Twenty-Two Basic Excel Tips and Trick

While Excel is undoubtedly one of those most powerful and useful programs in the Microsoft Office suite, it can also be the program that people find most intimidating. However, the truth is that there is really nothing to fear when you have a handful of Excel tips and tricks to help you along.
Not only can an understanding of Excel allow your businesses to compute profit or loss or help homeowners perform detailed amortizations for loans and mortgages, and enumerate repayment options, but it can also help create household budgets, track a child’s household chores and even help to organize your wedding.
Below you can find a few basic Excel tips and tricks to help you get started.
1.            To enter data, type it into the cell, press enter, and click the pointer in another cell to conclude the data entry.
2.            Single row at the top should be used for the spreadsheet’s column headings.
3.            If your spreadsheet needs a title, place it in the row above the column headings.  Use the Merge & Center button, located on the Home tab, to merge and center the title across all columns.
4.            Single row at the left edge of the table for the sheet’s row headings.
5.            Numbers should not be used for column or row headings.  If numbers need to be used as headers, create text labels by placing an apostrophe (‘) in front of the number.  The apostrophe will not show in the cell, but Excel will identify the contents as text data.
6.            Enter data beginning in the upper-left corner of the worksheet, and proceed down, rather than across the sheet.  Organize the material in tables using adjoining columns and rows.
7.            For spreadsheets composed of more than one information classification, insert descriptive titles at the top of each column.
8.            Widen columns, and increase row heights, rather than skipping columns or rows to space out the information.  When columns and rows are filled in, Excel is able to identify, sort, filter, and use calculation functions for related data. 
9.            Save your work frequently.  Excel includes an auto save function, but don’t completely rely on it.  To make saving faster, use the keyboard shortcut of Ctrl + S.
10.          Percentages and currency are best entered as plain numbers.  After the information is entered, format the cell to display the figures correctly.
11.          Format numbers, with commas and decimal places, using Control + Shift + !.
12.          For currency, Control + Shift + $ formats numbers into currency, with commas and two decimal places.
13.          To format percentages, select Control + Shift + %.
14.          Format correct time by choosing Control + Shift + : (colon).
15.          Current dates are displayed by using Control + ; (semicolon).
16.          Formulas should contain cell location references and defined ranges to make calculations faster and more accurate.
17.          Cell references identify the location of information in a spreadsheet by using a combination of column letter and row number, such as, A1, B15, or E73.
18.          Cell references always have the column letter placed first, followed by the row number.
19.          Defined ranges specify a range of cells, such as, A1:A3.  The first cell in the range is A1, followed by a colon, to separate the first from the last cell, A5.  The range will include cells A1, A2, and A3.
20.          The Name Box, above column A, displays the current cell being worked on.
21.          Always start and Excel formula using the Equal Sign (=).
22.          Excel mathematical operators used in formulas, include:
•             Addition - plus sign ( +) - for example, = C1+C2
•             Subtraction – minus sign (-) – for example,  =C1-C2
•             Multiplication – asterisk (*) – for example, =C2*C3
•             Division – forward slash (/) – for example, =C3/C2
For new Excel users, the above tips and tricks should help you get a start in learning Excel.  Practice writing Excel formulas, and let the program do the complex calculations.