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Buying Guide: 14 Essential Microsoft Excel 2010 Tips for Intermediate Users
Contents
- 14 Essential Microsoft Excel 2010 Tips for Intermediate Users
- Open the Office Window on Two Different Views
- Get More Information from Excel's Status Bar
- Use a Named Range in a Formula in Excel
- Convert an Excel Formula Result Into Static Text
- An Animated Roadmap for the Ribbon Interface
- Automatically Fill a Row or Column with a Custom List of Names
- Friends Don't Let Friends Enter Bad Data in a Worksheet
- ...and Tell Your Friends Exactly What Kind of Data to Enter
- Line Up Multiple Sheets in the Same Worksheet for Inspection
- Conditional Formatting with Negative Numbers in Excel
- Display the Actual Cell Values When Creating or Editing a Formula
- Highlight All Cells Referenced by a Formula
- Highlight the Formulas that Reference the Current Cell
- Tidy Up Your Charts
Despite whether you're an Excel power user or just reasonably experienced with spreadsheets, it's worth making sure you've seen some of the new features in the Microsoft Office 2010 ($389 street, 4 stars) version of the program. The 14 tips and how-to items included in this article reveal a few of the new features while also pointing out how Excel users can make the most of them in the right way. And some of these tips cover essential intermediate-level skills that you should know no matter what version of Excel you use.
This list of tips and tricks is for "intermediate" Microsoft Excel users because they assume some basic understanding of how Excel works. However, it contains a lot of solid information for advanced users who are still adjusting to the changes in Office 2010.
For example, we'll explain the difference between "count" and "numerical count," how to convert the result of a function to plain text, and how to autofill a row or column with a list of names. We also have a bunch of tips for taming "the ribbon"—the new user interface in Microsoft Office 2010 that stands in for the old menus and toolbars.
For more tips and tricks, whether for advanced or beginner users of Excel, or those mucking around in other Microsoft Office 2010 programs, including Word and Outlook, see a list of links at the end of this article. Also see our review of Microsoft Office 2010 for Mac ($99 street, 4.5 stars). You can either read our tips in the slideshow below or page through them in the Table of Contents.—Next Tip: Open the Office Window on Two Different Views >
For more Office tips, see:
• 5 Essential Microsoft Office 2010 Tips for Everyone
• 15 Essential Microsoft Word 2010 Tips for Beginners
• 10 Essential Microsoft Excel 2010 Tips for Beginners
• 14 Essential Microsoft Outlook 2010 Tips for Beginners
• 14 Essential Microsoft Excel 2010 Tips for Intermediate Users
• 10 Essential Microsoft Word 2010 Tips for Advanced Users
• 5 Essential Microsoft Excel 2010 Tips for Advanced Users
• 8 Essential Microsoft Outlook 2010 Tips for Intermediate and Advanced Users
• 9 Essential Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 Tips
• 10 Essential Microsoft Access 2010 Tips for Beginners