April 4/4/25 Tech Tips

Check out the tips below for how to manage and better use Microsoft Excel!

Excel Basics

Excel can help with a lot of complicated tasks but sometimes what is needed is a quick review of basic tips.

1. When typing in Excel the cell sizes aren't always the correct width to fit all the text you need. An easy way around this is to double click between the two columns, for example A and B. This will widen the cell to the exact width of the words.

   

   Double click between both cells to automatically widen the cell.

2. The automatic filling out of cells is also a great feature. If the next column all share the same number or a basic pattern like months, simply use the "fill handle." Select a cell or cells, hovering over the bottom-right corner until it turns into a plus sign, and then dragging it to fill adjacent cells with the same data or a pattern.

3. A big perk of Excel are the formals you can plug in. For finding the sum of a group of cells select "Autosum" in the top right corner of your ribbon. To create a new formula select a cell, type an equal sign (=), type the cell names, then input the formula, and press Enter. Example: =AVERAGE(B2:B5)

4. Similar to our first tip, if you don't want you sentence to go on forever in a cell press alt+ Enter. This will create a line break.

5. A great keyboard hack for Excel is Ctrl + Shift. Hit Ctrl+Shift, then hit either the down arrow to get all the data in the column below, up arrow to get all the data above, or left or right arrow to get everything in the row.

Conditional Formatting

In Excel, conditional formatting allows you to automatically apply formatting (like colors, icons, or data bars) to cells based on their values or other criteria, making it easier to identify trends, patterns, or outliers in your data. For example, highlighting cells with values above a certain threshold, using color scales to show the range of values, applying icons to represent different categories or levels, or using data bars to visually compare values. You will need to select a group of cells with you data. Then go to the "Home" tab and click "Conditional Formatting". It will bring up a drop down menu with all sorts of options such as "Top ten items". Once you've clicked the option that works for you a formatting window will pop up to change the amount (top 5 maybe) and the highlight color (highlight in red). This is one feature commonly overlooked, but easy to use. So check out this video for more information and visuals.

Freeze Headers When Scrolling

When working in a massive document it can be hard to keep track of the information. To freeze headers (rows or columns) in Excel, go to the "View" tab, click "Freeze Panes," and then choose "Freeze Top Row," or "Freeze First Column." This way you can keep track of data without all the furious scrolling.

New Window for Less Scrolling

As mentioned above endless scrolling is the bane of most of our existences. So when you need to copy and paste from different parts of the spreadsheet or compare two parts of a spreadsheet having to scroll through the whole thing will make anyone dizzy. In the "View" tab, click "New Window" and now you can view data from multiple windows. No scrolling needed.

Format with Paint

In Excel, the "Format Painter" tool, which looks like a paintbrush, allows you to copy formatting (font, color, borders, etc.) from one cell or range to another, saving time and ensuring consistency. Select the cell you like, go to the "Home" tab, and click the paintbrush icon. Then click on a different cell to paint in the format—they'll match in looks, not in content. To apply it to multiple tabs double-click the paintbrush icon, then click away on multiple cells.

I hope you have found these tech tips helpful! Please feel free to share these tips out or contact us with questions or comments.