Over the last month we have seen some 52, Excel Tips, Tricks, Cheats & Hacks presented by some of the best Excel practitioners on the net:
Excel Tips, Tricks, Cheats & Hacks – Microsoft MVP Edition
Excel Tips, Tricks, Cheats & Hacks – Chandoo.org Excel Ninja Edition
Excel Tips, Tricks, Cheats & Hacks – Notable Excel Sites Edition
Excel Tips, Tricks, Cheats & Hacks – Readers Prequil
In this final post I am presenting a compilation of Readers Contributions.
These have been compiled from comments on the above 4 posts and submissions sent directly to me.
I hope you enjoy the following Excel Tips, Tricks, Cheats & Hacks – Readers Edition
001. Toggle the Absolute/Relative $ Sign in Formulas using F4 – Desk Lamp
Instead of typing $AA$12 simply type AA12 then press F4.
Press F4 to Toggles through the sequence: AA12 -> $AA$12 -> AA$12 -> $AA12 -> AA12
You can read about Absolute vs Relative Cell References here
002. Current Region – Peter Carr
My favorite tip is the CurrentRegion of a range.
CurrentRegion is the contiguous range of cells starting from a cell, and moving out in all directions until an entire blank row or column is reached.
The current Region of the Yellow Cell above is the Red Outlined Area
Keyboard
From the keyboard you can do this by pressing Ctrl+* or Ctrl+A, which is a shortcut for GoTo, Special, Current Region.
VBA
In VBA you can use the Range.CurrentRegion property
If there is a block of data in B4:F10 with blank rows & columns around it
Dim myRange as Range
myRange = Range(“C8”).CurrentRegion
will set myRange to $B$4:$F$10
To identify the number of rows in a contiguous region.
e.g. intNumberOfRows = Range(“FirstCell”).CurrentRegion.Rows.Count
003. Select the Current Region using the QAT – Christine
In addition to the techniques described by Peter above, you can select the Current Region by adding an Icon to the Quick Access Toolbar.
Click on any cell and then click on the icon or use Alt+4
004. Find the Alt-Shortcut Key Number for the QAT – Hui
In the “Select the Current Region using the QAT” post above, Christine showed us how to use the Current Region Icon 
to quickly select the current Region. But how do we know it is the 4th Icon?
The Alt Number is Position dependent, in the example above the Current Region Icon is the 4th Icon from the Left in the QAT and so it is accessed by Alt+4
But by simply pressing the Alt key, Excel will show you the shortcut numbers for the QAT and all other Tabs
So we can see that the Select the Current Region icons is yes, No 4 and so Alt+4 is required to activate it
We can also see that the Record a Macro icon is number 08. To use that You use Alt+08 (Using the Number keys, not the numeric keypad)
Using Alt also shows you all the Tab shortcuts as well
005. Stay on the Current Cell after you press Enter – MF
Typically when entering data as you press the Enter key, Excel advances the current cell to the next cell as defined in the File, Options, Advanced, Editing Options menu
To stay on the current cell Simply press Ctrl+Enter instead of Enter
You can set your default move direction or disable Move Selection permanently by changing the option in the File, Options, Advanced, Editing Options menu:
006. Close a File Shortcut – Johnathan Cooper
Simply pressing Ctrl+W closes the current file
If the file has changed since the last save you are given the option to Save the file before it closes
007. Keyboard Shortcuts – Chirayu
Hide columns – CTRL + 0
Apply Filter (alternative) – SHIFT + CTRL + L
Clear Filter – ALT + D + F + S
Drag Down – CTRL + D
Drag Right – CTRL + R
Drag Up – ALT + E + I + U
Drag Left – ALT + E + I + L
Value Paste – ALT + E + S + V
Format Paste – ALT + E + S + T
You can find a comprehensive list of Keyboard Shortcuts at: Chandoo.org Keyboard Shortcuts
008. Use AutoCorrect to write formula – Wynn Hopkins
My favorite trick is using AutoCorrect to help write INDEX MATCH formulas..
Copy the following line into AutoCorrect and then use iii as the text to replace
=INDEX( DblClk_to_Select_Column_to_return, MATCH( DblClk_Single_Lookup_Cell, DblClk_Lookup_Column, 0),0)
This way whenever you need INDEX MATCH you just type iii and AutoCorrect kicks in and you are 3 double clicks away from a robust formula.
AutoCorrect is found in the File, Options, Proofing Menu
Contributor: Wyn Hopkins
009. Fill Blanks in a Data Table before use in a Pivot Table – RobD
When building pivot tables, it helps to have a full column of like values, so if you have a set up such as:
Where the data area has blank cell
Use this handy VBA
‘Change the MyCol value to match your value
Becomes…
Note: The code copies the text above the blank cell, and so the user must be careful that this is a valid assumption
010. Fill Blanks in a Data Table before use in a Pivot Table II – Jomili
Extending the technique shown above, Jomili supplied some VBA code that does the same as 007 above, except that it handles Multiple Columns at once as well as allowing Formulas to be converted to Values in the final result
So
becomes
by using this code:
011. QAT Copy/Paste Shortcut – Ian Watkins
By assigning the Copy, Paste Values and Paste Formulas Icons to positions 1, 2 & 3 of the Quick Access Toolbar
Instead of doing a big move of my hand from Ctrl+C to Alt+2, I can just move a finger from Alt+1 t copy
Click on the new cell and press Alt+2 or Alt+3 without moving my hand
Speeds things up quite a bit!
012. Customize Markers in a Chart – Chandeep
Customizing markers in a chart – http://www.goodly.co.in/customize-markers-in-a-chart/
013. Charting Hacks to work faster – Chandeep
Charting Hacks to work faster – http://www.goodly.co.in/5-charting-hacks-to-help-you-work-faster/
014. Seven Date formulas to make life easy – Chandeep
7 Date formulas to make life easy – http://www.goodly.co.in/date-formulas-in-excel/
015. Customised scrollbar using VBA – Chandeep
Customised scrollbar using VBA – http://www.goodly.co.in/customized-scroll-bar-in-excel/
016. Adding Direct Legends – Chandeep
Adding Direct Legends – http://www.goodly.co.in/how-to-add-direct-legends-to-the-chart/
017. Excel Ninja Menu – Krishna Khemraj
Select a cell or range then move till the 4-way cross appears.
Then Right-Click and drag the selection to another place in the worksheet then, like a ninja, a menu full of skills and throwing stars pops up allowing me to do all kinds of awesomeness.
When you click the fill box on a Date and Right Click and Drag it down, a lot of amazing Date options pop up.
018. Copy & Paste Filtered Data Only – Patricia
If you try to copy subtotaled data (and in earlier Excel versions filtered data), when you paste it all the data displays instead of just the summarized data.
To get around this, select your summarized data, click on Find and Select tab and then select Go to Special.
Click Visible cells Only and click Ok.
Now paste and you will see that only the summarized data has been copied.
You can also go CTRL+G and then click the Special icon at the bottom of the dialog box.
019. Clear Filters for the Current Column – Graham
With a table that is filtered, ensure the active cell is in the header of a filtered column and hit ALT + Down Arrow + C to clear the filter for the current column
020. Names Formula Tips – Pedro Paulo
You can bring up the Name Manager in Excel by pressing Ctrl+F3.
This lists the names used in your current workbook, and you can also define new names, edit existing ones or delete names from the Name Manager.
You can define several named ranges using data that’s arranged in neat tables. Excel creates named ranges from your selection and uses your data headings as the new names.
Make sure your data has headings (top row, left column, bottom row or right column) as these will turn into the names of your named ranges
Select the data including headings, press Ctrl+Shift+F3, in the dialog box select where your headings are (top row, left column, bottom row or right column) and click Ok.
Field Names which include spaces will be replaced with underscores
eg: Account Code will become the Account_Code named formula
021. Avoid Division by Zero – Ian Wilson
If a formula returns a number value, the Iferror() function can be used to isolate a returned value of zero.
You just need to utilize reciprocals:
1/(1/x) = x, however, if x = 0, then the function is an error.
My most common use of this feature is to return a blank instead of a 0.
=iferror(1/(1/sum(range)),””)
This could also be used to avoid division by 0 or replace 0s with a string.
022. Text to Columns Shortcut – Vishal Onkar
When working with lots of Text or CSV Files you invariably end up using the Text to Columns function repeatedly
This can be accessed by the ALT+D+E keyboard shortcut
023. Convert a Month in Words to a Month Number – Denys calvin
To convert a month in words (i.e., “August”) to its number (i.e., “8”), use, at least, the first three letters of the word in the following formula: =MONTH(“mmm”&1)
=Month(“March”&1) returns 3
=Month(“Mar”&1) returns 3
024. Trace Precedent/Dependents – Prashant99
Trace precedent cells Ctrl+[
Trace dependent cells F5+Enter or Ctrl+]
025. Resize Columns – Target
I routinely get sheets with data all smashed up which I hate and I’ve never been able to find a shortcut to do this.
To get around this I use the following VBA and assign a shortcut key (CTRL+Q)
It can be a nuisance if I’ve intentionally hidden columns, but the convenience far outweighs the inconvenience
026. Format Table Header Row – Ronnie
I use Tables many times a day and have a simple macro to give me a consistent Table format
The VBA Code:
027. Quickly Jump to Range – Efand
Type the range address directly in the Name Box and then press Enter to select it.
e.g: type A3:A6 will select its ranges without using any clicking and dragging
If you select a Range say B3:B6, then type a Name in the Name Box “From_Date“, Excel sets up a Named Formula referring to that range
If the Named Formula already exists, eg: From_Date, Typing From_Date into the box will take you to it.
You can also use the Drop Down next to the Name Box to select existing Named Ranges
028. Easily delete all Non-Formula cells – Martin
To easily delete all none-formula entries in a worksheet in one go:
Goto Home, Find & Select, Constants
This selects all cells that do not contain a formula.
Then just hit the delete button and you are done!
029. Reset all Cell Comments to the Same Style – Hui
To Reset all Cell Comments to the Same Style simply copy this code into a code module in your workbook
Edit the style parameters to suit your need
Run the code with F5
Closing
Many many thanks to the Microsoft Excel MVPs, Chandoo.org Ninja’s & My Favorite Excel Websites Authors for the 52 and You for the 29 Excel Tips, Tricks, Cheats & Hacks that have been showcased over these past 5 posts.
I hope you get to to revue all the tips and pass comments and appreciation back to the authors as appropriate.
I will re-run this series in May 2017 so keep a list of your new Excel Tips, Tricks or Hacks handy.
If you have any Excel Tips, Tricks or Hacks, Don’t be afraid to share them below in the comments:
36 Responses to “Visualizing Financial Metrics – 30 Alternatives”
Although I am one of the contestants, I must wholeheartedly admit that the Dashboard of Chandeep is the best of all. It's design, colors, message-conveying is the greatest. My regards!
I would like to learn how Chandeep highlighted the graph when he made a selection on the slicer.
Any links to previous posts perhaps where this was covered by Chandoo?
Thank You
Ahmad
Dashboard from Abhay simply rocks. To the point and conveys the intended message even for a novice.
Infographic by Pinank - is looking good
I have also contributed to this contest. I am really inspired by various entries in above post. Based on following parameters i would like to rate these:
1. Explanatory - Whether dashboard will be used to explain certain thing or mention a story. This type of dashboard will be static.
2. Exploratory - Here user would like to interact more with the dashboard to extract the relevant story or meaning which is not apparent. Hence, this type dashboard needs to have more interactivity.
3. Scalability - If new or more data can be added to dashboard and still the functionality will work. If user wants to add more companies, years, etc. will it work.
Based on above criteria I would rate following entries as top ones:
1. Explanatory - by Pinank
2. Exploratory - by Chandeep
3. Scalability - In most of the entries additional work would be required to include more data except for mine. new years or companies can be easily added and analysed in chart by me.
These entries are really inspiring i will definitely use it to revise my dashboard.
Abhay's dashboard is good however, if Chandeep can go with the trend analysis Abhay has done (line graphs), then maybe Chandeep's dashboard can excel.
And now I'm angry that I haven't noticed contest announcement earlier and I've sent what I've sent... Building a dashoboard was supposed to be my goal but lack of time forced me to sent sth simplier and now I can see how big mistake it was (when it comes to fighting a competition like this). Nice work guys! It's realy inspiring! Even less advanced works are intresting because of different task approach. So wance again: thanks 🙂
If I had to choose the best ones (IMHO) I would go for William and Edouard as a second place (for both). Despite some weak sides (like label errors or "work place" next to a final chart) they meet my sense of clear data visualisation and contain intresting interactive elements.
The best entry is definitly Chandeep's. Although there was some failing with automatical comenting feature (#arg! in my Excel'10) it's full of advanced dashboarding tricks which makes it easy to read. Furthermore, as one of the few he finished(?) his project - it opens in a "secured mode", with no place to mess anything, no data trash - just choose, point and read/print.
It all deserves to get the Grand Prize!
and BTW: when can we expect another contest? 🙂
Big round of applause to everyone who participated. I'm amazed at the creativity of our community. 🙂
My vote would be for Chandeep, MF Wong, and Miguel.
I have not contributed, but have read this post with a lot of interest. I would like to congratulate all participants for there work & inventiveness.
My #1 spot goes to Gerald for showing all the data in 1 graph & to have still kept it simple & readable.
I would give a prize for innovation to Pinank for the use of icons.
Great to see so much creativity.
I have not contributed also, but have wait his post for a long time (because I have the same kind of issue in my "daily life").
My top 3 is the following :
- Pinank for the effeiciency and for the style
- Arnaud for the calculation behind the chart
- Miguel for the elegant business oriented dashboard
All the entries look very good. However I feel Pinanks entry seems the best as it is very explanatory with good innovative thoughts.
Hi all,
Some brilliant dashboard and interactive entries - really nice stuff and lots of clever tricks.
However, given that the initial question was "Need to quickly visualize 3 variables ( Company, years, Financials) in a single […] chart", unfortunately I don't think any dashboards - as cool as they are - really answer that question. The interactives also assume that this will be opened in Excel rather than seen in a printed hand-out, which essentially means you'd need multiple charts to show all the variables or be limited to a computer screen. Even Chandoo's initial panel chart approach - which is static, and also very simple and clean - is not really a 'single chart'. Furthermore, most of the interactives don't actually show all variables at once but rather slice the data into more manageable chunks, which is not staying true to the original brief.
So, in light of the above, I'd vote for Gerald in first place, Edwin in second and finally my third chart option in third place (yes, I know, voting for yourself is poor form but unfortunately I think the original question disqualifies most of the entries).
Anyway, a fun competition and thanks for following up on this Chandoo.
I am once again in awe of the submittals to a Chandoo contest. The results are so impressive. I have been trying to build nice dashboards for years and take so many courses, but I don't seem to have the eye for design. The color choices, fonts and chart choices are so important and I'm amazed at how some people really have a great talent for making the best selections.
It's nice to have such quality inspiration!
I saw Chandeep's entry on his website and I must say that I was very impressed by it. Simply loved it. Somewhat makes it difficult to keep an open mind towards the other entries.
My ranking:
1. Chandeep for its completeness as dashboard.
2. MF Wong/Miguel for "simple" but smart graphs.
3. Pinank's entry looks like a page from a glossy magazine.
During scrolling I stopped at Chirayu's entry: easy to the eye.
But honestly congrats too all for having the balls to participate and thank you for sharing your creativity!! Hat's off to you.
Miguel, MF Wong, and Pinank.
Thanks to Chandoo and everyone who contributed for the great ideas.
Hi,
I personally liked the dashboard of:
1. Chandeep - His dashboard is clear, crisp and informative, his color combination and design is awesome, also he has shared few details like operating leverage plus he has added few comments. In totality, its a complete packaged dashboard.
2. Miguel - His dashboard is simple and all the information is visible in one shot.
It's very interesting looking through these - you can definitely tell who's done courses in dashboard design and with whom!
I particularly liked Pawels 'sperm chart' 😉 ... squint your eyes - you'll see what I mean). each of the charts or dashboards are put together well - but I agree with Elchin on this one - Chandeeps dashboard set 'tells a story' of the data. Student of Mr Few??
Without a doubt, Chandeep deserves #1. #2 goes to Abhay, and #3 to Pinhank, for the great presentation style if nothing else.
MF Wong
Do not apologize for any delay! Moving from one town to the next only 10 miles away is tough enough - let alone a family moving from one country to another!
THANK YOU for this excellent post!
As one of the participants, I have been looking forward to this post for long. But totally understood the reason of delay, so never mind! Hope all is well in NZ.
Thank you very much to those who like my chart! 🙂
Also thanks Chandoo for suggesting a name for it "Container Chart", which I have never thought about.
Personally I like the infographic by Pinank. Very outstanding design and use of icons. My two-cent worth: Just the lower part of "Yearly Trend" is actually good enough to answer the question, isn't it? 😉
Cheers,
What an outburst of creativity!
Vote for Chandeep and Pinank!
Agreed!
Awesome dashboards
Infographic by Pinank is awesome
Thank you so much for sharing!! i learn so much from these posts
Highly appreciated
Ahmad
South Africa
Fantastic responses from all the contestants. Some really great ideas. I'm inspired and will adapt some of these to my own dashboard work. Thanks for hosting such a great contest!!
Thank you for sharing this valuable resources !!!
I have only a couple of question that wasn't able to solve regarding data-origin.
Nowadays I have the data coming from a "current" situation from a big database containing all kind purchase-orders information of many different projects. I can calculate the current status of each project investments, but I am not able to track automatically the progress of it month to month or week to week by freezing the calculated metrics on each date. This would let me calculate new graphs and the speed of investments execution.
My question would be, if it is possible to calculate something with an excel formula and automatically freeze this values in a new row or new column. I guess that right now, Basic is the only way, but I guess that there could be a function to copy-a-range, insert-range-as-value-only as a new row or a new column or display everything down or left.
This would preserve the excel formulas defined, and add new data, everytime that it is re-calculated.
Any idea?
Great post , loved all chart representation. Congratulations to all participants and winners.
I need updates to this article.
I didn't even realize this got posted. Came across it today. Thanks
Fantastic post but I was wondering if you could write
a litte more on this subject? I'd be very thankful if you could elaborate a
little bit further. Thank you!
Hi Chandoo,
I comeback after a long time on your Blog. So I saw it lately. Its a brilliant idea.
I like all entries and these are amazing efforts from all participants.
Regards
The report presented by Pinanik is excellent and very innovative. Could be an interesting work for portfolio presentation