Multiply using Paste Special

To do some one-time calculations you can use the paste special
option and save yourself from writing formulas.
93. Highlight Duplicate Values
Well, you can use a VBA code to highlight values but the easiest way is
to use conditional formatting. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. First of all, select the range where you want to highlight the

duplicate values.
 2. After that, go to Home Tab ➜ Styles ➜ Highlight Cells Rule
➜ Duplicate Values.
3. Now from the dialog box, select the color to use and click
OK.
Once you click OK, all the duplicate values will get highlighted.

94. Quick Analysis Tool

If you ever noticed that when you select a range of cells in Excel, a
small icon at the bottom of the selection appears? This icon is
called the “Quick Analysis Tool”.

When you click on this icon you can see some of the options which are
there on the ribbon which you can directly use from here to save time.

95. RUN Command

Yes, you can also open your Excel application using the RUN
command.
  For this, all you have to do is open RUN (Window Key + R)
and then type “excel” into it.
 In the end, hit enter.

96. Open Specific File

I’m sure like me you also have a few or maybe one of those kinds of
workbooks that you open every day when you start working on
Excel. There is an option in Excel which you can use to open a specific
file(s) whenever you start Excel in your system. Here are the steps.

1. Go to File ➜ Options ➜ Advanced ➜ General.

2. In general, enter the location (yes, you have to type) of the
folder where you have those file(s) in “At startup open all
the files in”.

97. Open Excel Automatically

Whenever I “Turn ON” my laptop the first thing I do is open Excel and
I’m sure you do the same thing. Well, I’ve got a better idea here, you
can add Excel to your system’s startup folder.
 1. First, open “File Explorer” by using the Windows key + E.
2. Now, enter the below address into the address bar to open
the folder (change the username with your actual
username).
 C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\
Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
3. After that, open the Start Screen, right-click on the Excel
App, and click Open file location.
4. From the location (Excel App Folder), copy the Excel App
icon and paste it into the “Startup” folder.
Now whenever you open your system, Excel will automatically start.

98. Smart Look Up

In Excel, there is an option called “Smart Lookup” and with this option,
you can look up a text on the internet. All you have to do is, select a
cell or a text from a cell, and go to Review ➜ Insights ➜ Smart
Lookup.
Once you click on it, it opens a side pane where you’ll have
information about that particular text which you have selected. The
idea behind this option is to get information by seeing definitions, and
images for the topic (text) from different online sources.

99. Screen Clipping

Sometimes you need to add screenshots to your spreadsheet. And for
this, Excel has an option that can capture the screen instantly, and
then you can paste it into the worksheet. For this go to ➜ Insert ➜
Illustrations ➜ Screen Clipping.

Related – Excel Camera