Almost everybody uses Microsoft Excel for spreadsheets. However, there are many handy formatting capabilities and shortcuts that very few people know about. Today we’re sharing some tips to help you use Excel better and faster.
Quick and Easy Table Format
When you have a data set that outlines different related data points, a table is one of the best ways to visualize it. If your data is already in a spreadsheet, create a table by selecting a cell, pressing Ctrl + T, and then Enter. That was easy.
Excel Formatting Shortcuts
Here are some quick formatting shortcuts could that make your spreadsheet easier to understand.
You already know Ctrl + B for bold, Ctrl + I for italics, and Ctrl + U for underline, but there are plenty more:
- • Ctrl + 5 marks text with a strikethrough.
- • Ctrl + 1 brings up a format dialog box for your selection.
- • F4 repeats the last action, which makes it easier to apply specific formatting to certain cells.
Icon Sets Provide Visual Organization
Adding icons to your cells is an easy way to provide visual organization. Select your cells and click on Conditional Formatting under the Home tab. Go to Icon Sets and select the icon you want.
Icons can differentiate between certain data ranges. For example, with the option with three arrows, the lower 33 percent gets a downward arrow, the middle 33 percent gets the sideways arrow, and the top 33 percent gets an upward arrow. These numbers shift automatically with the number of items in your data set.
What Excel formatting tricks do you know? Share them in the comments below!