Excel formulas can always be very handy, especially when you are stuck with data and need to get something done fast. But how well do you know the spreadsheet formulas?
Discover these 15 extremely powerful excel formulas and save a ton of time next time you open that spreadsheet.
1. Change the case of cell contents – to UPPER, lower, Proper
Boss wants a report of top 100 customers, thankfully you have the data, but the customer names are all in lower cases. Fret not, you can Proper Case cell contents with proper() formula.
Example: Use
proper("pointy haired dilbert")to get Pointy Haired Dilbert
Also try lower() and upper() as well to change excel cell value to lower and UPPER case
2. Clean up textual data with trim, remove trailing spaces
Often when you copy data from other sources, you are bound to get lots of empty spaces next to each cell value. You can clean up cell contents with trim() spreadsheet function.
Example: Use
trim(" copied data ")to get copied data
3. Extract characters from left, right or center of a given text
Need the first 5 letters of that SSN or area code from that phone number? You can command excel to do that with left() function.
Example: Use
left("Hi Beautiful!",2)to get Hi
Also try right(text, no. of chars) and mid(text, start, no. of chars) to get rightmost or middle characters. You can use right(filename,3) to get the extension of a file name 😉
4. Find second, third, fourth element in a list without sorting
We all know that you can use min(), max() to find the smallest and largest numbers in a list. But what if you needed the second smallest number or 3rd largest number in the list? You are right, there is a spreadsheet function to exactly that.
Example: Use
SMALL({10,9,12,14,26,13,4,6,8},3)to get 8
Also try large(list, n) to get the nth largest number in a list.
5. Find out current date, time with a snap
You have a list of customer orders and you want to findout which ones are due for shipping after today. The funny thing is you do this everyday. So instead of entering the date every single day you can use today()
Example: Use
today()to get 08/13/2008 or whatever is today’s date
Also try now() to get current time in date time format. Remember, you can always format these date and times to see them the way you like (for eg. Aug-13, August 13, 2008 instead of 08/13/2008)
6. Convert those lengthy nested if functions to one simple formula with Choose()
Planning to create a gradebook or something using excel, you are bound to write some if() functions, but do you know that you can use choose() when you have more than 2 outcomes for a given condition? As you all know, if(condition, fetch this, or this) returns “fetch this” if the condition is TRUE or “or this” if the condition is FALSE. Learn more about spreadsheet if functions like countif, sumif etc.
Where as choose(m, value1, value2, value3, value4 ...) can return any of the value1,2.., based on the parameter m.
Example: Use
CHOOSE(3,"when","in","doubt","just","choose")to get doubt
Remember, you can always write another formula for each of the n parameters of choose() so that based on input condition (in this case 3), another formula is evaluated.
7. Repetitively print a character in a cell n number of times
You have the ZIP codes of all your customers in a list and planning to upload it to an address label generation tool. The sad part is for some reason, excel thinks zip codes are numbers, so it removed all the trailing zeros on the leftside of the zip code, thus making the 01001 as 1001. Worry not, you can use rept() the extra needed zeros. You can also custom format cell contents to display zip codes, phone numbers, ssn etc.
Example: Use
zipcode & REPT("0",5-LEN(zipcode))to convert zipcode 1001 to 01001
You can use REPT("|",n) to generate micro bar charts in your sheet. Learn more about incell charting.
8. Find out the data type of cell contents
This can be handy when you are working off the data that someone else has created. For example you may want to capitalize if the contents are text, make it 5 characters if its a number and leave it as it is otherwise for certain cell value. Type() does just that, it tells what type of data a cell is containing.
Example: Use
TYPE("Chandoo")to get 2
See the various type return values in the diagram shown right.
9. Round a number to nearest even, odd number
When you are working with data that has fractions / decimals, often you may need to find the nearest integer, even or odd number to the given decimal number. Thankfully excel has the right function for this.
Example: Use
ODD(63.4)to get 65
Also try even() to nearest even number and int() to round given fraction to integer just below it.
Example: Use
EVEN(62.4)to get 64
UseINT(62.99)to get 62
If you need to round off a given fraction to nearest integer you can use round(62.65,0) to get 63.
10. Generate random number between any 2 given numbers
When you need a random number between any two numbers, try randbetween(), it is very useful in cases where you may need random numbers to simulate some behavior in your spreadsheets.
Example: Use
RANDBETWEEN(10,100)may return 47 if you keep trying 😉
11. Convert pounds to KGs, meters to yards and tsps to table spoons
You need not ask Google if you need to convert 156 lbs to kilograms or find out how much 12 tea spoons of olive oil actually means. The hidden convert() function is really versatile and can convert many things to so many other things, except one currency to another, of course.
Example: Use
CONVERT(150,"lbm","kg")to convert 150 lbs to 68.03 kgs.
UseCONVERT(12,"tsp","oz")to findout that 12 tsps is actually 2 ounces.
12. Instantly calculate loan installments using spreadsheet formula
You have your eyes on that beautiful car or beach property, but before visiting the seller / banker to findout of the monthly payment details, you would like to see how much your monthly / biweekly loan payments would be. Thankfully excel has the right formula to divide an amount to equal payment installments over given time period, the pmt() function.
If your loan amount is $125,000,
APR (interest rate per year) is 6%,
loan tenure is 5 years and
payments are made every month, then,Use
PMT(6%/12,5*12,-125000)which tells us that monthly payment is $ 2,416 if you keep trying 😉
Also, if you want to find out how much of each payment is going for principle and how much for the interest component, try using ppmt() and ipmt() functions. As you can guess, even though EMIs or loan installments remain constant, the amount contributed to principle and interest vary each month.
13. What is this week’s number in the current year ?
Often you may need to find out if the current week is 25th week of this year. This is not so difficult to find as it may seem. Again, excel has the right function to do just that.
Example: Use
WEEKNUM(TODAY())will get 33
14. Find out what is the date after 30 working days from today ?
Finding out a future date after 30 days from today is easy, just change the month. But what if you need to know the date thirty working days from now. Don’t use your fingers to do that counting, save them for typing a comment here and use the workday() excel funtion instead. 🙂
Example: Use
WORKDAY(TODAY(),30)tells that Sep 24, 2008 is 30 working days away from today.
If you want to find out number of working days between 2 dates you can use networkdays() function, find out this and a 14 other fun things you can do with excel.
15. With so many functions, how to handle errors
Once you get to the powerful domain of excel functions to simplify your work, you are bound to have incorrect data, missing cells etc. that can make your formulas go kaput. If only there is a way to find out when a formula throws up error, you can handle it. Well, you know what, there is a way to find out if a cell has an error or a proper value. iserror() MS Excel function tells you when a cell has error.
Example: Use
ISERROR(43/0)returns TRUE since 43 divided by zero throws divide by zero error.
Also try ISNA() to findout if a cell has NA error (Not applicable).
Give these functions a try, simplify your work and enjoy 🙂
28 Responses to “Pimp your comment boxes [because it is Friday]”
This borders on Excel soft-cell...er, soft-core...porn. My favorite kind.
Wow, that is pimp-TASTIC! I have a question, as a VBA n00b: additional comment boxes stay plain unless I "run" the macro. Is there a way to change all comments, going-forward?
hi Chandoo, well, I like the macro approach. For those who don't like it, there is another way: just add the "draw" toolbar to the shapes toolbar (via Custom etc), click on "edit comment", click on the auto-shape and then choose "draw" drop-down, --> modify auto-shape --> then you even can have a heart or a banner (I like the horizontal banner in in purple :-)) . in excel 2007, you have to add this custom menu that you choose via Excel Options --> Custom --> it is called "change/ modify auto-shape"!!!
best,
@Chandoo. Great Post 🙂
@Tim : the way the macro is coded, it must be run very time.
@Community: If someone has an idea to perform it when opening an existing excel, it should be nice.
@Community: if someone has some code to revamp the commentboxes on all sheets, please share it. 🙂
@Microsoft Excel-progammers: some pimpoptions for the commentboxes should be great.
Cheerio
Tom
For the auto run, please add the codes in workbook:
Private Sub Workbook_SheetActivate(ByVal Sh As Object)
Call Comments_Tom
End Sub
Wow, that was a lot of fun... Thanks Tom!
@Jeff... Now, 5000 people know about your favorite porn... 😛
@Tim ... you can write an event to handle the new comments. I wouldnt recommend it as it is really painful. another option is to use the macro suggested by Yukikomi. It will update comments everytime you activate the sheet.
@laguerriere: very cool 🙂
@Chandoo ... Thanks! This is good stuff. I combined your tip with a tip from Mark O'Brien, then assigned it to a button on Excel 2010's Quick Access Toolbar, to format comments AS I add them. I also like how Mark's code saves me the trouble of backspacing my name out of new comments:
Sub AppendToExistingComment()
'Source: Mark O'Brien at http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57296
Dim oRange As Range
Dim oComment As Comment
Dim sText As String
'Use object variable to hold range.
Set oRange = ActiveCell
'Use object variable for comment
Set oComment = oRange.Comment
'text to be added to the comment box
sText = InputBox("Type text to be added:", "APPEND TO COMMENT TEXT")
If Len(sText) = 0 Then End
'If Active Cell has a comment then append new text to the end of the comment text
If Not oComment Is Nothing Then
sText = oComment.Text & vbNewLine & sText
oRange.Comment.Delete
End If
'Add a comment with the contents of sText
oRange.AddComment sText
DoEvents
Comments_Tom
End Sub
Thank you very much for the code, it seems to be working for the most part; I am having a problem however. Once the routine makes the corrections to the comment, the comment becomes invisible. By invisible, I mean that when I highlight my mouse over it, nothing appears. However, when I right click the cell and click 'edit comment' then the comment becomes visible and I enter edit mode. Upon clicking out of the comment, it simply vanishes again. I've tried to fix this problem by adding a .shape.visible = msoTrue but then every comment is always visible. o_O please advise...
Thank you,
Nick
@Nick- That is because the font color of the comment is white and when you select the color of selection is also white hence you can not see anything. Try to change the color code in the routine to something else. would work
Thanks for that! The code works perfectly!
[...] look at Format Excel Comment Boxes using VBA Macros | Chandoo.org - Learn Microsoft Excel Online [...]
@ Chandoo - code works great and the comments look super cool. But I have ran into a small issue. In the comments, I am inserting pictures. When I run the macro, for all comments which already have pictures; pictures are deleted. Pls help me retain the pics in comments.
[…] posted some code one of his readers submitted, it "pimps" your comment boxes from those boring black-text-on-yellow rectangles to something more professional and eye-pleasing. […]
love in it
Hi Tom,
This looks really excellent. I am however relatively new to macros / VBA codes so having copy pasted your code in the Developer mode of an Excel file, what are the next steps to use them? Can you please help? Just to recap, I opened a blank Excel workbook, clicked on Developer, copy pasted the comments code and saved the file to the desktop.
Now how do I go about using it to add comments to an existing file? My apologies for asking a question which may be basic to you great geniuses, but I am not there yet and aspire to get there.
Many thanks for helping me with next steps that I need to take so that I can now use the code.
Best Wishes
Deepak Dave, CMA, MBA, PMP
Senior Management Consultant
Dear Dave,
The best thing to do is to copy the macro in the personal.xls(x) file. The personal excel file will always be launched when you open excel so you can use it with every excelworkbook.
Read all about it on the page of Microsoft.
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Copy-your-macros-to-a-Personal-Macro-Workbook-aa439b90-f836-4381-97f0-6e4c3f5ee566
Once you have the macro in the personal, you can 'call' the macro by the keyboardcombination 'alt+f8' and klik on the macroname.
Hope this clarifies the 'how to'. Good luck with your first steps in the wonderfull world of macro's.
Tom
Hi Tom,
Many thanks. I will try that out. Learning is fun and learning this stuff is even more amazing.
Best Wishes
Deepak Dave
There is a line 'Dim LArea As Long' which does not appear to be used. Have I missed something?
Dear Gary,
Correct the 'Dim LArea As Long' is indeed not relevant and can be deleted.
Tom
Excellent hack!
For some reason when I opened my file after using LibreOffice Calc, all comment boxes had changed to some arrow shape.
So this macro helped me from manually changing more than 5000 comments in a worksheet, or having to install some Excel extension.
I used it with the following attributes to get back old style comments:
It helped me from manually changing more than 5000 comments in a worksheet, or having to install some Excel extension.
.Shape.AutoShapeType = msoShapeRectangle
.Shape.TextFrame.Characters.Font.Name = "Calibri"
.Shape.TextFrame.Characters.Font.Size = 10
.Shape.TextFrame.AutoMargins = True
.Shape.TextFrame.AutoSize = True
Thanks a lot!
This was helpful, thank you
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the articles is really great : D. Good job, cheers
Is there code to add to this that will format a particular part of the comment (i.e. make the last sentence in the comment bold and in italics)?
This is fantastic!
How would I add auto-sizing to it?
I tried adding this:
.Shape.AutoSize = True but it gives me an error and as a novice at VBA I can't figure it out.
.Shape.TextFrame.AutoSize = True
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How should the code be changed in order to tun once for all worksheets in a workbook?