All articles in 'Excel Howtos' Category

JSON (JaveScript Object Notation) is a popular and easy format to store, share and distribute data. It is often used by websites, APIs and streaming (real-time) systems. But it is also cumbersome and hard to use for performing typical data tasks like summarizing, pivoting, filtering or visualizing. That is why you may want to convert […]

Let’s say you have two lists of values in Excel and want to find out all the common values (ie duplicates) and extract them. In this article, let me explain the formulas for this. Formula for counting number of duplicate values in two columns: Here is the formula to count number of common values between […]

Ever have a report that is too big to fit in one screen but when you scroll you loose the context? Something like this.. Use FREEZE PANES option in Excel to “Freeze” top rows / columns We can use the excellent “Freeze panes” option in Excel to make the top few rows (and columns) sticky. […]

Do you want to lookup in any column and return the result? Something like this: In this article, learn how to write necessary Excel formulas to get the result. Data Setup for looking up in any column You need to set up your data in below structure. One column with the data you want to […]

Let’s say you have daily data and your boss wants to see the trends by week in month or week in quarter? How do you calculate the week number in a month or quarter? In this article, let me explain the logic and formulas we can use Excel for this.

You are the boss of ACME Inc. And one day, both of your accounts receivables team members Sara and James come to you with two versions of the customer payment data. How do you compare these two Excel sheets and reconcile the data? In this article, let me explain the step by step process.

We can use Excel’s LOOKUP function to quickly convert exam or test scores to letter grades like A+ or F. In this article, let me explain the process and necessary formulas. I will also share a technique to calculate letter grades from test scores using percentiles.

Excel 365’s FILTER() function is great for getting a cut of data that meets your criteria. But what if you need to filter and then show non-adjacent columns? Something like below. In this article, let me show you a few options to get discrete columns after filtering with the FILTER function.

Think of XLOOKUP as an improved version of VLOOKUP. In this article, learn all about the XLOOKUP function, it’s syntax, parameters with real-world xlookup examples.

Use the getBoldText() function in Excel to extract bolded portion of a cell automatically. Saves you time and helps with data cleaning.

So you have a SPILL error in your Excel tables? In this quick article, let me show you 3 easy fixes to the problem. Fix 0: See if Excel can auto-fix the formula This is not really a fix. But if you write certain types of formulas in table, Excel will warn you about the […]

Do you want to create a dynamic dependent drop down list in Excel like below? You can use XLOOKUP and data validation to set this up quickly. It is fully dynamic and works across a full column too.

Let’s say you have two dates in the cells D4 & D5 as above. You want to find out the duration in years, months & days between both. We can use the good-old DATEDIF formula for this.

Excel formulas acting slow? Today lets talk about optimizing & speeding up Excel formulas. Use these tips & ideas to super-charge your sluggish workbook. Use the best practices & formula guidelines described in this post to optimize your complex worksheet models & make them faster.

1. Use tables to hold the data
2. Use named ranges & named formulas
3. Use Dynamic Array formulas
4. Sort your data
5. Use manual calculation mode

… and more. Read on to learn these top 10 tips & ideas to improve performance of your excel formulas.

Can you split the atom? No, ok, how about splitting the expenses then?
In this homework challenge, can you take a look at the expenses of wolf-pack and tell me who owes who & how much?