{"id":2252,"date":"2016-02-12T15:09:37","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T20:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=2252"},"modified":"2016-02-10T11:52:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T16:52:43","slug":"8-easy-time-saving-tips-for-excel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/8-easy-time-saving-tips-for-excel\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Easy Time-Saving Tips for Excel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft Excel is perhaps one of the most used software programs in companies worldwide. In spite of the popularity of the program, most people tend not to know the shortcuts and features of Excel that can increase their work efficiency almost instantaneously.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why we\u2019ve collected 8 simple tips that will increase your work efficiency in Excel the moment you start using them. No steep learning curves \u2013 <em>just simple tips you can use right now<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s get into it!<\/p>\n<p><strong>1: Jump between sheets<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you work with Excel every day, then there\u2019s a chance that the Excel file you\u2019re working with consists of multiple sheets. Instead of mouse-clicking between the sheets, you can substitute left clicking on the sheet with the following shortcuts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Control + Page Up: Selects the sheet left of the current sheet.<\/li>\n<li>Control + Page Down: Selects the sheet right of the currents sheet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2255\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/1.png\" alt=\"1\" width=\"413\" height=\"89\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/1.png 413w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/1-300x64.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 413px) 100vw, 413px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>2: Jump to end of data<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you have some data in your sheet, preferably in a list or similar, it\u2019s super useful to be able to go from one end to another without scrolling too much. You might already use the arrow keys to move one cell in a certain direction. But what if you quickly want to move to the end of the data?<\/p>\n<p>Then press and hold the control button before you press the arrow key.<\/p>\n<p>E.g.: if you want to select the last cell of this small dataset press Control + Down arrow key.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2256\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/2.png\" alt=\"2\" width=\"295\" height=\"150\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>3: Quickly select connected data<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In extension to tip #2, you might want to actually select all the cells you \u201ccome across\u201d when you jump to the end of the data. If that is the case (which it probably is in many cases) you should definitely use this tip instead of dragging the selection with your mouse or spinning the scroll wheel until it breaks.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of pressing Control + down arrow in the former scenario, you just press Control + Shift + down arrow.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to select all cells with connected data in column A in the picture below, start in cell A1 and press Control + Shift + down arrow. Then you\u2019ve selected cells A1 through A6 in a split second. If you press Control + Shift + right arrow, then you\u2019ve selected the entire data in an instant.<\/p>\n<p>This shortcut is a game changer for your efficiency in Excel and can also be used to great effect when entering ranges in formulas that use functions like <a href=\"http:\/\/spreadsheeto.com\/vlookup\/\">VLOOKUP<\/a>, IF, SUM and many more.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2257\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/3.png\" alt=\"3\" width=\"303\" height=\"157\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/3.png 303w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/3-300x155.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>4: Copy a formula with 2 clicks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can easily copy a formula to the end of a dataset. You don\u2019t even have to click and drag or copy the formula with shortcuts. Simply double-click the lower right corner of the cell with the formula and Excel will take care of the rest by filling it down to the rest of the cells in your dataset.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2258\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/4.png\" alt=\"4\" width=\"498\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/4.png 498w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/4-300x104.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>5: Easy formatting of cell values<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Using various shortcuts, you can easily change the number formatting of your cells.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you want to change the formatting of cell values in your data to include 2 decimals and with a thousands separator, then press: Control + Shift + 1<\/li>\n<li>If you want your value in a date format, then press: Control + Shift + 3<\/li>\n<li>If you want to change your number to a percentage press: Control + Shift + 5<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2259\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/5.png\" alt=\"5\" width=\"438\" height=\"149\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/5.png 438w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/5-300x102.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>6: Lock references with a single keystroke<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When copying formulas in Excel, it\u2019s often quite practical that the new formulas refer to the correct input cells.<\/p>\n<p>The correct input cells are different for each individual workbook so it\u2019s important to know the different types of cell references.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When you want to refer to a \u201cstatic\u201d cell in your worksheet you have to use an absolute reference.<\/li>\n<li>If you want the reference to \u201cfollow along\u201d when the formula changes location, you have to use a relative reference.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you\u2019ve typed in a reference hit the F4 key to lock the reference.<\/p>\n<p>If you keep hitting the F4 key you actually get some additional options for your references:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Once: Lock the reference to the specific cell.<\/li>\n<li>Twice: Lock the row number.<\/li>\n<li>3 times: Lock the column number.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2260 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/6.png\" alt=\"6\" width=\"390\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/6.png 390w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/6-300x147.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 390px) 100vw, 390px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>7. &amp; this is cool!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The ampersand (&amp;) is a nifty little symbol that allows you to concatenate the content of cells into one cell.<\/p>\n<p>If you have first names in column A and last names in column B and want Excel to link the names so that you have the full names in column C \u2013 just use &amp; like this:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2253\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/7.png\" alt=\"7\" width=\"389\" height=\"164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/7.png 389w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/7-300x126.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 389px) 100vw, 389px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Easy access to formatting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Formatting is important in order for other users of your sheets to get an idea of what\u2019s going on. Formatting like fill color, font color, borders, alignment and much more are accessible from the \u201cHome\u201d tab. The \u201cFormat cells\u201d box is the fastest way to access all these formatting features and there\u2019s even a shortcut for the \u201cFormat cells\u201d box:<\/p>\n<p>Select the cells you want to format and press Control + 1.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2254 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/8.png\" alt=\"8\" width=\"541\" height=\"472\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/8.png 541w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/8-300x261.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 541px) 100vw, 541px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you would like to learn even more about Excel, go visit our website <a href=\"http:\/\/spreadsheeto.com\/\">at Spreadsheeto.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Got a tip? Feel free to share it in a comment below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft Excel is perhaps one of the most used software programs in companies worldwide. In spite of the popularity of the program, most people tend not to know the shortcuts and features of Excel that can increase their work efficiency almost instantaneously. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve collected 8 simple tips that will increase your work efficiency&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/8-easy-time-saving-tips-for-excel\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">8 Easy Time-Saving Tips for Excel<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":2260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[104,497],"class_list":["post-2252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-excel-shortcuts","tag-microsoft-excel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2261,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2252\/revisions\/2261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}