Here is a very quick tip if you ever want to hide a cell’s contents in excel
Just use the custom cell formatting (more here) code ;;;
How? (see the screencast aside too)
1. Select the cell you want to hide
2. Hit CTRL+1 (or open format cells dialog from right click)
3. Go to Number tab, select “custom” as the type
4. Type the formatting code as “;;;” without double quotes
5. Press OK and your cell contents are invisible now
What is the use of doing this?
1. This might be handy when you are using conditional formatting to highlight / change cell colors
2. This might be handy when you need to calculate intermediate values, but dont want to display them. (But try to use Hide rows / hide columns feature if you can)
Remember: This formatting code only blanks out the cell contents from being seen. They contents are still there and accessible for formulas, charts as such.
Also know how to display colors in chart data labels using custom cell formatting codes
What is your favorite cell formatting trick?
3 Responses to “How-to create an elegant, fun & useful Excel Tracker – Step by Step Tutorial”
Hi Chandoo,
I am responsible for tracking when church reports are submitted on time or not and the variations from the due date for submission.
Here is the Scenario;
The due date for the submission of monthly reports is on the 5th of each month. and I would like to know how many reports have been submitted on time (i.e, those that have been submitted on or before the due date) I would also want to track those reports that have been submitted after the due date has passed.
How can I create such a tracker?
Hi Chandoo,
I am a member of your excel school.
I was trying to create SOP Tracker I follow all your steps but I keep this error below.
The list source must be a delimited list, or a reference to a single row or cell.
I try looking on YouTube for answer but no luck.
can you help on this?
thanks
Carl.
Dear Mr. Chando,
Rakesh, I'm working in a private company in the UAE. Recently, I'm struggling to get more details about the staff sick, annual, unpaid, and leaves. I would like to get a tracker in excel. Could you please help me in this situation?
I also watching your videos in YouTube. i hope you can help me on this situation.