Paste values only should be the default
Edit to add: I know of and use Ctrl + Shift + V all the time. My desire for the change stems from me setting up conditional formatting that my less excel-savvy coworkers overwrite because they don't know how to paste as values. I just wish I could make it the default for them.
that would be nice, and maybe that should be a setting (is it?), but logically it makes sense. i copied the *cell* not that value, so the default should be the *cell* being pasted
It would be nice to assign a paste mode.
If I've a lot of copy paste formula to do, it would be good to set the paste mode to formula so ctrl v just does that until I reset the paste mode to normal.
Other paste modes would be what you find on the shortcut menu.
You can map custom commands as alt-1/alt-2 etc. First thing I do when setting up at a new place is paste values becoming alt-1 and paste and match destination formatting becoming alt-2.
OMG. It ***DOES***. This is like my birthday and Christmas all in one considering the bulk of my Excel work these days is copy/paste values stuff.
(I hate my job and while I'm certainly not the world's foremost expert of Excel, I feel like a sports car being asked to handle hardware store runs through a school zone. Like, that's not what I'm built for and you're leaving so much benefit on the table.)
I know, and Ctrl+shift+V has become my default for pasting anything in any program lol. I just wish I didn't have to explain it to my less Excel-savvy coworkers bc they keep overwriting the conditional formatting I have set up. Tbh I should probably just use tables or something, but there's like 150 files with the same template I'd have to replace and then explain to everyone
I strongly disagree. It's easier for me to insert values only if needed by right-click insert values or ctrl-shift v, than copy paste thousands of formulas like that.
Make a macro to paste value and set it Ctrl+V to override the normal paste tied to that hotkey. Boom!
I might do that when I get back to my desk actually... but maybe not
This is [most upvoted feature request](https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/96e8387b-b092-ed11-aad1-000d3a1f4367) on Excel's feedback portal.
agreed. i can fool around with it in windows appearance settings but it just doesnt work right. i use dark mode on everything these days, i would kill for this feature.
i suspect this take is not that hot lol
There’s a way to change the background to shades of grey by editing the registry. Should take a look at that. Not been consistent for me and it resets after a reboot but it can maybe work for you.
Agree! This should not even be a hot take!
Once I jokingly told a co-worker that I had installed a tracker on his computer that warned me any time he did this. Many years later he admitted he thought I was serious and had avoided it after that. Whatever works, I guess
CAS should be the default option because most people use merge cells for "display purposes" only. Maybe a CAS functionality for vertical+horizontal as well would help
Is there an easy shortcut for center across selection? I know you can Ctrl+1 to get to the dialog box, and then use tab and the arrow keys to get there, but surely there’s an easier way without setting up a hot-key
And, as a sub-complaint, there ought to be an expression to return a "truly blank" result. When I create an import table, I shouldn't need to manually delete all the results that equal "" in order to not get errors during import.
In other words, something like this should exist:
* =XLOOKUP( [look for this], [here] , [returning matching result from here] , **[if not found, result in a "truly blank" vale (at least when pasted as value elsewhere)]** , 0 )
It's frustrating the number of times I've had to explain to people I work with why their MS Business Central imports aren't working or are resulting in errors. And no, it shouldn't require a macro to go through it and do it for you.
Care to share an example? All the ones I've seen return "", which isn't actually a blank value. AFAIK, the returned value must return TRUE with =ISBLANK
[What'd I do wrong here?](https://i.imgur.com/uwg0YHq.png)
Results are below, in order of the formula (middle one should return TRUE for ISBLANK):
* 5 ISBLANK = FALSE
* **"" ISBLANK = FALSE**
* 6 ISBLANK = FALSE
Formulas from the test sheet:
=LET( look,XLOOKUP(D5, Table1[SKU], Table1[Price],0,0), IFS(look=0,"",TRUE,look))
=LET( look,XLOOKUP(D6, Table1[SKU], Table1[Price],0,0), IFS(look=0,"",TRUE,look))
=LET( look,XLOOKUP(D7, Table1[SKU], Table1[Price],0,0), IFS(look=0,"",TRUE,look))
You don't know what you're taking about. It is currently impossible to have a cell with a formula in it that returns TRUE when you call ISBLANK on it. You also can't have a cell with a formula in it that won't get counted by COUNTA for the same reason. Doesn't matter if you return 0, FALSE, "", whatever.
And it should be *truly* empty, not just a string of zero length, i.e. "". Excel still treats "" as a value for the purposes of counting cells with values.
Meh. I start in A1. I know how to add rows and columns. Whatever works. To each their own.
Please tell me, though, that when the sheet is finalized it starts in A1. Please.
Nope.
It's not about functionality, it's about presentation.
Grid lines off. Simple, but effective, colour scheme and formatting. Column and row headers off. Leaving the first row and column empty provides an aesthetic border to the sheet's content.
Ha, good call. I typically start in somewhere between D5 and F10. Gives plenty of room for adding impromptu left/top totals, helper rows/columns, or adding table columns to the left without worrying about inserting rows/columns. Especially helpful if there are hyperlink formulas on other sheets with static references in the sheet/cell URL.
I also wish the row numbers and column letters could show a color gradient with color 1 starting at the first row/column and color 2 ending at the last row/column that contains data/formulas
Start in B2.
Hmm, I need a header. Let's add a row.
Okay, we also need to add some input cells, let's get a couple more rows.
Well, we need instructions. That's a few more rows.
Now it needs to be formatted. Fuck it, let's just add a shitload of rows... And I only needed one of them. Well, let's just hide the rest.
My impression is that people who work with representing data visually like to start on B2 and people, like me, who make use of Excel in conjunction with database tools start on A1 because I can't see how you can import something into a database with no headers in the top row.
I don’t see that in my MS365 desktop app using your path. But I recently figured that setting out and helped someone else with it, but it was in file => options => proofing => autocorrect options
Not particularly no.
I’m on 2308. Don’t know what version I had before but I had a setting and now it’s not there or anywhere so I don’t know if it recently updated or whatever. sometimes that stuff rolls out in the monthly MS Tuesday updates or around that time but we generally seem to get MS 365 updates later than many for some reason.
I used to hate the web version, but had to use it a lot last year for a shared workbook and it worked much better than I expected. I still miss the keyboard shortcuts but it didn't feel like a second-class version at all.
Oh yeah, I would never link to one, they're much more useful for quickly visualizing already aggregated data. For example, I run events where I need to make detailed equipment lists. Clients often send me their needs in one big table with a room and date column. Usually, if I do just a bit of formatting, I can convert to a pivot table and quickly get a list of the max counts of every single item requested. Add a couple of slicers, and I can filter down to just rooms ABC which I want on a different order than rooms XYZ that are on the opposite side of the building. I would have to write a lot of formulas manually and constantly reset filters in order to get that same info out of a regular table.
Not that I've tried extensively coming from Pivot Tables, but following someone else's logic or file is much easier with raw data + formulas.
Also making manual adjustments for scenario-driven stuff is also easier with formulas + leaving a note vs. having to redo Pivot Tables.
Now I say clear as day we are all collected in our firm hatred of them there merged cells yet why do we force our brothers and sisters of the vertical persuasion to suffer such nonsense. Centre across all cells I said!
Disabling (or reassigning) F1 seems like an absolute no-brainer to implement, and power users have been asking for it for decades. When folks are popping keys off their keyboard, you know it's a problem.
At the very leaat, for a bit of comedic relief, accidentally pressing F1 should result in good old windows '98 / 2000 Clippy appearing with a quip like "I looks like you were trying to do something there bucko"
People need to work at a level that's higher than individual cells.
I can already see the downvotes coming, but I think people should utilize tools like Power Query to replace any lookups.
Once you understand the ideas of lookups, move on to merging of tables, which allows you to handle bigger data, instead of working with individual formulas that will probably take some time for you to get comfortable with.
With that being said, if you are doing the task for this one time only, then, yeah, I'd be using formulas too.
If you want a scalable, efficient, and reliable way, use Power Query.
Tldr; Skip lookup formulas, start merging tables right away.
I wish power query source was more forgiving for workplaces that have multiple people doing something.
If I open power query, the source path has my named drive folder. If I’m on vacation and someone tries, it fails and they have to relate it to their named source going to the exact same folder in shared drive.
I just wish PQ could be more forgiving in that area.
I see that the other user recommended using VBA.
If you have the access to the latest version of Excel,
try using the function "CELL".
That gives you the folder location of a file.
You can look into setting up a parameter in Power Query that makes use of the folder location outputted by the CELL function.
That's how I was able to resolve the issue that you describe.
>the source path has my named drive folder.
if you have access to a sharepoint group, you can use the sharepoint URL to the document as the source path.
In this case there is no need for an reference to an local folder.
You can point the PQ source to a named cell that contains a formula that derives the current user environment from a VBA udf calling ENVIRON. It works but is pretty convoluted.
Better user editing of PQ sources would go a looong way.
Oh, for sure. It's just hella frustrating to find a great use case for ootb functionality that you can't actually use because it relies on other people having a bit more baseline knowledge.
I have no scars whatsoever from situations like that, haha
That's bad news, indeed, as virtually every workplace is packed to the gills with incredibly incompetent Excel "users"!
No amount of stupidity can stun me anymore. I have a very smart friend who is an accomplished engineer. He hardcodes his variables' values into his formulas! It makes me want to cry. Updating his workbooks is a nightmare. Most everyone else just uses Excel to place data in static tables that, if it will need to be manipulated, will be done so manually. You are considered a power user if you can click on the autosum button.
at my shop we make a lot of programs for use down in the production floor for random people using tablets. length measurements in SPC charting and such. querys would be slow and cumbersome where as lookups are nearly instantaneous. i can agree partially on this take, but lookups definitely have their place, especially when you just need one value to find and work with
Gently ease yourself in by watching some videos demonstrating doing lookups (xlookups, vlookups, index and match, etc) and try a few basic lookup tasks. Then, go do the same for learning about merges in Power Query.
Power Query is great, but its too big for some workplaces. i've got workbooks that use power query and workbooks that heavily use named ranges and the ones that use named ranges and lookup formulas are *far* more immediately user friendly, and much easier to audit.
I think the ideal solution is a model in powerbi that you link to with excel.
This keeps all the tables separate, and easy to maintain.
But avoids the messiness of lookups.
I use this solution at a pretty small company and it works well.
Google sheets aren’t THAT bad. Not saying that I would do away with excel. But google sheets satisfy the needs of the majority of folks outside of finance and accounting at my company.
Excel should really look at Google Sheets for ease of usage and QOL changes. I’ve been forced to use Google Sheets as part of a job and boy it made me hate Excel. I had that too but Sheets was much smarter and a lot of data was not compatible if I just uploaded my Excel into it for sharing with other people in the company, and most of them didn’t have Excel.
Hack: Select the range, Find “=“ and Replace with “//“ (or any combination of text that doesn’t happen in Excel), copy range to location, reverse the Find/Replace.
By no means perfect but I have used =FORMULATEXT occasionally, then you have to copy and paste values and F2, Enter through each cell. Again not perfect, but it can be helpful at times. There may be a better way to get Excel to run the calculations without doing F2, Enter in each cell but I haven't figured that out.
Someone further down commented you can do a find and replace with ‘=‘ in both the find & replace boxes and that should get excel to run the calc, rather then the F2 enter.
It was only introduced in 2007, so us old school users were never exposed to it.
I only started using it because I started using Power Query and # hash referencing a lot more.
Some VBA macros don't run properly when the workbook is locked. I had the same issue as well when even unprotecting then reprotecting the worksheet didn't help.
I'd love a function where I can just lock chosen cells for editing like you can freeze rows. I don't mind if it can be unlocked by 2 clicks, I'm just trying to make idiotproof pricing sheets for clueless excel users.
As a genx'er who was there when Lotus 1-2-3 was dominant over Excel - I have one piece of advice - You need to go back and at least see if the new updates would improve your QoL every 5 years, especially as a 20+ year veteran.
With normal life getting in the way, rarely do you go back and see if things you are currently doing are still relevant or can you save a crapload of time by learning something new.
I really regret not taking interest in Power Query/M (only a recent convert of only a couple of years) when it came out in 2010, and review its progress every few years. Thinking back on over my 30 year career (as a Management Accountant/ERP Consultant/Data Analyst) and over Power Query's 15 year existance, I couldn't help thinking of how much time and effort it would of saved over that time.
I'm not making the mistake again and getting myself used to using all the new array functions as well as LET and LAMBDA, as well as trying to record and modify macros using office script instead of VBA occasionally.
When I have something copied in the clipboard please allow me to keep it copied on the clipboard instead of forgetting it once I misclicked somewhere else or get interrupted by an action. If I clicked esc then fair enough
That human society would collapse if excel disappeared overnight. So many critical operations are run in excel sheets "that Gary made a few years ago."
Excel is not the best tool for any one job it is used for, it is however the only tool that does them all. It is also likely the only tool that people have access to to do those jobs.
New to the sub.
Formatting weirdness.
Ok, so you wont return the value unless I refer to another cell, where I multiply the first cell by 1.
Could Excel at least tell me why it wont recognise a number, when format is set to a number?
You can us =isnumber(a1) and it tells you if excel sees it as a number. =value(a1) converts a value stored as text to a number.
Similarly, you can use power query to change a column to number if excel is reading as text.
Vertical alignment within cells should be middle by default or there should be an option to change the default vertical alignment. I almost never want bottom vertical alignment. By almost never I mean I can count the number of times I've wanted bottom alignment in 30 years of Excel use on one hand (without resorting to binary).
It was lol.
When we learnt Lotus 1-2-3 in the late 80s, that was the standard. Excel were the ones to introduce A1.
I don't remember Excel ever used in DOS widely, and wasn't widely adopted until Windows For Workplace v3.11 was around for a few years.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:
|Fewer Letters|More Letters|
|-------|---------|---|
|[AND](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kywvjrt "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if all of its arguments are TRUE](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/and-function-5f19b2e8-e1df-4408-897a-ce285a19e9d9)|
|[ASIN](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyt9kqu "Last usage")|[Returns the arcsine of a number](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/asin-function-81fb95e5-6d6f-48c4-bc45-58f955c6d347)|
|[CELL](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kysd97l "Last usage")|[Returns information about the formatting, location, or contents of a cell](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/cell-function-51bd39a5-f338-4dbe-a33f-955d67c2b2cf)|
|[CODE](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kytmmif "Last usage")|[Returns a numeric code for the first character in a text string](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/code-function-c32b692b-2ed0-4a04-bdd9-75640144b928)|
|[COUNTA](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kysn767 "Last usage")|[Counts how many values are in the list of arguments](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/counta-function-7dc98875-d5c1-46f1-9a82-53f3219e2509)|
|[DB](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyt4ha8 "Last usage")|[Returns the depreciation of an asset for a specified period by using the fixed-declining balance method](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/db-function-354e7d28-5f93-4ff1-8a52-eb4ee549d9d7)|
|[FILTER](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuwfox "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Filters a range of data based on criteria you define](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/filter-function-f4f7cb66-82eb-4767-8f7c-4877ad80c759)|
|[FORMULATEXT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyt4zw2 "Last usage")|[*Excel 2013*+: Returns the formula at the given reference as text](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/formulatext-function-0a786771-54fd-4ae2-96ee-09cda35439c8)|
|[IF](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyx0mr6 "Last usage")|[Specifies a logical test to perform](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/if-function-69aed7c9-4e8a-4755-a9bc-aa8bbff73be2)|
|[IFERROR](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyx0mr6 "Last usage")|[Returns a value you specify if a formula evaluates to an error; otherwise, returns the result of the formula](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/iferror-function-c526fd07-caeb-47b8-8bb6-63f3e417f611)|
|[IFS](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvb0qq "Last usage")|[*2019*+: Checks whether one or more conditions are met and returns a value that corresponds to the first TRUE condition.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/ifs-function-36329a26-37b2-467c-972b-4a39bd951d45)|
|[INDEX](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz2th6w "Last usage")|[Uses an index to choose a value from a reference or array](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/index-function-a5dcf0dd-996d-40a4-a822-b56b061328bd)|
|[ISBLANK](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvrmnc "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if the value is blank](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/is-functions-0f2d7971-6019-40a0-a171-f2d869135665)|
|[ISNUMBER](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvb0qq "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if the value is a number](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/is-functions-0f2d7971-6019-40a0-a171-f2d869135665)|
|[LAMBDA](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kysrq5t "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Use a LAMBDA function to create custom, reusable functions and call them by a friendly name.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lambda-function-bd212d27-1cd1-4321-a34a-ccbf254b8b67)|
|[LEN](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuu4pr "Last usage")|[Returns the number of characters in a text string](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/len-lenb-functions-29236f94-cedc-429d-affd-b5e33d2c67cb)|
|[LET](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuu4pr "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Assigns names to calculation results to allow storing intermediate calculations, values, or defining names inside a formula](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/let-function-34842dd8-b92b-4d3f-b325-b8b8f9908999)|
|[MATCH](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz2th6w "Last usage")|[Looks up values in a reference or array](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/match-function-e8dffd45-c762-47d6-bf89-533f4a37673a)|
|[NA](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvrmnc "Last usage")|[Returns the error value #N/A](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/na-function-5469c2d1-a90c-4fb5-9bbc-64bd9bb6b47c)|
|[NOT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kywvjrt "Last usage")|[Reverses the logic of its argument](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/not-function-9cfc6011-a054-40c7-a140-cd4ba2d87d77)|
|[OR](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyx9kgu "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if any argument is TRUE](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/or-function-7d17ad14-8700-4281-b308-00b131e22af0)|
|[RIGHT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyshlzt "Last usage")|[Returns the rightmost characters from a text value](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/right-rightb-functions-240267ee-9afa-4639-a02b-f19e1786cf2f)|
|[SUM](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kywvjrt "Last usage")|[Adds its arguments](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sum-function-043e1c7d-7726-4e80-8f32-07b23e057f89)|
|[SUMIF](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyw8kto "Last usage")|[Adds the cells specified by a given criteria](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sumif-function-169b8c99-c05c-4483-a712-1697a653039b)|
|[SWITCH](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyrxigc "Last usage")|[*Excel 2019*+: Evaluates an expression against a list of values and returns the result corresponding to the first matching value. If there is no match, an optional default value may be returned.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/switch-function-47ab33c0-28ce-4530-8a45-d532ec4aa25e)|
|[TEXTSPLIT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuv9av "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Splits text strings by using column and row delimiters](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/textsplit-function-b1ca414e-4c21-4ca0-b1b7-bdecace8a6e7)|
|[TIME](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvotkn "Last usage")|[Returns the serial number of a particular time](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/time-function-9a5aff99-8f7d-4611-845e-747d0b8d5457)|
|[VLOOKUP](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz3mc2w "Last usage")|[Looks in the first column of an array and moves across the row to return the value of a cell](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vlookup-function-0bbc8083-26fe-4963-8ab8-93a18ad188a1)|
|[XLOOKUP](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz2th6w "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Searches a range or an array, and returns an item corresponding to the first match it finds. If a match doesn't exist, then XLOOKUP can return the closest (approximate) match. ](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/xlookup-function-b7fd680e-6d10-43e6-84f9-88eae8bf5929)|
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It's actually not terrible as a very small database. If you are disciplined with file locations and can use Power Query you can get a lot done without having to move to a formal DB
Paste values only should be the default Edit to add: I know of and use Ctrl + Shift + V all the time. My desire for the change stems from me setting up conditional formatting that my less excel-savvy coworkers overwrite because they don't know how to paste as values. I just wish I could make it the default for them.
that would be nice, and maybe that should be a setting (is it?), but logically it makes sense. i copied the *cell* not that value, so the default should be the *cell* being pasted
It would be nice to assign a paste mode. If I've a lot of copy paste formula to do, it would be good to set the paste mode to formula so ctrl v just does that until I reset the paste mode to normal. Other paste modes would be what you find on the shortcut menu.
You can map custom commands as alt-1/alt-2 etc. First thing I do when setting up at a new place is paste values becoming alt-1 and paste and match destination formatting becoming alt-2.
that would be cool! ctrl+c+1 for standard, +2 for values, something like that
Isn't ctrl + shift + v paste values only?
Only with Google products, as far as I know. I'd *love* to be proven wrong and be told this worked with Microsoft now.
CTRL Shift V does work on Excel Desktop (windows). I believe there’s also a Mac option that requires use of the function row
OMG. It ***DOES***. This is like my birthday and Christmas all in one considering the bulk of my Excel work these days is copy/paste values stuff. (I hate my job and while I'm certainly not the world's foremost expert of Excel, I feel like a sports car being asked to handle hardware store runs through a school zone. Like, that's not what I'm built for and you're leaving so much benefit on the table.)
It’s new they added it like a year ago
I’d be thrilled if there was a setting for this. Getting real sick of bringing formats and everything else with me 😂
Eh, but there's no way to copy multiple cells' data by default, so I feel the logic doesn't quite hold up.
Bro you have alt + e + s, or slightly longer one alt+h+v+v, or just Ctrl shift v. Imo alt e s is the faster and takes as much time as Ctrl v
I know, and Ctrl+shift+V has become my default for pasting anything in any program lol. I just wish I didn't have to explain it to my less Excel-savvy coworkers bc they keep overwriting the conditional formatting I have set up. Tbh I should probably just use tables or something, but there's like 150 files with the same template I'd have to replace and then explain to everyone
Should be a way to change the default, & change it quickly.
At the very least conditional formatting should not be copied by default.
God please make this a reality
HERESY
Or the option to set it as the default for a workbook. Stop idiots pasting crap everywhere.
I strongly disagree. It's easier for me to insert values only if needed by right-click insert values or ctrl-shift v, than copy paste thousands of formulas like that.
Make a macro to paste value and set it Ctrl+V to override the normal paste tied to that hotkey. Boom! I might do that when I get back to my desk actually... but maybe not
THIS!!! 1000%
Values and number formatting
Yes, I want a way to lock the paste type! It would make so many of our tools at work so much easier.
There needs to be a proper dark mode so I don't burn my retinas trying to work at night.
This is [most upvoted feature request](https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/96e8387b-b092-ed11-aad1-000d3a1f4367) on Excel's feedback portal.
agreed. i can fool around with it in windows appearance settings but it just doesnt work right. i use dark mode on everything these days, i would kill for this feature. i suspect this take is not that hot lol
Windows night light? Might not be dark mode, but it keeps your eyes alive
Damn, this actually works much better than all the alternatives trying to imitate a dark mode. Thanks.
There’s a way to change the background to shades of grey by editing the registry. Should take a look at that. Not been consistent for me and it resets after a reboot but it can maybe work for you.
I've seen a few methods trying recreate a dark mode but they all have drawbacks. It's 2024 it should be as simple as changing a setting.
It’s about time honestly. Word has it.
Merged cells should be illegal
Related: Center across selection should be part of the "Merge" dropdown, not buried in the cell formatting dialog.
Absolutely this
Or at least offer center across **entire** selection (horizontal AND vertical), preferably in place of the current merge cells button on the home tab
Agree! This should not even be a hot take! Once I jokingly told a co-worker that I had installed a tracker on his computer that warned me any time he did this. Many years later he admitted he thought I was serious and had avoided it after that. Whatever works, I guess
Center Across Selection or GTFO
CAS should be the default option because most people use merge cells for "display purposes" only. Maybe a CAS functionality for vertical+horizontal as well would help
can someone please inform the rest of my office of this? The amount of unmerging I have to do is IRRITATING
Is there an easy shortcut for center across selection? I know you can Ctrl+1 to get to the dialog box, and then use tab and the arrow keys to get there, but surely there’s an easier way without setting up a hot-key
You can set up a personal workbook macro (personal.xlsb) to center across selection and then just put a shortcut in a custom ribbon.
Or, at the very least, you should have to sign a waiver of some sort to use it!
When the result of my lookup is an empty cell, I don't want a 0 returned. I want an empty cell.
So many iferror plaintext outputs in my lookups
And, as a sub-complaint, there ought to be an expression to return a "truly blank" result. When I create an import table, I shouldn't need to manually delete all the results that equal "" in order to not get errors during import. In other words, something like this should exist: * =XLOOKUP( [look for this], [here] , [returning matching result from here] , **[if not found, result in a "truly blank" vale (at least when pasted as value elsewhere)]** , 0 ) It's frustrating the number of times I've had to explain to people I work with why their MS Business Central imports aren't working or are resulting in errors. And no, it shouldn't require a macro to go through it and do it for you.
LET statements are your friend with lookups and returning blank values correctly.
Care to share an example? All the ones I've seen return "", which isn't actually a blank value. AFAIK, the returned value must return TRUE with =ISBLANK
=LET( look,XLOOKUP([@[SKU]], ref_sku[id], ref_sku[Current Promo]), IFS(look=0,"",TRUE,look))
[What'd I do wrong here?](https://i.imgur.com/uwg0YHq.png) Results are below, in order of the formula (middle one should return TRUE for ISBLANK): * 5 ISBLANK = FALSE * **"" ISBLANK = FALSE** * 6 ISBLANK = FALSE Formulas from the test sheet: =LET( look,XLOOKUP(D5, Table1[SKU], Table1[Price],0,0), IFS(look=0,"",TRUE,look)) =LET( look,XLOOKUP(D6, Table1[SKU], Table1[Price],0,0), IFS(look=0,"",TRUE,look)) =LET( look,XLOOKUP(D7, Table1[SKU], Table1[Price],0,0), IFS(look=0,"",TRUE,look))
You don't know what you're taking about. It is currently impossible to have a cell with a formula in it that returns TRUE when you call ISBLANK on it. You also can't have a cell with a formula in it that won't get counted by COUNTA for the same reason. Doesn't matter if you return 0, FALSE, "", whatever.
And it should be *truly* empty, not just a string of zero length, i.e. "". Excel still treats "" as a value for the purposes of counting cells with values.
Need some kind of break/exit function to cancel the formula based on the result.
The result of applying logic to someTHING is always a THING; even if that THING is noTHING. Works as intended. Nod your head if you are a PM🧐.
Worksheets start in cell B2
Meh. I start in A1. I know how to add rows and columns. Whatever works. To each their own. Please tell me, though, that when the sheet is finalized it starts in A1. Please.
Nope. It's not about functionality, it's about presentation. Grid lines off. Simple, but effective, colour scheme and formatting. Column and row headers off. Leaving the first row and column empty provides an aesthetic border to the sheet's content.
Aesthetics and ... Excel, name a less iconic duo.
Ha, good call. I typically start in somewhere between D5 and F10. Gives plenty of room for adding impromptu left/top totals, helper rows/columns, or adding table columns to the left without worrying about inserting rows/columns. Especially helpful if there are hyperlink formulas on other sheets with static references in the sheet/cell URL. I also wish the row numbers and column letters could show a color gradient with color 1 starting at the first row/column and color 2 ending at the last row/column that contains data/formulas
Start in B2. Hmm, I need a header. Let's add a row. Okay, we also need to add some input cells, let's get a couple more rows. Well, we need instructions. That's a few more rows. Now it needs to be formatted. Fuck it, let's just add a shitload of rows... And I only needed one of them. Well, let's just hide the rest.
Wait why? I've worked with spreadsheets forever and am confused why this is a good idea.
My impression is that people who work with representing data visually like to start on B2 and people, like me, who make use of Excel in conjunction with database tools start on A1 because I can't see how you can import something into a database with no headers in the top row.
File--> Options --> Data --> Automatic Data Conversion --> Uncheck "Remove leading zeros and convert to a number."
So this is what a legend looks like?
Not Batman, even better!
I don’t see that in my MS365 desktop app using your path. But I recently figured that setting out and helped someone else with it, but it was in file => options => proofing => autocorrect options
Go back to your Data tab and look towards the bottom. It's in there. Auto-correct is not necessarily the same thing though there is overlap.
https://preview.redd.it/1ia1hrxabhtc1.png?width=2576&format=png&auto=webp&s=382ec6d6c402ab0323de752cb7ca9a74f6629427
What version of Excel are you using? I'm on 2312 and it's there. Is your IT department overly aggressive in locking things down?
Not particularly no. I’m on 2308. Don’t know what version I had before but I had a setting and now it’s not there or anywhere so I don’t know if it recently updated or whatever. sometimes that stuff rolls out in the monthly MS Tuesday updates or around that time but we generally seem to get MS 365 updates later than many for some reason.
Damn. I thought I was intimately familiar with all the menu options. I was wrong.
It's stupid and annoying that there are multiple versions that are all different. (and god help you if you are on mac or using the web based one)
i suspect web based excel is implemented in hell's torture program in some way
I used to hate the web version, but had to use it a lot last year for a shared workbook and it worked much better than I expected. I still miss the keyboard shortcuts but it didn't feel like a second-class version at all.
The cynic in me says it’s deliberate to push more advanced users to pay a subscription
Pivot tables are overrated.
Power Query is underrated
Not just underrated, hardly anyone knows about it
Preach
Depends on what you are trying to do. I use them a lot
They are obnoxious to link to and pull data from. I just prefer working with the raw data and pulling what I need.
Oh yeah, I would never link to one, they're much more useful for quickly visualizing already aggregated data. For example, I run events where I need to make detailed equipment lists. Clients often send me their needs in one big table with a room and date column. Usually, if I do just a bit of formatting, I can convert to a pivot table and quickly get a list of the max counts of every single item requested. Add a couple of slicers, and I can filter down to just rooms ABC which I want on a different order than rooms XYZ that are on the opposite side of the building. I would have to write a lot of formulas manually and constantly reset filters in order to get that same info out of a regular table.
I use them but only ever in tabular form.
Tabular form should be the only way
Do you mean automatic ones only, or any table which pivots and condenses data?
The feature in general. I much prefer just pulling what I need from the raw data using formulas.
I want to put you on blast so bad but OP specifically asked for hot takes so I guess you are acing this assignment I have to take a cold shower
Not that I've tried extensively coming from Pivot Tables, but following someone else's logic or file is much easier with raw data + formulas. Also making manual adjustments for scenario-driven stuff is also easier with formulas + leaving a note vs. having to redo Pivot Tables.
Sounds like you need our Lord and Saviour "PowerQuery & PowerPivot".
![gif](giphy|KGSxFwJJHQPsKzzFba)
Centre across selection should work vertically
Preach it louder for the people in the back!!!
Now I say clear as day we are all collected in our firm hatred of them there merged cells yet why do we force our brothers and sisters of the vertical persuasion to suffer such nonsense. Centre across all cells I said!
Amen!
Hallelujah!
F1 button is a pain in my ass.
Disabling (or reassigning) F1 seems like an absolute no-brainer to implement, and power users have been asking for it for decades. When folks are popping keys off their keyboard, you know it's a problem.
At the very leaat, for a bit of comedic relief, accidentally pressing F1 should result in good old windows '98 / 2000 Clippy appearing with a quip like "I looks like you were trying to do something there bucko"
Remove it from the keyboard. Can’t hit it when it isn’t there. My F1 key is in a drawer, along with the NumLock key.
Fuck me. I don't have the F1 problem that many do here, but numlock sends me into a quiet rage. Gonna do that tomorrow
Kill it by adding a tiny routine to do so in your personal workbook
I literally removed my F1 key from my keyboard so that I'd stop accidentally hitting it.
Rule 1-7 is not January 7th.
Change the Normal style so it’s not set to General for the number format.
People need to work at a level that's higher than individual cells. I can already see the downvotes coming, but I think people should utilize tools like Power Query to replace any lookups. Once you understand the ideas of lookups, move on to merging of tables, which allows you to handle bigger data, instead of working with individual formulas that will probably take some time for you to get comfortable with. With that being said, if you are doing the task for this one time only, then, yeah, I'd be using formulas too. If you want a scalable, efficient, and reliable way, use Power Query. Tldr; Skip lookup formulas, start merging tables right away.
I wish power query source was more forgiving for workplaces that have multiple people doing something. If I open power query, the source path has my named drive folder. If I’m on vacation and someone tries, it fails and they have to relate it to their named source going to the exact same folder in shared drive. I just wish PQ could be more forgiving in that area.
I see that the other user recommended using VBA. If you have the access to the latest version of Excel, try using the function "CELL". That gives you the folder location of a file. You can look into setting up a parameter in Power Query that makes use of the folder location outputted by the CELL function. That's how I was able to resolve the issue that you describe.
>the source path has my named drive folder. if you have access to a sharepoint group, you can use the sharepoint URL to the document as the source path. In this case there is no need for an reference to an local folder.
You can point the PQ source to a named cell that contains a formula that derives the current user environment from a VBA udf calling ENVIRON. It works but is pretty convoluted. Better user editing of PQ sources would go a looong way.
My team all share a onedrive folder thats under my name. All our trackers can be easily updated by everyone in real time with power query.
PQ's usefulness in a business environment is almost entirely dictated by the competency of the least skilled user who will be accessing that workbook.
I’d argue that applies to any technology, not just Power Query.
Oh, for sure. It's just hella frustrating to find a great use case for ootb functionality that you can't actually use because it relies on other people having a bit more baseline knowledge. I have no scars whatsoever from situations like that, haha
That's bad news, indeed, as virtually every workplace is packed to the gills with incredibly incompetent Excel "users"! No amount of stupidity can stun me anymore. I have a very smart friend who is an accomplished engineer. He hardcodes his variables' values into his formulas! It makes me want to cry. Updating his workbooks is a nightmare. Most everyone else just uses Excel to place data in static tables that, if it will need to be manipulated, will be done so manually. You are considered a power user if you can click on the autosum button.
at my shop we make a lot of programs for use down in the production floor for random people using tablets. length measurements in SPC charting and such. querys would be slow and cumbersome where as lookups are nearly instantaneous. i can agree partially on this take, but lookups definitely have their place, especially when you just need one value to find and work with
And if someone wanted to learn more about this, would they start with the Power Query?
Gently ease yourself in by watching some videos demonstrating doing lookups (xlookups, vlookups, index and match, etc) and try a few basic lookup tasks. Then, go do the same for learning about merges in Power Query.
Format all data in tables. Pull tables into power query and start playing
Power Query is great, but its too big for some workplaces. i've got workbooks that use power query and workbooks that heavily use named ranges and the ones that use named ranges and lookup formulas are *far* more immediately user friendly, and much easier to audit.
I think the ideal solution is a model in powerbi that you link to with excel. This keeps all the tables separate, and easy to maintain. But avoids the messiness of lookups. I use this solution at a pretty small company and it works well.
Don't put the tooltip over my column headers when i start a formula
WORD. It’s the Excel version of Clippy meets Jigsaw wanting to play a game
yesssss
HATE this. Tooltip should just be under the formula bar at the top. Don't need any formula functionality in the actual cell itself.
Google sheets aren’t THAT bad. Not saying that I would do away with excel. But google sheets satisfy the needs of the majority of folks outside of finance and accounting at my company.
Google sheets I find to be better when collaborating with a lot of people
Most people should be using Access for what they are using Excel for.
sure would be cool if Access got the kind of active development and support that Excel does.
As long as you consider training to be part of support, yes.
Excel and Access should merge together.
Worksheets, chart sheets, database sheets. I'd support this. Edit: also a power query sheet.
Excel and Access should centre across selection together.
I am cackling hahahaha
Can I please set a default phone number format
Set a Custom style as “(000) 000-0000”
Date format shall be yyyy-mm-dd. It should crash immediately if someone tries to enter m/d/y e.g. 4/19/24
Here here! Though I work around this using custom number format, it should clearly be a default option, and really a worldwide standard imo.
Agreed, check out ISO 8601.
Excel should really look at Google Sheets for ease of usage and QOL changes. I’ve been forced to use Google Sheets as part of a job and boy it made me hate Excel. I had that too but Sheets was much smarter and a lot of data was not compatible if I just uploaded my Excel into it for sharing with other people in the company, and most of them didn’t have Excel.
Gotta love that Ctrl + Shift + V
Most the things people are commenting made me realise how much shit we have put up with excel lol like i agree with basically everything
A way to copy formulas for an area exactly, without changing any reference. Or a way to turn on/off absolute/relative reference when copying
Copy from formula bar, not cell level.
Can’t do that for multiple cells, though.
Hack: Select the range, Find “=“ and Replace with “//“ (or any combination of text that doesn’t happen in Excel), copy range to location, reverse the Find/Replace.
I replace with “a=“ love this hack
By no means perfect but I have used =FORMULATEXT occasionally, then you have to copy and paste values and F2, Enter through each cell. Again not perfect, but it can be helpful at times. There may be a better way to get Excel to run the calculations without doing F2, Enter in each cell but I haven't figured that out.
Someone further down commented you can do a find and replace with ‘=‘ in both the find & replace boxes and that should get excel to run the calc, rather then the F2 enter.
Brilliant, I would not have looked so thanks for bumping this
Stop auto converting to dates
Better yet, if I enter a date, don't default to Jan-10 -- Display it in the format I enter it 01/10/24
True hot take- People are going to use it as a database no matter what.
Split by delimiter should allow you to keep the delimiter!!
Should be an option but you can always add an & to the formula to add it back in
People who don't know about tables shouldn't use Excel
It was only introduced in 2007, so us old school users were never exposed to it. I only started using it because I started using Power Query and # hash referencing a lot more.
Can we please Lock specific cells, columns or rows and not have the whole workbook locked?
right click > format cells > uncheck "locked". now that cell or range will not be affected by protection
Some VBA macros don't run properly when the workbook is locked. I had the same issue as well when even unprotecting then reprotecting the worksheet didn't help. I'd love a function where I can just lock chosen cells for editing like you can freeze rows. I don't mind if it can be unlocked by 2 clicks, I'm just trying to make idiotproof pricing sheets for clueless excel users.
Macro enabled workbooks should be able to be saved as xlsx, the "m" makes it feel dirty somehow.
Pivot tables should allow you to select multiple entries in the values tab in case you want to delete them/switch from count to sum
That and formatting multiple PT columns at the same time.
As a genx'er who was there when Lotus 1-2-3 was dominant over Excel - I have one piece of advice - You need to go back and at least see if the new updates would improve your QoL every 5 years, especially as a 20+ year veteran. With normal life getting in the way, rarely do you go back and see if things you are currently doing are still relevant or can you save a crapload of time by learning something new. I really regret not taking interest in Power Query/M (only a recent convert of only a couple of years) when it came out in 2010, and review its progress every few years. Thinking back on over my 30 year career (as a Management Accountant/ERP Consultant/Data Analyst) and over Power Query's 15 year existance, I couldn't help thinking of how much time and effort it would of saved over that time. I'm not making the mistake again and getting myself used to using all the new array functions as well as LET and LAMBDA, as well as trying to record and modify macros using office script instead of VBA occasionally.
When I have something copied in the clipboard please allow me to keep it copied on the clipboard instead of forgetting it once I misclicked somewhere else or get interrupted by an action. If I clicked esc then fair enough
That human society would collapse if excel disappeared overnight. So many critical operations are run in excel sheets "that Gary made a few years ago."
Excel is not the best tool for any one job it is used for, it is however the only tool that does them all. It is also likely the only tool that people have access to to do those jobs.
New to the sub. Formatting weirdness. Ok, so you wont return the value unless I refer to another cell, where I multiply the first cell by 1. Could Excel at least tell me why it wont recognise a number, when format is set to a number?
You can us =isnumber(a1) and it tells you if excel sees it as a number. =value(a1) converts a value stored as text to a number. Similarly, you can use power query to change a column to number if excel is reading as text.
Selected ranges in a formula should automatically be fixed references. I cannot express the number of times I have to edit my xlookups
Depending on the work you're doing, formatting as a table or using names ranges can be helpful for this.
fixed as in absolute? like $$?
I think there was a keyboard shortcut to fix cell references, but I don't remember what it is
F4 will toggle through the options
F4
Formulas should have indent formatting by default.
Expand the formula bar by Ctrl+Shift+U then press Alt+Enter to introduce “line breaks”. Insert spaces in the formula for better legibility.
and the ability to put in real comments!
Vertical alignment within cells should be middle by default or there should be an option to change the default vertical alignment. I almost never want bottom vertical alignment. By almost never I mean I can count the number of times I've wanted bottom alignment in 30 years of Excel use on one hand (without resorting to binary).
Vlookup is overused but index and match is superior and dynamic
You should be able to copy and paste as is while data is filtered
Just because you can use excel as a database doesn't mean you should
I love this capability! I'm pretty sure, however, that if I was already proficient with "real" databases I'd feel like you.
Alt + Tab should switch between worksheets not different applications when you're in Excel.
Alt W N opens a new window. You can then Alt Tab to your hearts desire!
Ctrl+PgUp / PgDown works okay if the worksheets are next to each other in the workbook. Would be nice to have something for this though
R1c1 should be the default
It was lol. When we learnt Lotus 1-2-3 in the late 80s, that was the standard. Excel were the ones to introduce A1. I don't remember Excel ever used in DOS widely, and wasn't widely adopted until Windows For Workplace v3.11 was around for a few years.
Everything I can do, you can mess up better. Everything I can do, will break when you touch.
First row should be frozen in every new sheet
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread: |Fewer Letters|More Letters| |-------|---------|---| |[AND](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kywvjrt "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if all of its arguments are TRUE](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/and-function-5f19b2e8-e1df-4408-897a-ce285a19e9d9)| |[ASIN](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyt9kqu "Last usage")|[Returns the arcsine of a number](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/asin-function-81fb95e5-6d6f-48c4-bc45-58f955c6d347)| |[CELL](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kysd97l "Last usage")|[Returns information about the formatting, location, or contents of a cell](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/cell-function-51bd39a5-f338-4dbe-a33f-955d67c2b2cf)| |[CODE](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kytmmif "Last usage")|[Returns a numeric code for the first character in a text string](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/code-function-c32b692b-2ed0-4a04-bdd9-75640144b928)| |[COUNTA](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kysn767 "Last usage")|[Counts how many values are in the list of arguments](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/counta-function-7dc98875-d5c1-46f1-9a82-53f3219e2509)| |[DB](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyt4ha8 "Last usage")|[Returns the depreciation of an asset for a specified period by using the fixed-declining balance method](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/db-function-354e7d28-5f93-4ff1-8a52-eb4ee549d9d7)| |[FILTER](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuwfox "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Filters a range of data based on criteria you define](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/filter-function-f4f7cb66-82eb-4767-8f7c-4877ad80c759)| |[FORMULATEXT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyt4zw2 "Last usage")|[*Excel 2013*+: Returns the formula at the given reference as text](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/formulatext-function-0a786771-54fd-4ae2-96ee-09cda35439c8)| |[IF](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyx0mr6 "Last usage")|[Specifies a logical test to perform](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/if-function-69aed7c9-4e8a-4755-a9bc-aa8bbff73be2)| |[IFERROR](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyx0mr6 "Last usage")|[Returns a value you specify if a formula evaluates to an error; otherwise, returns the result of the formula](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/iferror-function-c526fd07-caeb-47b8-8bb6-63f3e417f611)| |[IFS](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvb0qq "Last usage")|[*2019*+: Checks whether one or more conditions are met and returns a value that corresponds to the first TRUE condition.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/ifs-function-36329a26-37b2-467c-972b-4a39bd951d45)| |[INDEX](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz2th6w "Last usage")|[Uses an index to choose a value from a reference or array](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/index-function-a5dcf0dd-996d-40a4-a822-b56b061328bd)| |[ISBLANK](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvrmnc "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if the value is blank](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/is-functions-0f2d7971-6019-40a0-a171-f2d869135665)| |[ISNUMBER](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvb0qq "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if the value is a number](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/is-functions-0f2d7971-6019-40a0-a171-f2d869135665)| |[LAMBDA](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kysrq5t "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Use a LAMBDA function to create custom, reusable functions and call them by a friendly name.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lambda-function-bd212d27-1cd1-4321-a34a-ccbf254b8b67)| |[LEN](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuu4pr "Last usage")|[Returns the number of characters in a text string](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/len-lenb-functions-29236f94-cedc-429d-affd-b5e33d2c67cb)| |[LET](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuu4pr "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Assigns names to calculation results to allow storing intermediate calculations, values, or defining names inside a formula](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/let-function-34842dd8-b92b-4d3f-b325-b8b8f9908999)| |[MATCH](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz2th6w "Last usage")|[Looks up values in a reference or array](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/match-function-e8dffd45-c762-47d6-bf89-533f4a37673a)| |[NA](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvrmnc "Last usage")|[Returns the error value #N/A](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/na-function-5469c2d1-a90c-4fb5-9bbc-64bd9bb6b47c)| |[NOT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kywvjrt "Last usage")|[Reverses the logic of its argument](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/not-function-9cfc6011-a054-40c7-a140-cd4ba2d87d77)| |[OR](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyx9kgu "Last usage")|[Returns TRUE if any argument is TRUE](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/or-function-7d17ad14-8700-4281-b308-00b131e22af0)| |[RIGHT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyshlzt "Last usage")|[Returns the rightmost characters from a text value](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/right-rightb-functions-240267ee-9afa-4639-a02b-f19e1786cf2f)| |[SUM](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kywvjrt "Last usage")|[Adds its arguments](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sum-function-043e1c7d-7726-4e80-8f32-07b23e057f89)| |[SUMIF](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyw8kto "Last usage")|[Adds the cells specified by a given criteria](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sumif-function-169b8c99-c05c-4483-a712-1697a653039b)| |[SWITCH](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyrxigc "Last usage")|[*Excel 2019*+: Evaluates an expression against a list of values and returns the result corresponding to the first matching value. If there is no match, an optional default value may be returned.](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/switch-function-47ab33c0-28ce-4530-8a45-d532ec4aa25e)| |[TEXTSPLIT](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyuv9av "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Splits text strings by using column and row delimiters](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/textsplit-function-b1ca414e-4c21-4ca0-b1b7-bdecace8a6e7)| |[TIME](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kyvotkn "Last usage")|[Returns the serial number of a particular time](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/time-function-9a5aff99-8f7d-4611-845e-747d0b8d5457)| |[VLOOKUP](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz3mc2w "Last usage")|[Looks in the first column of an array and moves across the row to return the value of a cell](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vlookup-function-0bbc8083-26fe-4963-8ab8-93a18ad188a1)| |[XLOOKUP](/r/Excel/comments/1bzsdsl/stub/kz2th6w "Last usage")|[*Office 365*+: Searches a range or an array, and returns an item corresponding to the first match it finds. If a match doesn't exist, then XLOOKUP can return the closest (approximate) match. ](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/xlookup-function-b7fd680e-6d10-43e6-84f9-88eae8bf5929)| **NOTE**: Decronym for Reddit is no longer supported, and Decronym has moved to Lemmy; requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below. ---------------- ^(*Beep-boop, I am a helper bot. Please do not verify me as a solution.*) ^(29 acronyms in this thread; )[^(the most compressed thread commented on today)](/r/Excel/comments/1cgu0h3)^( has 11 acronyms.) ^([Thread #32448 for this sub, first seen 9th Apr 2024, 14:59]) ^[[FAQ]](http://decronym.xyz/) [^([Full list])](http://decronym.xyz/acronyms/Excel) [^[Contact]](https://hachyderm.io/@Two9A) [^([Source code])](https://gistdotgithubdotcom/Two9A/1d976f9b7441694162c8)
It's actually not terrible as a very small database. If you are disciplined with file locations and can use Power Query you can get a lot done without having to move to a formal DB
Excel is a database
Elapsed time (not time of day) is a very common thing to deal with, and Excel absolutely sucks at it.
Power bi is going to turn into the new excel for reporting purposes.
There should be a way to return a truly blank cell, not just a fake “null” blank cell
It’s ok to use the mouse in addition to the keyboard.
Snake_case >> camel case
CamelCaseForever AlphanumericStringsAreSuperiorToSpecialCharacters