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I am meeting Mr. Excel aka Bill Jelen tomorrow. What do you want to ask him? (book giveaway too)

interviews - 264 comments

Bill Jelen a.k.a. Mr. Excel - I am meeting him for first time tomorrow (10May2013). Post your questions to him and you could win a book.One of the beautiful things about working on internet is you know so much about people even before you meet them first time. I think I first heard about Mr. Excel in 2006, when I started my career as business analyst. I landed on mrexcel.com while searching for something related to doing cluster analysis using Excel. In a way, mrexcel.com inspired me to share my thoughts and techniques on Chandoo.org.

So it wont be an understatement when I say, I feel like a kid in candy store knowing that Bill Jelen aka Mr. Excel is just a few miles away from where I live. Since Rob Collie and Bill are good friends, I asked Rob if we 3 can meet for dinner. And Bill said yes. 

I am meeting Bill for dinner on Friday and Rob, Bill & I will be discussing spreadsheets, technology, share our experiences and bump ideas off each other.

So what is in it for you?


But I want you to be part of this too. So go ahead and  post your questions to Bill in comments. I am going to ask him all these and feature in an interview style post (with a photo Bill and me of course) next week. You can ask anything related to Excel, Bill’s life, mrexcel.com or general stuff. Hilarious, whacky, outright fun questions are welcome.

Bonus: Signed copy of Bill’s book

I will pick one random commenter (on this post) and send her / him a signed copy of one of Bill’s books. I am trying to get Excel 2013 in-depth, but the title may change if we cant get hold of a copy in time.

The book will be autographed by Bill Jelen, Rob Collie and yours truly.

I am sure as a Chandoo.org visitor, you know the value of this. Just in case you don’t, here we go: You might be able to sell it for millions if the world becomes spreadsheet oriented as we approach singularity 😛

Go ahead and ask your questions

Go ahead and ask your questions thru comments. (Click here to comment)

Chandoo

Hello Awesome...

My name is Chandoo. Thanks for dropping by. My mission is to make you awesome in Excel & your work. I live in Wellington, New Zealand. When I am not F9ing my formulas, I cycle, cook or play lego with my kids. Know more about me.

I hope you enjoyed this article. Visit Excel for Beginner or Advanced Excel pages to learn more or join my online video class to master Excel.

Thank you and see you around.

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264 Responses to “I am meeting Mr. Excel aka Bill Jelen tomorrow. What do you want to ask him? (book giveaway too)”

  1. John says:

    Bill,

    what tools/utilities/templates/methods/best practise would you advise to use for documenting a Spreadsheet so it can be passed on to another person/user.

    Regards

    John

  2. My question would be: "what is the best way to prevent making mistakes in excel, mistakes like not the correct range, wrong references ie"

  3. Jeff Standen says:

    Mr. Excel - Did you decide to go into Excel because of your name, or is it just a happy coincidence?

    • Akash says:

      And I would have asked,

      Did Microsoft took your name for it's awesome product? Because that's what I think Bill Gates should have done. 😀

      • Jeff Standen says:

        Yeah, that's better - 'How did you feel when Microsoft named one of its flagship Office products after you? You must have been very proud!'

  4. Vasim says:

    Okay.....so first one for MR Excel.....Considering the name (Mr Excel)...how much time do you really spend on Excel...

  5. nur fund says:

    Mr. excel, I want to learn how to connect ms excel to database application such as ms access, mysql, oracle, etc. as a front-end for data entry or data analysis.
    what do you say about it, whatever?
    thank you and also for chandoo.

  6. Dawn Gilbert says:

    What is the best method to merge two spreadsheets with unique IDs into 1 worksheet. Unique IDs may be in one or both worksheets but should not be duplicated in the final resulting spreadsheet.

  7. Dawn Gilbert says:

    What is the best method to merge two spreadsheets with unique IDs into one worksheet. Unique IDs may be in one or both worksheets but should not be duplicated in the final resulting spreadsheet.

  8. Mr. Excel -
    If there was only time enough left on this earth for one last spreadsheet, what should it be of?
    Jordan

  9. Danielle Desrosiers says:

    What are the five functions every user of Excel should master?

  10. Michael says:

    Mr. Excel,

    When did you decide to become Mr. Excel; What made you decide to make a living teaching about Excel?

  11. Heather R says:

    Mr. Excel & Chandoo -

    what really drew you into working so heavily with Excel? I think I learned to love Excel when I realized that the logic I learned doing coding in BASIC was still viable when writing formulas in Excel (Okay, so the phrasing changed - but my thought process, how to find the right code/formula really did not.)

    Also - bonus question, if 42 is really the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything - how can we make use of that in our pursuit of Excel Bliss?

  12. Mike H says:

    WHat is hte best way of formatting an excel data sheet to ensure that when you later refresh any data You remember what sections are linked, which are formula's and what is from an external data source.

  13. Monique says:

    When working with Pivot Tables, I like for my Pivot Table Field list to be undocked so that I can move it around if necessary. Sometimes I need to be able to see the data behind it. My question is this: Is it possible to modify the Pivot Table Field list so that it is more transparent?

  14. Brandon Moxley says:

    Mr. Excel,

    What would you say are your most used worksheet functions?

    Also, conditional formatting can be very powerful if used correctly, but is there a way to prevent the references from changing when you copy and paste ranges?

  15. Naina says:

    Going from beginning to intermediate level in excel, I had a tendency to use unrequired overcomplications... On those lines, what are your top 5 excel tips for intermediate excel users like me?

  16. OLA says:

    Quite often, we raise invoices in the finance depts, and these are made to follow one another on a sheet for easy purpose. How can one now rule off the face of a sent invoice accordingly so that there would not be confusion, with notations like: "TREATED", 'SENT", "PAID", among others?

  17. David says:

    What are you views on Best Practice Spreadsheet Modelling Standards developed by the Spreadsheet Standards Review Board?

  18. Jess says:

    What do you feel are the most underused and misused functionalities in excel?

  19. Henson says:

    Are there any Open Source products that even come close to matching Excel's Service Service BI capabilities? Do you see the market becoming any more competitive?

  20. Andrea R says:

    Mr. Excel, How would you recommend getting started with Power Pivot when you don't currently have the time to take Mr. Chandoo's surely awesome course? 😉

  21. Kevin says:

    Why do you hate the database functions?
    =dcounta, =dsum, =daverage

  22. Abbas says:

    What is the one functionality in Excel you would love to see? Also, on similar lines, what Excel problem most stumped you?

  23. Antonina says:

    I am a Virtual CFO for and I'm finding that most of them use a program called InfusionSoft for tracking their sales conversions, sales for products and services. Is there a way to integrate data from Infusionsoft to Microsoft Excel and create financial models with them?

  24. Brad says:

    What is the best way to build complex files (multiple sheets, macros, extensive VBA code, large amounts of critical data) for others to edit and update in the future?

    another question-
    What's the best way to make limited parts of these sheets accessible to larger groups, while preventing the majority from "breaking" these sheets? Password protection alone isn't enough because some access is required.

  25. Alfred Vachris says:

    Tell Bill Hello.
    Alfred Vachris Notre Dame BS Mathematics '62
    Excel SIG Chair NYPC

    Best Regards
    Alfred

  26. Cordell says:

    The world is rapidly moving to mobile devices and tablets and away from traditional PCs and Notebooks. This is also moving people away from traditional software to apps. What does your crystal ball say is the future for Excel as people move to apps and mobile devices?

  27. Bob says:

    How will the Fighting Irish do this year? Is a national championship in our near future?

  28. Marian says:

    What do I tell my recent college grad to convince her of the value of learning how to become an Excel expert?

  29. Kim says:

    What is the one function in Excel that you couldn't live without?

  30. Krishna Khemraj says:

    Ask Bill if he has any tips or pointers on how to get management in a large company to adopt the new technology. We are still on Win XP and we just migrated to Office 2010 but I can't get anyone to authorize power pivot or data explorer.

  31. Bob Kendall says:

    Why are we unable to easily create/modify an icon in the Excel 2010 Ribbon/Quick Access Toolbar as we were able to do back in Excel 2003. Those green bubbles drive me nuts!

  32. Jennifer says:

    It sounds like you are making the most of your visit to the USA. I have other books from Mr Excel and would love to have the Excel 2013 book. My question would be is there an Excel skills test available that you would recommend?

  33. Jennifer Ruddy says:

    Can you explain how to conduct a regression analysis in Excel?

  34. Robert Grocoff says:

    Hi Bill, I have worked with Excel for about 20 years now and have seen many changes in the software for the better. I use version 2010 now at work. My question is have you ever had a dream while sleeping about using Excel or creating a spreadsheet?
    Thank you for all your useful information.

  35. John K. says:

    Bill, I was very excited to get 2013. It has a lot of nice features, but I had to quit using it for charts because it wouldn't respond to secondary axis formatting. I often change the chart to add a line instead of a bar on the secondary axis. Once I did that, it wouldn't scale at all. It just remained a flat line hugging the x-axis, no matter what I did on the secondary axis: line, bar, area - all were unresponsive to scaling. I thought it might be a corrupt excel file, and created new files but wound up with the same problem. Has anyone else reported this problem?

  36. Avi says:

    Mr. Excel, why are you not as popular as Mr. Chandoo?

    Maybe the invitation should have been other way around. Him excited to ask you for an opportunity to have dinner 🙂

  37. Jomili says:

    How would you motivate a person to learn Excel, one who didn't know Excel well, was afraid to venture beyond what he already knew, but absolutely needed to learn to grow in his job?

  38. I would like to see "drop down" functionality for cells containing a lot of text so I can keep the row height small in my risk register and still access the text (e.g. by clicking on a 'down-arrow') without having to resize the rows. (My monitor display is not enormous.)

  39. Patrick says:

    Harvard economists Rogoff and Reinhart have adversely affected many national economies, and millions of people, partly due to errors in their use of Excel.

    Can you isolate the quality in spreadsheets, or Excel which obscures potentially catastrophic thinking?

    For Rogoff and Reinhart, or all of us, is it lack of diligent, methodical checking habits?

    Or, is it a seduction away from true intuition by orderly figures and graphs?

    Or, is it something more banal?

    Whatever it is, it has really hurt, real people.

  40. Muhammad sajid chaudhry says:

    Bill was your inspiration, I want to know who inspired bill for making such a fantabulous website called mr.excel. Many people don't know who bill Jelen is, but mr. Excel is known by millions.
    Now where's my copy of the book;

  41. Rob says:

    Mr. Excel, what sort of graph would you use to replicate Mr. Chandoo's signature hair style? Scatter, radar, or something as equally unique?

    • Tara says:

      I'm fairly new to using the automatic calculations in Excel. I have a new job that would be greatly improved as i become knowledgable and need a jump start. my company has Microsoft Excel 2010; can you recommend a book with the functions in a concise manner?

  42. Bryan Tyner says:

    What's your favorite Excel joke?

    How about an Excel pick up line?

  43. josh says:

    How does an excel geek (such as myself) overcome the difficulties of presenting data to managers in spreadsheet form? My customers (bosses and CEO types) often want a high level picture that is drillable, but are not willing (or able) to figure out tasks such as adding a field to a pivot table.

    thanks for your thoughts

  44. Darren Gregg says:

    Excel has developed dramatically from the Days of Lotus 123 back in the 90's. As an Excel professional what do you feel could be further done to develop Excel to make it the ultimate professional tool for accountancy and analysis?

  45. Why do we need to learn how to create Dashboard in Excel 2007 or in Excel 2010?? What is the purposes for using Dashboard in business or in any company?? Which corporation in the world do use Dashboard in Excel 2007?? I could not find online to buy a Dashboard DVD to learn myself how to create step by step oin the market???

  46. Jim Simmons says:

    Mr. Bill,
    With all the uses for excel, why hasn't the true potential of excel been realized in the business world? Is it too easy to find another program that is easier? Do you see the use of Visual Basic increasing as people realize its full potential in programs like Excel?

    Thank you.
    Jim

  47. Shelli says:

    Without using SQL server, what specs should your PC be in order to handle spreadsheets that have 1000's of rows of data?

    If I were to buy an IPad or Samsung tablet, can Excel 2010 be ran effectively on it?

    • Hui... says:

      @Shelli
      Excel can handle up to 1,048,575 rows of data if you have 1 header row
      I'd suggest any high end PC with lots of Memory, I have 16GB and rarely have problems.

      When using large data sets, think about using Power Pivot.
      That makes things a lot faster and doesn't require access to an SQL server.

      There are advanced Excel techniques which enable working with large data sets to be achieved a lot more efficiently than you may believe

  48. Soli Deo Gloria says:

    What advice would you give to someone who was considering trying to get into professional Excel consulting? (Feel free to add your own advice too, Chandoo!)

  49. tenzing says:

    congratulations Chandoo. What an honor. My respects to Mr. Excel.

    My questions already been asked, but for the signed book: What’s the best way to make limited parts of sheets accessible to others, while preventing it from “breaking” these sheets?

    Another one, how do I recover deleted excel sheets?

  50. Erick Blandon says:

    What is the best way to work with too big database in excel (over 100,000 rows), when formulas slow down the workbook?

  51. Joyce says:

    I started using spreadsheets back in the early '80s. Spreadsheet capabilities and functions have changed a lot in thirty years. What do you see are the next big change that will occur (or are needed) in spreadsheets?

  52. Jacqueline says:

    I I've slicers to use with pivot tales and charts is there a way to copy to say PowerPoint snd be able to use them instead of opening the sheet in excel

  53. Rich Soby says:

    Years ago, there was a program called BRIO which was the first to use PIVOTs. They got bought by Hyperion, which got bought by Oracle to replace their package for OLAP analysis. The one thing BRIO could do, that I miss in Excel is to be able to place Non-numeric data in the data field. THis was a really powerful capability as you could matrix rows and columns and use an 'X' in the data field to see where data was, and was not. Excel can only do that with numbers, but if you are looking for nulls, blanks, bad data etc, the X was a visual tool to aid in that. -Does Bill see this in excel's future??? or a way to do this??

  54. Robert says:

    I am frequently making excel files for someone else in my company. How should someone go about making an excel file when they are not the end user? There are always differences between what the end user has in mind for the file and what I think would be the best final product, in regards to structure, formatting, etc.... How should this be handled?

  55. Emma says:

    What is the best wayto learn how to make amazing charts in Excel?
    like infographics!

  56. If you had to go on a first date with any formula, who would you pick, and why? who wouldn't you pick, and why not?

  57. Nick M says:

    Two part question:
    1) Why are the Cleveland sports teams cursed so bad?
    2) When will said curse end? This of course assumes an end is even possible.

    Thanks,
    Nick from Cleveland

  58. Cherrill M says:

    What's the strangest question about Excel that you've ever been asked?

  59. Chris says:

    What is your least favorite "enhancement" Excel has received over the years?

  60. Tammy Porter says:

    I would love to know where to find a free quick reference guide to make formulas and excel chart tips on the internet.(in plain terms) I use them daily, but sometimes I have difficulty making it do what I want. This guide would be quite helpful. Hope to win free book, hopefully it will be full of all these tips and tricks. P.S.-I love Excel-it is my favorite computer program. Even though I do not know everything about it, I can make it do lots of great things and help my co-workers also.(I have been using it for the past 10 years and have learned a lot myself, but your blog is very helpful.)
    Thanks for all your support.

  61. George Werner says:

    Ask Bill if there was there ever a situation or problem when excel could not perform the necessary calculation that stumped Bill.

  62. Usman says:

    I want to ask Mr. Excel, tell me the thing that you find most awesome in excel, I mean what makes you say Wao....for me the whole excel is but I want one thing, formula or technique from you

  63. Juan says:

    What an amazing opportunity to meet Mr Excel, that's fantastic, a dream came true!
    I'd like to ask what is the most strange application of Excel in real life?

  64. Angela J says:

    How would you handle the development of large complex files that have mutiple large data sources that require extensive data correlation and manipulation, that also require dynamic dashboarding (charting & reporting) while balancing processing performance?

  65. Jerry Erwin says:

    Do you think Microsoft will continue to support vba in the future?

  66. Saurabh Biswas says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    Pls ask him to visit India and plan a session for all the excel lovers like us:):)
    Also convey my best & sincere regards for all his generosity extended to us via Mr.Excel.com.
    Thanks
    Saurabh

  67. Daniel says:

    Have you ever come to Peru, or planning to do so?

  68. R says:

    Mr. Excel,

    Which day in your life has been the most exciting and why?

  69. Normand says:

    What is the most valuable/usefull function/formula/command Excel is missing?

  70. Jim Williams says:

    Like you Chandoo, Mr Excel is essential to any Excel user to learn and hone our trade craft. Each of you have strengths that help make us awesome! Picking from one of your emails I'd like Mr Excel's take on what he thinks are the top ten essential formulas every serious excel user needs to know to be a cut above the rest.

    I really enjoy the fact that Bill often teaches the shortcut strokes along the way.
    Welcome to America Chandoo -trust you and your family have an awesome experience.

  71. John Luff says:

    What are the five best things to know in moving to Excel 2013 from 2007?

  72. Ashit Shroff says:

    Which is the most difficult formulae/function in Excel?

  73. I have a two part question for Mr. Excel:

    1. Over the years and all of the variations Excel has gone through, what is the one addition/upgrade that you have found the most useful?
    2. And of those additions/upgrades, what is your favorite overall?

    Thank you and thanks to you and Chandoo for all of your amazing lessons in Excel that you have shown the world.

    - Mark J. McCormick

  74. Robert Talambiras says:

    Handling complex numbers in Excel is nightmarish. Is there any sensible way to manipulate them and round them off, as is done in any scientific calculator (TI or HP) ?

  75. Kamran Butt says:

    What would be Excel major features in year 2050?

  76. John DeWaard says:

    What about Sharepoint's Excel services.
    Doesn't seem to have the same punch visually as the client. Within the BI spaces, excel does a decent job, even when hooking into cubes, but the visual aspects leave a lot needed. In my opinion. What are you guy's thoughts?

  77. Karthik says:

    Which according to you is the best way to stay updated on what's new in excel?

  78. Sanjit says:

    So what next.....Mr Excel

  79. Nilanjan Das says:

    What is the short term and long term future of Spreadsheets? Where are Spreadsheets heading? In the modern app driven world where Mobile Devices are becoming increasingly popular, what is in store for Spreadsheets?

  80. José Lôbo says:

    Just say to him I am very thankful for his help.

  81. Antonio says:

    Chandoo, thank you for letting us be part of your meeting with Mr. Excel.
    Question:
    How can I setup a conditional rule on a dynamic name range?

  82. Michelle G says:

    Hope you are enjoying your dinner! What is your most favorite excel function?

  83. Shafaque says:

    I need to know a date function to calculate the production targets excluding Week ends & hloidays,. For Eg when I insert a start date & End date in a formula in other words if I add 20production days the End date must come excluding the holidays. Pl help

  84. Tonie Salzano says:

    What tools/utilities/templates/methods/best practise would you advise to use for documentaion and Version control. How could you compare your current version to the last working version to see what you messed up? Including VBA and functions?

  85. K-Li-Ch says:

    I would like to ask Mr. Excel to write the most (future) relevant article in the world about advantages and disadvantages (problems) of Calculated Pivot Fields and Calculated Pivot Items.

    Thanks in advance.

  86. Samyak Manandhar says:

    How long can MS Excel dominate spreadsheet world (or be relevant) esp. after Microsoft starts charging very high ($139 for 1 pc Vs 139 for 3 pc in the past) for regular Office software, where Google is virtually giving its web based spreadsheet free and it’s not any more cool to have Microsoft anymore?

  87. Jim'57 says:

    For a user with Win 7 and Excel 2012, what do you recommend as the best method for the "owner" of an Excel workbook to use keep ALL changes they make to an Xcel workbook consisting of periodic worksheets for that workbook book which consists of data such as: names/names/dates/email addresses, amounts, formulas, etc.,
    and be be able to ID the date of each change and easliy determine the file name of each shhet and the most current copy of each sheet!

  88. Jim'57 says:

    Thanks!

  89. Henry says:

    1st. Getting a Kindle copy of mastering 2013 should be incredible. I have a question but for the 4 of you - or may be I don't know the answer. Several administrative people whom I teach how to do a simple Dashboard for reporting allways ask me why doesn't Excel come with a function to make a simple dashboard from a pair of tables? (such as administrative monthly report is). Intead of presenting the table report they want to present simple dashboards. My job is to present them with the possibilities of Dashboard reporting but it seems to me that Excel could give directly some simple dashboards, with 4 or 5 alternatives fo where to present the graphics for the Dashboard (simple ones, 4 to 6 in a window or A4 paper). Thank you from Argentina !!!

  90. Meagen says:

    What is the best formula to use when trying to pull data into to cell for multiple criteria? Array? Index Match?
    Thanks!

  91. Hi,
    I would like to ask Bill.....over the years....how did he accumulate so much information in Excel......how does one become a genius in excel in one's lifetime.......

  92. Brian says:

    What would you add (take away) to improve excel?

  93. Naveen says:

    Hi Chandoo sir its a gr8 honour to meet such a gr8 person my question is how is excel going to be changed in the near future & changing the business, best used functions by Mr Excel, lastly what's the limit to Excel.... Mr Excel need to bring some certification programs

  94. Joan Swenson says:

    How can you automatically update excel charts in a powerpoint slide? Unfortunately, the data source files are renamed each month and everything ends up having to be re-linked with the new names. I have 120 slides I prepare for the BOD and it takes a full day to update. I would like to automate it so that once I update the database file with the new data, the slides in PPT automatically reflect the changes.

  95. joseph burbea says:

    given a certain number of files (N) whose total sizes is (Z) and the task is to distribute the files to (F) folders so that each folder would not be greater than the average of the files per folder (Z/F). since only whole files would be assigned to a folder one extra folder would be needed. My solution takes a long time because of the need to search the greatest remaining unassigned file and after assignment to a folder resort the files. also I need to execute the module for each file.

  96. Joe G Kushner says:

    In terms of Excel knowledge, as the program continues to evolve, do you think there is a critical break between older versions and new and if so, what can employees do to convince their employers to upgrade and take advantage of these new features? For instance, at work, most of my coworkers use 2003 and I'm on 2007 and I can tell waves of differences and from what I see of 2010 and 2013, features like Power Pivot and Slicers, it seems another important upgrade.

  97. Lance says:

    Mr. Excel,

    If you could be a chart type, what kind of chart type would you be?

  98. Annie says:

    Firstly, thank you (to both MrExcel and Chandoo) for creating aweome webistes. They have made my life easier when struggling with excel!
    My question is, where do you see the future of excel (and spreadsheets in general) given the well published error made by Reinhart and Rogoff.

  99. joseph burbea says:

    Given N files that their total sizes is Z and the task is to distribute the files to F folders so that each folder would not exceed the size of Z / F. because whole files are assigned to a folder an extra folder would be needed to contain all the files. My problem is my algorithm in which for each iteration of my module I need to find the greatest in size of the remaining unassigned files which is not bigger than the open slot available in a given folder and after occupying the size of the found file in that slot I resort the files to remove the found files from the searched files.
    For N = 1200 and for F = 200 and Z / F = 25000000 it took me one hour and a half to execute the module 1200 times to distribute the file to 201 folders. The first folders containing few files and then to folders that had many files in them.
    Probably there is a better method to solve the assignment.

  100. Nimit says:

    Hello,

    Sir, what is the best way to learn VBA if you have no programming and analytically background?

  101. Swapna Bellare says:

    perhaps a question to Microsoft, but do you have recommendations/ thoughts on how excel can venture in text/web/social media analytics since it is such a buzz these days?

  102. Gary Glover says:

    How were you able to learn so much about excel? Can you suggest a best resource?

  103. Sam Mathai Chacko says:

    Chandoo, this is more of a question to you, than to Bill. But of course you could take it up with him if you think it's worth his time at all.

    In a country like India, what are the prospects of a Microsoft (Excel+VBA) Evangelist? We have countries like America, UK, Canada etc running Excel courses right from school, and certainly in colleges. Over the decades, you would have noticed that there's a huge population of Excel developers from the West and Europe, but less as you move towards Middle East and Asia. And India has one of the densest hives of logical minds, programming wizards and developers. The opportunities to innovate, build and develop in an MS-Office Suite boundary is limitless (well, maybe not to the extend of latest programming technologies). But I see a void in terms of the penetration that Excel has in the minds of aspiring programmers, developers and business analysts, as a platform to make good, or even better, use of ones brain and capacity, compared to the brain-space being spent / used by people who consider themselves programmers and coders (in maybe DotNet, or Java, HTML, or any other language for that matter). So coming back to my original question, how much of an opportunity can a Microsoft Evangelist have in a market like India. And should Microsoft invest in such individuals to spread the gospel of spreadsheets? With the world moving towards the so-called 'Singularity', India will also be bound to certain rules and boundaries, inevitable ones at that. Isn't it time that MS made a move at a national level, or even an above-country level, focusing on developing countries that span from the western tip of Asia all the way down and across to the South East.

  104. Lori says:

    Thanks for this opportunity! I work in Excel 2007 and 2010. Is there a way to collapse rows? dependent on input in a certain field? I am creating a worksheet questionnaire. If the input is NO in E50 (for example), I'd like rows 51-65 to collapse/hide. Thank you!

  105. Bernice says:

    First let me say that I am in no way an Excel guru or even close to it. I receive my emails from Chandoo and love them. My question is: I have created a personnel directory in excel. Actually, I'm continuing where some else left off by adding and deleting to it. I was not the original creator. Anyway, when I click on a cell to select it, somehow it highlights the next two or three cells beneath the one I want. What is that about? and how can I change that? It's so frustrating. I have to move my mouse way up in order for it to remove the highlighted cells. Your help would be greatly appreciated. It's probably a quick and easy fix. Thank you, Bernice Davis.

  106. Mike Moscato says:

    Dashboards are fascinating and it is a use of excel that most people never know. Do you have examples that you can share as well as on best practices on how to design?

  107. Iain says:

    Is it currently, or do you think it will be in the future, possible to calculate medians as well as averages of a series of values in PivotTables ?

  108. Bev says:

    Mr Excel as well as yourself have helped me out of many binds!
    Thank you

  109. SirJB7 says:

    This is a question for which I haven't found not yet the answer but not even a clue thru many years. In fact there are two:
    Mr. Excel, may I call you Bill? This was the first one.
    Bill, what are you waiting to hire me? This is the important one.
    And don't cheat and ask Chandoo for references...
    Regards!

    • Chandoo says:

      Bill says he wont respond to anything less than Mr. Excel (note the dot).

      and secondly, he says he is waiting for you to finish 5k forum posts 😛

      • SirJB7 says:

        Tell Bill I've mastered both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of a Quentin Tarantino's movie.
        About 5K forum posts, if I were him I wouldn't dare to say such a thing, it'll be like taking candy from a baby, unless I wanted to bet on something with odds against 10:1...

  110. Michael Armstrong says:

    Chandoo--
    Please ask Bill if Zeke and Josh are awesome with Excel and how does he teach them about Excel. Thank you. Michael Armstrong

  111. Teddy says:

    Chandoo;
    Thank you for all the good work you do for the world. I have always believed that knowledge is not copywrited, and you have proven that.
    What is "Mr Excel's" recommendation for intermediate-advance Excel users?
    Teddy

  112. Ann says:

    Hi Chandoo and Bill,

    I know both of you are super experienced and talented in Excel!
    I am wondering if you can do a live instruction (hands-on) class in an office setting?

    My boss and I would be very interested in learning new things and enhancing what we already know and use. We are both accountants and are at the intermediate level but feel like a beginner's level some days, if you know what I mean 😉

    Please contact me via email at a.wang@ccm.to (work email) and/or cookiedoll168@gmail.com (personal email).

    Thank you so much,
    Ann Wang

  113. Crystal says:

    What I would love to ask is about future-proofing and backwards compatibility.
    I'm on Excel 2003 (govt department with no budget) and we're only just about to get 2007. I've got a lot of spreadsheets with vba routines to handle the masses of data processing I have to do, and I've tried to keep it simple so it will keep running, but when major features like pivot are being discontinued, and I can't do anything in power pivot yet until they ante up for 2010, (although I have 2010 and 2013 at home) is it better to try to break the routines down into even simpler processing (defining arrays etc and processing within the routine) that nobody else will be able to tweak/fix and build in as much flexibility via user input as possible to offset the lack of pivot functionality in the output, or to create dual spreadsheets for 2003-2007 and 2010+?

  114. Dan Killion says:

    What is most vexing excel problem that when you worked through brought the greatest sense of satisfaction?

  115. Nancy says:

    I would like to see compatability between versions of Excel. I work with Excel at work (version 7) and at home (version 7). I would like to upgrade at home so I could take Chandoo's new course but then I would encounter difficulties with different versions when I bring work home. What do you recommend?

    Thanks
    Nancy

    • SirJB7 says:

      Nancy, if I were Chandoo I'd recommend you to take his new course (and all of the old ones too), there you'd learn how to handle different versions, ... but definitively take a course with me.
      Regards!
      PS: Maybe I'd be skipping this question between those sent to Bill... he give courses too 🙂

  116. Ron says:

    I also get emails from mr. excel.

  117. niclo says:

    What is your opinion about open source software? Shouldnt Excel follow that path too eventually?

    and thanks Bill and Chandoo for you help!

  118. Jai says:

    Ask mr excel why in the world of Minitab, SPSS etc etc people should learn excel?

  119. Bob Houle says:

    Google Docs spreadsheet's "=GoogleFinance(symbol,attribute)" function allows me to pull specific stock attributes to plug into a series of cells without all the rest of the clutter that Excel's "Data/ExistingConnections/MSN MoneyCentral Investor Stock Quotes" presents.

    How can I get Excel to give me this functionality so I can produce a worksheet that looks like this:

    SYMBOL

  120. Bob Houle says:

    Google Docs spreadsheet's "=GoogleFinance(symbol,attribute)" function allows me to pull specific stock attributes to plug into a series of cells without all the rest of the clutter that Excel's "Data/ExistingConnections/MSN MoneyCentral Investor Stock Quotes" presents.

    How can I get Excel to give me this functionality so I can produce a worksheet that looks like this:

    SYMBOL

  121. Don Wright says:

    Great Guest ! Luv that Jelen !

    Question: Can Pivot Table from EXCEL load directly into ACCESS?

  122. Bob Houle says:

    Google Doc's "=Google.Finance(symbol,attribute)" function allows me to pluck from the internet specific stock attributes for a series of symbols.

    MS Excel, using the "Data/Existing Connections/MSN MoneyCentral Investor Stock Quotes" only accepts one symbol at a time and then downloads a full page of data (when I only need one specific attribute).

    Is there a way to get Excel to do this?

    PS: Chandoo ... I posed this question to you over a year ago and no answer so here's your chance to stump MrExcel! Hope you and your family are enjoying your stay in the USA.

  123. delvillardennis says:

    My question to Mr. Excel...in conditional formatting, why is it not possible to make a formula that is linked to another or separate spreadsheet?

  124. Could you ask Bill, what does he see as the future of Excel? How will it evolve? What features can we expect in the coming years?

  125. Lynn says:

    Hi,

    Is there a way to reduce the amount of time in refreshing new data when 50+ pivot tables are linked to the same data source?

    Thank you!

    • Hui... says:

      @Lynn
      If you mean to save from clicking on each and doing a Refresh,
      then Yes, setup a macro to do it

      • Lynn says:

        @Hui,

        For clarification, the source data have a few columns with formulas (vlook-up and IF statement) and 60,000+ rows of data and it's linked to 50+ pivot tables/charts in one file (25 mb+ save as .xlsb). The data refresh takes a long time when clicking on "refresh all". The current work-around is saving two files - one with the formulas in the source data and the 2nd one - paste values in the source data to speed up the updates. Is this an efficient process?

        • Chandoo says:

          I would try to see if we can reduce the pivots. It is rarely the case that you can look at output of all 50 pivots in one instance. So may be a bit of restructuring the reports and files can solve this.

          • Lynn says:

            Thank you for your feedback. I do know that not all pivots are being used but management wants to keep all since there are 40+ end users reviewing the sales data.

          • Geoff says:

            @Lynn

            It would be worth investigating whether there are many pivot table caches, and whether they can be reduced in number by having many tables reference the same cache. That way, updating a single cache refreshes many pivot tables at once.

  126. BEN says:

    Hey Bill,
    My question is "What do you think the most important personal traits or quality that a financial modeller should have to succeed in life?"
    Be aware your answer will set the direction in next 10 years of my life...
    Have fun, mate.

  127. JENN says:

    When dragging down a formula the row numbers in the cell reference automatically increment. A1, A2, A3 etc. I need to to increment the row references in a column while I drag ACROSS. In other words, I need to vlookup against a column of numbers with the results displayed horizonatlly based. (I am making a linesheet based on a column of data.) So cell A1= A1, B1=A2, C1=A3 etc. So far I have had to drag the formula across then change the row references manually. Is there another, faster way? I hope this question makes sense. I'm new at this...

  128. Hui... says:

    I Don't follow Mr. Excel, but I still have a question:

    Q. When is he going to be old enough to Shave ?

  129. John Hackwood says:

    Hey Bill love your podcasts, great for a quick Excel hit before getting lost in all daily chaos. I once did a 3 hr domestic flight and got through about 50 in one go and my head hurt!

    I have 2 quick ones:.
    Do you think an Excel developer or freelancer needs to Learn Access?

    I never see much in forums or books on the MS query feature, do you agree it's not so well known and is it useful?

    John Hackwood

  130. Allison says:

    Firstly thanks to MrExcel and Chandoo for sharing so much info, it has really helped me.
    Pivot tables can perform calculations on columns but not on rows, this make it difficult to used a pivot table for financial reports e.g. profit and loss where you need to add/subtract the expenses from the income. People don't like to have negative values displayed on financial reports and the pivot tables simply add the data. Therefore I need to write a whole lot of VBA coding to reformat the data, it seems a big gap when business want to perform this regulary?

    Do you think future versions of Excel will move to be able to perform the same calculations on rows as columns? Or do you have a magical trick?!

  131. Ron says:

    What feature(s) makes Excel 2013 a "must have" purchase?

  132. Glenn says:

    I'd like to ask him if he's changed his opinion on "option explicit" - i.e. forcing variable declaration (he's not a fan according to his book 'VBA and Macros for Excel 2007'). This surprised me, as it conflicts with most of the expert advice I've received (including intensive paid courses). Despite disagreeing with him on this point, I've found his book and website extremely helpful, so please pass on my thanks.

  133. Brian Adams says:

    Chandoo & Bill,

    I can't thank the both of you enough. Your web sites and forums have been invaluable in my work and career (even though I am a statistician and most statisticians wouldn't touch Excel with a ten foot standard deviation).

    My question is: I've created many add-ins that I haven't yet tested in Excel 2010 or 2013. What should I be on the look out for compatibility-wise?

    Thanks again

  134. Ashish Youngy says:

    Mr. Excel,

    I'd like to hear from you about how to turn Excel into a standard business tool for small and mid size business. All master data for business to be uploaded and cotrolled from backed database server and being queried from Excel frontend for reporting purpose. Also, how to control masterdata in backend from the Excel frotend. Bottom line is I want to learn how to use Excel + SQL as a small business application (Generating few hundreds or couple or thousands transactions per day)

    Chandoo - Expert advice from a business analyst is specially requested 🙂

    Thanks A Lot,
    Ashish Youngy, New Delhi, IN

  135. late learner says:

    Can a progrramme be written for the following situation? in C or C+ or C# or dot net in excel formula or any other language
    1. Nine numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8and 9 are to be filled in 12 adjacent cells in a row in an excel worksheet.
    .A cell can be blank. It can contain one or more numbers.
    In a row a number can appear only once. But all the 9 numbers should be in a row
    In a cell the order of numbers does not matter. ie., 2,3,5, is the same as 2,5,3 or 3,5,2, or 3,2,5 or 5,2,3 How many rows will be needed to fill the cells in all possible combinations with the conditions stated above
    for example
    1 9 2345678 (One row - three cells contain numbers –nine cells blank)
    123 457689 (next row- two cells contain numbers- ten cells blank)
    812564 3 7 9 (next row- four cells contain numbers- eight cells blank)
    123456789(next row- one cell contains numbers- eleven cells blank)

    I am a beginner and I am yet to learn even the basics. I am learning slowly.
    Actually I wanted this information regarding filling cells , in the study of astrology. There also I am a beginner. 'The twelve adjacent cells ' in my question refers to the 12 zodiac signs. The numbers '1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,and 9 'in my question refer to the nine planets ( we can call them heavenly bodies because the sun which is a star is also grouped with the others as a 'planet') in Hindu Vedic Astrology namely Sun, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Rahu(Shadow planet) and Kethu(Shadow Planet). The positions of these heavenly bodies at the time of ones birth are noted in one's birth chart called horoscope. Each row represents the horoscope of one individual. So I wanted to find out how many combinations of the positions of the planets are possible. Actually I am trying to fill the cells manually. The manual work seems to have no end. So out of necessity I am trying to find an easier way to fill cells.
    late learner.

  136. Brian says:

    Why is it that I can't print some reports in Excel 2010.

    I can print some but not all in the same workbook.

    The only way I can print is to copy the required worksheet to a new blank worksheet and then I can print it out.

    YOYOYYOY

    Thanks for your help.

    Brian

  137. Amit Lunia says:

    how do you change the world for better with MS Excel

    on a more serious side

    can we make a Programme with ease of MS word, functionality of MS Excel, feel of Power point and and data storage like MS Excess

  138. Bibhas Kar says:

    How to use vlookup, and other excel formula?

  139. Karthi Ganesh says:

    Hi Chandoo and Mr.Excel (what a sweet name),

    My comment is you guys are rock star for Excel lovers like me!

    My Question is
    "Can you list top 5 best practices for leveraging Excel for SharePoint using Excel Services?"

    Regards
    Karthiganesh aka KG

  140. Bhavik Khatri says:

    When will there be Financial Modelling book from Mr Excel covering from Finance Perspective?

    I have few ideas which Im willing to share.

  141. Bhavik Khatri says:

    When will there be Financial Modelling book from Mr Excel covering from Finance Perspective?

    I have few ideas which Im willing to share.

    Kind Regards

    Bhavik

  142. Bhavik Khatri says:

    When will there be Financial Modelling book from Mr Excel covering from Finance Perspective?

    I have few ideas which I am willing to share.

    Let me know.

    Kind Regards

    Bhavik

  143. Kaushik Natarajan says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    Firstly, i would like to thank you for the great job that you are doing by starting this wonderful blog and over the years it has given me a new perspective in my ways of working in excel. I have actually fallen in love with excel and am always amazed at the things that we can achieve through this software. My question to you is that what are the career opportunities that i can pursue in the field of Excel?

  144. Bin Xu says:

    Hi Chandoo and Bill,

    I know both of you are super heros in Excel! I read almost every book written by Bill.

    I can not imagine how you two will discuss about Excel:)

    My questions is
    what is the best way to coach others in Excel, when most of them even do not know what they can do with Excel?

    Thank you and kind regards from China,
    Bin Xu

  145. Ravi Kumar says:

    Chandoo,
    GM.. I request you to ask him this:

    "How you feel about the success in what you took up and what more left that is yet to be achieved in this field related to Excel ?"

    Thank you.

  146. Sekhar says:

    Hi! I am worried about certain features of Excel and Word - most versions. For instance, in Word (later versions) it is impossible to print the bottom border of a document. The line does not appear at all though it is visible on the screen.

    I am aware this comment has to be about Excel. Here my peeve is in the Pivot table. When I print a pivot table, I would like to be able to make it appear presentation-worthy with all bells and whistles. This is something I have not been able to do. Help please!

    • Chandra Sekhar says:

      Hi! I am worried about certain features of Excel and Word – most versions. For instance, in Word (later versions) it is impossible to print the bottom border of a document. The line does not appear at all though it is visible on the screen.

      I am aware this comment has to be about Excel. Here my peeve is in the Pivot table. When I print a pivot table, I would like to be able to make it appear presentation-worthy with all bells and whistles. This is something I have not been able to do. Help please!

  147. Ravi Kamana says:

    Hello Chandoo,
    I want to know the future of the Excel VBA as "How long it lasts as an application that is worthy to learn, as many of the aspirants are worrying about it".

    RK

  148. Yogesh says:

    Thanks a lot for this opportunity.
    Q - When we type number in cell, the cell length automatically increases and for text it doesn't. What could be the reason for the same?

    Thanks.

  149. Natvar says:

    Mr. Excel
    How is it possible to generate database with thumbnail and large image?
    I am waiting for unique idea.
    -Natvar

  150. Vivek Phadke says:

    As MS EXCEL has become the lifeline for database management, analysis and reporting of many organisation (Small or Big), it has become necessary to improve Excel skills in Undergraduate level. Can we have such modules designed (including Assignments) for UG and PG level students?
    I fell a standardized module from expertise like yours will surely help.

  151. Sandeep says:

    Here are my questions -
    1. With BI and PowerPivot in Excel 2013 and charting getting more and more snazzier what will Excel 2023 look like?
    2. Is there a possibility that the best fearures of Excel, Word & Powerpoint can be integrated into one product?
    3. Despite all that Excel is, is there something from its counterparts long lost gone (e.g. QuattroPro, Lotus1-2-3, VisiCalc) that Excel can yet borrow from?
    4. What are the similarities and differences between InfoGraphics and Charting?
    5. Besides exploration and books is there a third way or more to learn Excel?

  152. mike salmon says:

    1. What the future of Excel look like, in other words, what is currently being developed by Microsoft team and advisors to team?
    2. "||" i recall was the 'don't print this row, even though shows on screen' in Lotus 123. This sure would be wonderful in Excel, why is it not a feature, so useful and seems so simple?
    3. Grouping worksheets into a binder (kinda like how Ashton's(?) Framework was pretty advanced in it's day, with much more seamless integration of wordprocesing and spreadsheets. Any chance for better wordprocessing and the binder concept for Excel?
    Chandoo, thanks for all you do, you are awesome! Wish i could sit at table next to you guys and listen in! Enjoy! Mike

  153. Bill, do you miss Clippy the paper clip?

  154. P.VIJAYKUMAR says:

    Hi Chandooji and Mr.Excel,

    Can u all Excel experts meet and create an association or a group (like some school's alumni) and create a website or database for excel which would all contain master ideas,solutions,tutorials,comments and tips for almost every problem of excel.That site would be like a wikipedia of excel containing all the required information or it would be the summary of all the leading excel sites.

  155. Arunas says:

    Hi Bill,

    What feature of Excel 2013 do you hate?

  156. Senthil kumar says:

    Dear Mr. Excel & Chandoo,

    Hope both are fine !!

    Q. Is it possible to generate graphs (trend) automatically and show it in insert comment of the cell
    EX. I have data as
    A1 B1 C1 D1 E1
    10 20 30 40 50

    When cusor is placed in C1 it has to fetch data of A1,B1, C1 and show it as trend, Similarly for D1 and so on and it has to be insert comments or just showing in any form

    Thanks !!

    Senthilkumat

  157. Rakesh says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    My main objective of posting this question here is to try my luck and get that autographed book :).

    I don't want to post a problem, as any problem is solvable. However, I want to understand how excel is rated when it comes to efficient hardware utilization. What are the current limitations, Excel has, when it comes to talking to hardware? And, what path has been decided in future for Excel for building this efficiency?

    Thanks,
    Rakesh

  158. Ehab Al Kaka says:

    How would the world look like without Excel?

  159. Adi says:

    Dear Mr. Excel,
    Privileged to put forth a question!

    I have always wondered... If there were just one application to make using excel, for the purpose of selling excel to a child, what would that be?

    Awaiting ur reply.. 🙂

    Thanks,
    Adi

  160. Manickkam says:

    Hi Mr. Excel and Chandoo,

    The question that I would like to get answer is.,
    - Do you think Excel has everything and can replace anything in the world technically for analyzing data. If not, What do you think excel has to add/integrate to do this, if possible.

    Thanks,
    Manickkam.

  161. Ara says:

    Hi,

    While there is a data validation set for a particular cell, we are able to copy and paste a data which is not part of the validation criteria. Is it possible to avoid it?

  162. Gynandra Naicker says:

    Chandoo - are your selling your site to Bill? Can I have his book before you do???

  163. shivaraj says:

    Hi,
    My questions:
    What the future of Excel will look like in the world of tablets and web ?
    - Will Excel web app replace the desktop version ?
    - Will some web scripting replace VBA ?
    - How Excel fits as a native app on tablet?

  164. Pritesh says:

    Mr. Excel,

    There may be a case when you might have spent a lot of time debugging an error, at the end realizing it was a silly mistake.

    Mr. Excel & Chandoo!

    Business idea for you!

    You both can create an Internationally recognized MS Excel certificate program with different levels, which will add value to a person who is doing it as well as companies will be aware that this guy knows Excel 🙂

    All d best! God bless you both!

    Thanks for your post! Now people call me to help me reduce their Excel time 🙂
    -Pritesh

  165. Abhilash VK says:

    Question to Bill through Chandoo,
    Bill: What made you to choose Excel as a part of your life? Who was the one inspired you to share excel stuff to the world? Last but not the least, Why cann't we have a hot drink party some time when you visit INDIA.

  166. Rashid qaisrani says:

    How i can add values in single cell and get accumulated result in other cell

    • Hui... says:

      @Rashid
      You may want to look at a small job I did for another reader.
      https://www.dropbox.com/s/llujjng9f06rihq/TESTING%20SHEET_Hui.xlsm
      Enter a value into a green cell and the cell accumulates values in itself
      That is if a cell has a value 200 and you enter 100 into the same cell it will now show 300
      If the cell has a value 200 and you enter -50 into the same cell it will now show 150
      enter C in a cell to clear it

      Hope you like the technique!

      • Rashid qaisrani says:

        Does not serve the purpose , do not make fool of us

        • GJ says:

          @Rashid: What!? No one talks to Hui that way!! Cease and desist!

          @Hui: Didn't need it, but the code is great : )

        • Hui... says:

          @Rashid

          I am disappointed.

          I am disappointed that you cannot see how my solution can be applied to your problem by simply changing one line of the VBA code in the sample file. The solution would simply involve adding an offset to an address.

          However, I am more disappointed in the style of your response.

          At Chandoo.org I have written over 80 posts on all things Excel.
          I have answered over 8,000 posts in the forums and here in the main Blog.
          Did I mention that I do this as a Volunteer !
          I don't work for Chandoo.org. I don't receive any commissions, pay, salary, inducements or other entitlements. Nothing.

          In 5 years here I have learnt patience. Patience dealing with people with less developed Excel skills than myself, patience dealing with language issues and even patience dealing with people who use Right to Left workbooks, yes they exist.

          This is the first time I have been taken to task and belittled for offering to help somebody for free.

          So as a non-employee I totally reserve the right to withdraw my support for people whom I deem are not worthy of such ongoing support.

          You are hereby No. 2.

          Hui...

          • Chandoo says:

            @Rashid, I totally agree with Hui's sentiments. When you go online looking for help, the least you can do is be courteous to whoever is trying to help you. Your response shows no gratitude whatsoever. This is not acceptable here.

  167. Kiev says:

    I just wonder that so many people have questions with Mr. Excel, can he copy with that? ...

    But still i have my question : What do you usually do on week end? still in front of computer ....?

  168. Ijjo says:

    How do I construct an Automatically calculating Income and Expenditure Excel Sheet?

  169. Mr QA Man says:

    If it wasn't Excel, what would it be? What other software package drives you?

  170. Rum says:

    Is there any way one can read the sheet names more easily. If the windows magnifier is used, it blocks out the bottom line. The print on the titles is rather small and very faint.

    Many thanks.

  171. dan says:

    With a dual screen monitor set up, how do I get a different spreadsheet in each window?
    Thanks
    Dan

    • Paul S says:

      With Office 2010, open up a second instance of Excel and drag it to your other monitor.

    • Rob says:

      Also, you can expand Excel to be spread across both monitors, de-maximize the sheets inside Excel, and move them side by side, adjusting so that they fill the Excel space in each monitor. Ugly, especially if your monitors are different sizes, but I sometimes do that if I need to visually compare two large blocks of data.

  172. prafulla says:

    can we use excel to create a word wheel utility, like there are abstract data in each cell @ 7 to 8 lines and thus there are 100 rows, so can we use some excel function to create word wheel, i.e. index this data and have a list of unique word in A-Z order as word wheel.

    Thanks

  173. Chandra Sekhar Pamidi says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    Happy meeting.

    Question:
    Few of the best challenges he faced while solving excel or questions received from users.

  174. Anwaar says:

    Mr.Excel,

    What inspires you the most and keeps you going day on day???

    Thanks Chandoo,
    Anwaar

  175. Rashid qaisrani says:

    How i can add values in single cell and get accumulated result in another cell

  176. Shivarudrappa BA says:

    Mr. Excel,

    What comes to your mind first whenever you open a MS-excel application? Do you have some ideas to change the people (or world) with MS Excel (for better)???

  177. Sreekhosh says:

    Mr.Excel,

    Who is most intelligent and knowledgeable person in excel you have ever seen?

    Thanks
    Sreekhosh

  178. Could you please ask Mr Excel if powerpivot is to replace the value of access?

  179. sachin says:

    How does the quest for Excel excellence started.
    Need your easy ways books to have a great and intresting excelling.

    Thks

  180. vinod soota says:

    Whatever I have learnt in Advance Excel is through you and through Mr.Jelen without knowing that I have learnt a lot from both of you. Internet has made it possible to learn from someone without knowing him. I am thankful to both of you.

  181. moin shaikh says:

    Hello,
    I am the most novice amongst all the people who are asking. Using excel for last 10 years. Still feel I dont know a thing about it. Every single day learn a new thing and feel like shouting EUREKA. Can anyone ever be able to beat Excel???

  182. Sri Ram says:

    Hi Mr.Excel,
    I have bundle of questions to ask you.
    1) Who teached you "Excel" in excellent way
    2) Whats your favourite formula in Excel?
    3) Whats your favourite software?
    4) What is your Strength and what is your weakness?
    5) How many ladies proposed you.........:)
    6) What do you suggest to a person, who wants to master in excel like you ( Chandoo plz ask this question without fail......)
    Finally, thank you so much Chandoo & Bill for inspiring us to learn new techniques in excel.
    Regards,
    Sri Ram

  183. Manik Nandi says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    I want to create a line chart using a Date Axis and if it is Sunday, Saturday it will show that date different color / if it is weekdays days will show in different color.

  184. Chris hicks says:

    I've been following Mr Excel and Chandoo for long time. Watching their videos and reading Mr excels books has taught me more than any class I've taken. Can't forget ExcelisFun, Mike Girvin. You guys are awesome!!!!! Thanks for everything.

  185. Ghazanfar J says:

    Does Mr Excel use any other spreadsheet software instead of Excel? What are the pet peeves that drive him elsewhere?

  186. Swati says:

    What do you thing is the most powerful element in excel?

  187. Paul S says:

    When going from 2003 to 2007/2010 and saving a workbook, sometimes there are compatability issues because the color scheme changed (or something similar issue). I keep getting the "compatability" message when saving and it is very annoying. What is the simplest/easiest way to convert everything to the new color schemes so that I no longer get that message? Thanks!

  188. Leonardo says:

    What has been the biggest challenge in excel, what was the request/problem that took him the longest to solve.

  189. Shashi P says:

    i) What action plan you guys suggest to MS in order to overcome the competition from Qlikview, SAS visual Analytics or other such softwares? No Doubt Excel is more user friendly as of now but lacks few of the excellent features available in other analytics softwares.

    ii) Can you guys put pressure on Microsoft to include Excel macro features in Sharepoint Excel services?

    • Frank Lau says:

      I think BI softwares and Excel are different kind of softwares.

      that is why they have different prices 😛

      Excel is more of a data handling software, recently I am studying crystal reports, I found some functions like dashboard, may be more suitable for softwares like Tableau or Dashboard SAP.

  190. Doug H says:

    For the Mr Excel question:

    What is your favorite Excel "Easter Egg"?

  191. Raj says:

    What is your opinion on cloud based free spreadsheets like google spreadsheets etc..will they kill excel completely?

  192. Vinu says:

    What is the future of Excel, how it's ready to face challenging, dynamic competition..

  193. Christine McManus says:

    When a copy a worksheet at had ranges on it the ranges are copied with reference to the workbook they can from. ex A1:B25 to
    C:\mcmanus\workbook13\A1:B25 is there a way to just copy to range without the link? Thanks.

  194. Patricia says:

    Any tips for linking Excel cells into Word when using Excel 2010's Paste Link command. Getting Excel cells to update seems to be problematic in this version as compared to earlier versions of Excel.
    Thank you.

  195. Jeff F. says:

    When refreshing my PivotTable it's slowing than a dead Yak. How can I make PTs refresh faster?

  196. Nikhil says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    My question is- as excel is growing so powerful what is the significance of Statistical Analysis tool in excel. Is this add-in feature of excel competent enough. Yes, would like to know if there is any tutorial available on this.

    Cheers!

  197. Anil G says:

    What is your favourite Excel function? Which function do love to hate?
    Would you an intelligent fill down where some parameters would follow a rule but others would not.

    A.

  198. Adrianne George says:

    Hello Mr. Excel,

    What are the top 3 things you think are the most important things you need to know/learn in order to excel in Excel, or to use Chandoo, be awesome in Excel.

    Thanks,
    Adrianne

  199. XSzil says:

    Scatter-plot boxers, or pie-chart briefs? Excel chicks want to know.

  200. Robin Brown says:

    I am attempting to create a spreadsheet for my weekly vacation swaps. Employees select between 1 and 5 weeks depending on the seniority. Vacation weeks start on Mondays of each week. Would like to have a main tab for all the weeks the employees selected, then 52 or 53 tabs with the name of the week of each tab. once the vacation on the main tab is changed the corresponding tab with the date is also changed. The number of employees that are on vacation for the week is totaled on each tab and on the main tab

  201. Robin Brown says:

    I am attempting to create a dashboard that will be interactive and user friendly. Our training department trains approximately 11 classes per year with 14 new trainees in each class. The new employees are trained on 3 different lines (red, blue, green). I would like to track each student in each class on a weekly basis using a dashboard.

  202. B. Helsel says:

    Question for Mr. Bill Jelen:

    What has proven to be the hardest or most perplexing Excel problem that you've tackled and solved? An unusual use for something seemingly unrelated to the problem... etc.

  203. Saúl Espinoza says:

    Mr. Excel and Chandoo, you guys really rock! Would you produce training material to post dashboard into Ms. share point 2010 environment Soon?

  204. Rajesh says:

    What is the best way to create/ combine several worksheets(50 or 100 with different formats) into one single sheet?

  205. Fahim says:

    I was wondering if Mr. Excel could suggest 20-25 must know formulas for spreadsheet modelling. Chandoo has already posted his top chart of formulas to become awesome in excel modelling. But having chance to learn from a different perspective from Bill...would love to know his insight on this...Thanks again to Chandoo for facilitating this opportunity...

  206. Mohammad hassani says:

    dear Chandoo and Bill i love you both.

  207. jayan says:

    Mr. Excel, what are your best practices for using Excel.

  208. Firas says:

    Hey,

    Just had a question. I have a list which i created, part of which includes an index match formula for a list of addresses.

    Naturally when i use the drop down list and select a different tenant, the addresses will change. However, I want to be able to DYNAMICALLY include hyperlinks to the address on google maps, so that when i change the tenant name, it will automatically link me to the address on google maps.

    Can you tell me how to do this?

  209. Nishant says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    Glad to know about your dinner plans with Mr.Excel.

    Can you guys discuss, if there is an easy option for combining different MS Access sheets into a single pivot table in Excel? and If we can include an auto refresh option for such pivot tables?

    Hope you guys will have lot of fun..and many more mind blowing things will come out, after your meet.

    Regards,
    Nishant

  210. Fernando Penido says:

    Actually the buzzword is Algorithms, do you think Excel fits well as a valid alternative in this field?

  211. Rafael says:

    With so many new apps for analytics coming up in the market, how do you see the use of Excel being impacted either positively or negatively? And, for us (Excel users) what would you suggest to do in the near future to ensure this amazing tool continues to be used as the primary tool for data analysis?

    Thank you,
    Rafael

  212. pradeep kalele says:

    I have a list, created for data validation. But when the user click it for data entering, he has to search that list as it is very long. Here I want that there should be an option for the user to find his data and select it to save the time. Kindly help.

  213. Pavi says:

    Hi Mr. Bill,

    Chandoo is my teacher tell me your teacher name?

    Regards,
    Pavi

  214. Shafiullah Shafi says:

    Dear Chandoo.

    Wish you are doing well and secondly I wish to convey my regard to Mr. Excel and tell him that we have learnt a lot of things from your and Mr. Girvin's viedios and we appreciate your great services.

  215. Hi Chandoo!

    The time is so ripe for you while meeting the great Mr.Excel (Bill Jelen) at US. The two Mega Ball games Mega Million & Power Ball Jackpots have grown so hefty @ $170 and $350 Million respectively to crack this week! If you wanna smart picks! just drop the number to make a good try!
    Regards.
    Mohan K

  216. Pablo says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    My question is, with so many questions, what it's my chance to win? Can Excel calculate the odds?
    Seriously, did Excel 2013 fixed the limitation to the 65535 rows that 2010 inherent for compability reasons when using Daniel's dynamic range formula (Excel Hero):
    =$A$6:INDEX(6:65535,COUNT($A:$A),COUNTA(6:6))

    Thanks,

  217. Cassie Garrison says:

    When did you first realized you were addicted to excel?

  218. bharath says:

    hi chandoooo
    i am very happy that u went usa
    u will be the top in excel world

  219. Nickey293 says:

    When and under what circumstances did you decide to go all-in on Excel?

    (sorry, didn't read all of the questions, so this might be a repeat of someone else's)

  220. hiren says:

    hi chandoo,
    Have a safe journy...
    can you ask one thing to him??
    is there any way to link the live score in excel??which can be auto matically refreshes it self....so that in office we can enjoy the matches???

    😉
    😉
    😉

  221. Swapnil says:

    Mr Excel,

    Why some reference formula like offset index match doesnt work with two different files.

    Regards
    Swap

  222. Frank Lau says:

    The question I would ask Bill is:

    "Nowadays, as the development of the BI systems like crystal reports, power pivotal, comparatively the power and function of excel appears weaker and weaker, and the automatic function of VBA and fomulars appear much more time consuming compared to BI packages and dashboard softwares like SAP dashboard.

    Bill, do you think the automatic function of excel will be out of time at some stage in the next, like 10 years? Like you mentioned in your Excel 2007 book, the VBA might only be supported by Microsoft in next 10 years or so, would it be dumped as to only a tool to automatic tedious jobs, rather than creative jobs, like dashboad?

    What is your vision of this industry? and this question is also to Mr Chandoo!

    Thank you!"

  223. Manuel Vasquez says:

    What function have you come across in excel that makes you scratch your head and ask, "What purpose would somebody use this function in a formula?".

    Thank You.

  224. Xiao says:

    I would like to ask Bill how can he so knowledgeable on Excel. Where he learned these skills from?

  225. Dibyendu says:

    I would ask what is the future of Excel PowerPivot in BI and Analytics. There are so many excellent tools and applications. Where do we see the adaptation of PowerPivot seriously taking up in comparison to Cognos, SAP BW, SAS, SPSS, R, etc. Everyone is talking about Big data can Powerpivot professional compete with these high end analytics tools

  226. Gopi says:

    Hi,

    How to extarct number from a text?

    For Ex: 1) Sample Text 100 Sample Text 200

  227. lipson says:

    i badly need email address of Mr.excel ( bell jelen) and Mike girvin or any contact so i can solve my excel problem as i am stuck up with one of my work issue

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