MS-Excel Hacks that will ease your Life

Oxygen to your life is what MS-Excel is to your career. Excel is one of the most in-demand skills in this rapidly evolving business world. The term ‘business’ would be an understatement because this application has made its place in all kinds of industries. You can go from making an effortless timetable to a comprehensive report with charts and tables using this versatile app. Excel is a super-smart app that could feel a little complicated to understand but once you get a hang of it, it is a lifesaver. To use this app more efficiently, here are some useful hacks which will save your time and stress. Let’s get to that spreadsheet:

1. FREEZE!

If you want your top row or the first column to remain constant while you scroll through your spreadsheet, you need to:

• Go to VIEW in the ribbon bar.
• Select Freeze Pane.
• Choose the option which suits you.
• There you go, have fun with your frozen pane.

2. LEFT ALIGN? RIGHT ALIGN?

If you are a keen observer, you must have noticed that the words typed in your spreadsheet are aligned to the left whereas the numerical values get aligned to the right. Fascinating, right? Now, if you want to align the numbers to the left, you need to:

• Type the numbers.
• Put an apostrophe (‘) in front of those numbers.
• VOILA! Your numbers are aligned just the way you want.

3. DIVIDE YOUR CELL.

If you want to draw a diagonal inside your cell and divide it into two triangles, here’s what you got to do:

• Select the cell you want to edit.
• Right-click the cell.
• Choose Format Cells.
• Go to the BORDER tab.
• Select the kind of line you want to insert.
• There it is, the DIAGONAL.

4. CHOOSE YOUR DATE.

Excel gives you numerous date formats to pick from. Interestingly, you can also create your own formats. For that, you need to:

• Write the date.
• Select the cell with the date.
• Go to the Dropdown menu on the ribbon.
• Choose More Number Formats.
• Go to the NUMBER tab.
• Select Custom.
• Write your own format in the Type Box.
• And your customized DATE is ready.

5. COLUMN ←→ ROW

If you change your mind and you want to copy the data in a row to a column or vice versa, all you got to do is TRANSPOSE the data. To get this done, you need to:

• Select the row or column whose data you want to shift.
• CTRL + C or Copy.
• Select the cell or cells where you want to paste the data.
• Right-click the cell.
• Choose Paste Special.
• Tick Transpose.
• Say HELLO to your newly transposed data.

Now that you know these hacks, you are not far from becoming an EXCEL Guru. Make a good use of these tips and tricks to create awesome spreadsheets. Hope these hacks prove to be useful. Good Luck!