How to Improve Your Excel Experience – 13 Useful Tips

Microsoft Excel is a tool with hundreds of features and a wide variety of work possibilities. Although it can be a bit intimidating at first, people end up getting used to each of its features.

Likewise, if you don't feel capable of testing yourself with this application, I recommend that you continue reading this post that we have prepared for you. Here we will show you how you can Improve your Excel experience using 13 practical tips.

No matter how much experience you have using Microsoft Excel, Once you put it to the test, you will be able to, in addition to learning, increase your productivity and efficiency when executing any project.

How to improve your Excel experience

Each of the tips we show you in this guide are ideal for improving your experience in Excel 2016 or later versions. Older versions of this application will most likely require other methods or lack some of the features that the version we cover in this post has.

With this point clarified, we are now going to mention what you should do to become a true Excel professional using these 13 tips that will allow you to improve your Excel experience significantly.

1.- Add multiple rows and columns at once

Creating spreadsheets is one of the most common actions you perform in Excel. Every time you create spreadsheets, you have to add new rows and columns, sometimes hundreds of them at a time. This trick allows you to do it in fractions of a second, so you don't have to manually add new entries.

This way you will add multiple rows and columns simultaneously in Excel.

• Highlight the same number of rows or columns you want to insert. Rows and columns can contain data within them, this does not affect the process at all.
• Right-click any of the selected cells, then click Insert in the context menu.
• New empty cells will appear above or on either side of the first cell you originally highlighted. This can be selected.

In the image I showed you above, you can see the correct creation of bulk cells, it is something really easy that will save you a good amount of time.

2.- Apply filters to the data

When working with data sets, simplifying them can go a long way in helping you see patterns and the crucial information you need. Examining hundreds of rows and columns can only leave you with room for error. This is where data filters are a great option for you.

As the name suggests, filters give you the option to select data and will only show you entries that fit certain criteria. For example, if you have a long list of customers but only want certain data, you can apply a filter. This will hide every customer entry that has a different address. It's easier than you think!

To not go on too long, let's see how you can apply these filters:

• Open the spreadsheet you want to filter.
• Now, you have to click on the tab Facts & figures from the ribbon and select Filter. This will enable filtering for the entire spreadsheet, which you can notice from the drop-down arrows added for each header.
• Click the drop-down arrow for the column you want to filter by. A new window should appear.
• Select how you want your data to be organized. Uncheck any headers you don't want to display, and customize how Excel sorts the remaining data.

3.-. Delete duplicate entries with a single click

This is another method that can improve your Excel experience and can work for large groups, especially when you have unwanted duplicate entries. While it is possible to find these entries manually, there are certain methods that are faster and more effective at deleting them without leaving anything behind. Let's see how below:

• Highlight the row or column from which you want to remove duplicates.
• Open the tab Facts & figures from the ribbon, then click the button Remove duplicates under ToolsA new window will appear where you can confirm the data you wish to work with.
• Click the button Remove duplicates. And that's it!

4.- Use conditional formatting

Conditional formatting is also a good visual aid, especially when you are analyzing data sets. It changes the color of cells based on the information they contain and the criteria for that information. You can use this to create color maps, color codes for information, and many other things. To learn how to do this, pay attention to the following recommendations:

• Highlight the group of cells you want to work with.
• Make sure you are on the tab Home from the ribbon, then click Conditional format.
• Select the logic you want to use in the drop-down menu, or create your own rule to customize how Excel treats each cell.
• A new window should open where you can provide Excel with the rules needed to sort your data correctly. When you're done, click the button Accept and see the results.

5.- Import a table from the Internet

Another benefit that Excel offers you is that you can easily import tables from the Internet, and the best thing of all is that you don't have to worry about formatting the cells. But let's take a look at how to do this from within the software itself.

• Switch to the tab Facts & figures from the ribbon, then click the button From Web.
• Within the Web navigator, enter the URL of the website that contains the table you want to insert. For example, we will work with a table of Excel sample data of Contextures.
• Press the button Ir. Once the site loads, scroll down to the table you want to insert.
• Click the checkbox Click to select this table.
• Then you need to click on the button Import.
• Then click on Accept. The table should appear in your spreadsheet as cells.

6.- Speed ​​up the work process with Autocomplete

Entering data that is repeated over and over again can easily lead to stress. To deal with this, you can make use of the AutoComplete option. It is a fairly simple feature to implement and it recognizes these patterns that are repetitive, such as dates. In addition, it can automatically fill in each of the missing cells. Here we tell you how to use it.

• Select the cells you want to use as a pattern.
• Place the cursor over the Lower right corner of a cell until the cursor becomes a sign + This indicates the AutoComplete feature.
• Click and hold the mouse, then drag the cursor down while holding down the click. The predicted data should appear as you move the mouse.
• Release the mouse when you are satisfied with the inputs.

7.- Insert a screenshot with ease

If you have the desire to add a screenshot of any application you have open, but don't want to go through complicated processes or store one on your computer, Excel has got you covered. With this simple feature, you can take a screenshot of any active window and insert the image you took into Excel.

To do this, you just have to click on the tab that says insert and select the screenshot. Then you have to choose any of the windows you have open, and that's it.

8.- Add checkboxes to your spreadsheet.

Did you know that you can add checkboxes to Excel spreadsheets? – and you can do it yourself. In this section we will tell you how to do it. You just have to make sure that the tab that says Developer is enabled in the options.

• Highlight the cell to which you want to add a check box.
• Switch to the tab Developer on the tape.
• Add a checkbox or  radio button depending on what you need on your sheet.

9.- Use Excel shortcuts

Excel has always been known for giving users a wide variety of features and capabilities that enhance its functionality. To improve your Excel experience, you need to recognize the keyboard shortcuts that the keyboard provides. Here are some of them. Tricks Excel so you can find the most used shortcuts and level up:

• Select any of the columns: Click a cell in a column, then press the Ctrl keys + Studio.
• Choose a row: beam Click a cell in a row and then press the keys Shift + Studio.
• Start a new line in a cell: Press Alt + Enter while typing to start a new line.
• Insert current time: Press the Ctrl keys + Shift + Colon (;).
• Copy current date: Press the Ctrl keys + Colon (;).
• Hide a column: press the Ctrl keys + 0.
• To hide a row: press Ctrl + 9 keys.
• Show or hide formulas: press the Ctrl keys + Tildes (~).

10.- Remove grid lines from a spreadsheet.

If you want to get a completely blank canvas in Excel, you have the option to delete the grid lines which corresponds to the spreadsheet with a single click. You just have to go to the tab that says View within the ribbon and deselect the grid lines option within the section Show.

11.- Quickly insert a pivot table

Pivot tables are generally very useful when analyzing and presenting data. You have to select each of the cells you want to use, then you must create a pivot table by going to the tab that says Insert and clicking on Recommended pivot tables.

12.- Add comments to the formulas

Believe it or not, one of Excel's best kept secrets is in the comments. They are an easy way to locate formulas or make them understandable to viewers. If you want to add a comment, just add + N (comment here) after the formula. While this doesn't appear in the cell itself, you'll be able to see it in the formula bar. Once you get a handle on it, you'll definitely be able to improve your Excel experience significantly.

13.- Draw your equations

Within Excel 2016 and later versions, you can draw some equations and have the application transform them into text.

• Go to the tab Insert on the tape.
• Click on Equation, then select Ink equation.
• Write your equation inside the yellow box.

Final thoughts

If you are looking for other guides or want to read more technology-related articles, consider continuing to read the posts we have within our portal. We regularly publish tutorials, news articles, and guides to help you learn more about the interesting world of technology. See you in our next post.