All articles in 'Learn Excel' Category

By integrating services like Google Finance, Search in to spreadsheet functions, google docs has paved the way for endless possibilities. Google spreadsheet function GoogleFinance() can be used to build stock portfolio tracker sheet that can fetch historical stock quotes to tell how your money is doing. Click here to see the stock portfolio tracker sheet […]
Continue »![Excel KPI Dashboards – Adding Micro Charts [Part 4 of 6]](https://chandoo.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/kpi-dashboard-excel-thumb.jpg)
This is 4th part of Creating Management Dashboards in Microsoft Excel 6 post series by Robert. This 6 Part Tutorial on Management Dashboards Teaches YOU: Creating a Scrollable List View in Dashboard Add Ability to Sort on Any KPI to the Dashboard Highlight KPIs Based on Percentile Add Microcharts to KPI Dashboards Compare 2 KPIs […]
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Gauges are a familiar metaphor, everyone can understand them, you can see them everywhere – near your stove, ac, car, gaming console, pc – you name it. So, when you are preparing a chart to tell a point, gauge chart like the one above can be effective. (I know charting pros like Jon Peltier wouldn’t […]
Continue »Every week Pointy Haired Dilbert features some of the excel links from around the web here. Get the archives here. Teaching physics using excel My friend Jon @ PTS Blog tries a different approach to teach physics to his daughter. Who says excel is only for corporates? Daily dose of Excel compiles the ultimate list […]
Continue »Splitting text in excel using formulas

Often when you are processing text using excel it is important to split the text in to multiple parts based on a delimiter. For eg. you may want to divide this|needs|to|be|split in to five parts this needs to be split. There is a simple way to do this in excel, using “import text” option. But […]
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With each passing day the amount of information contained in a single spreadsheet, slide, document is growing. Thanks to demanding bosses, clients and colleagues, we are now supposed to provide all the relevant information in as much less space as possible. This is where micro charting or light weight data exploration has become a rage. […]
Continue »![KPI Dashboards – Highlight KPIs Based on Percentile [Part 3 or 6]](https://chandoo.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/kpi-dashboard-3-thumb.jpg)
Creating KPI Dashboards in Microsoft Excel is a series of 6 posts by Robert from Munich, Germany. This 6 Part Tutorial on KPI Dashboards Teaches YOU: Creating a Scrollable List View in Dashboard Add Ability to Sort on Any KPI to the Dashboard Highlight KPIs Based on Percentile Add Microcharts to KPI Dashboards Compare 2 […]
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Often it is easy to get carried away with a tools features. Excel is no exception. But here is a list of grotesque charts that you should never make, not even on your last day at work. 1. Leave the radar charts for Spidermen why? You can hardly conclude anything by looking at them They […]
Continue »Initials from Names using Excel Formulas

Often when you are processing customer records or doing mail merge, it might be useful to get initials from a given name, like JFK for John F Kennedy. You can do this using simple text formulas (left(), mid(), find()) combined with if(). Here is how: Assuming cell B3 has the full name, then this is […]
Continue »Aligning charts, objects on spreadsheet [excel layout tip]
Often when you are adding several charts to your report or project plan, it may be important to have them all aligned to a proper baseline – a fundamental design principle. Take a look at this: But if you try to select each chart individually and adjust the alignment, it may not provide correct results […]
Continue »Creating KPI Dashboards in Microsoft Excel is a series of 6 posts by Robert from Munich, Germany. This 6 Part Tutorial on KPI Dashboards Teaches YOU: Creating a Scrollable List View in Dashboard Add Ability to Sort on Any KPI to the Dashboard Highlight KPIs Based on Percentile Add Microcharts to KPI Dashboards Compare 2 […]
Continue »Last Saturday our internet connection at home went off. I called the road runner folks hoping to getting it back up, but no luck. We were told to wait till Monday evening before the service personnel could restore the connectivity. Thankfully, we didnt feel all that bored and could spend lot of time talking to […]
Continue »Google docs spreadsheet app is going mainstream with each passing day. Recently they have introduced split() formula to divide text in to multiple cells using a user specified delimiter. The syntax for this function is =split(text value, delimeter), for eg. =split(“pointy haired dilbert”, ” “) would result in 3 individual cells with “pointy”, “haired” and […]
Continue »Here is a quick excel tip to make your charts look professional by showing symbols in the axis labels instead of text. Just follow these 4 simple steps: First identify the symbols you want to show on the axis or as data label from symbol fonts like webdings, wingdings or a custom dingbat font like […]
Continue »![Creating KPI Dashboards in Microsoft Excel [Part 1 of 6]](https://chandoo.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/kpi-dashboard-scroll-excel-thumb.png)
Creating KPI Dashboards in Microsoft Excel is a series of 6 posts by Robert. This 6 Part Tutorial on KPI Dashboards Teaches YOU: Creating a Scrollable List View in Dashboard Add Ability to Sort on Any KPI to the Dashboard Highlight KPIs Based on Percentile Add Microcharts to KPI Dashboards Compare 2 KPIs in the […]
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