Microsoft Excel Features You Aren’t Making Use Of

1. Combination Charts

Combo charts are two styles of charts, e.g pie, line, column etc. It is great for displaying different kinds of information.

2. PivotTables

Insert > Tables > Recommended PivotTables

PivotTables are great. They use a database that has some rows containing values and the first row containing headings, to summarise vast amounts of Excel data. You can either create your own PivotTable, or Excel 2013 will analyse your data and recommend one for you.

3. Basic Math

You can do simple calculations by entering them into the formula bar as long as you start it with the = sign. After you press enter the answer will appear in the cell. E.g, if you had the number 10 in cell A2, and the number 5 in cell A4, you’d type “=A2+A4” and when you pressed enter the answer would appear in the cell you’d selected. You can also do subtraction by using the – sign, enter * for multiplication, and / for division.

4. Conditional Formatting 

Conditional Formatting is useful to help users quickly focus on important aspects of their spreadsheet, highlight errors, or identify important patterns in data. It changes the format of a cell, depending on what the cells in the workbook are, content of the cell, and range of cells.

5. Sorting and Filtering

Sorting and Filtering your data will save you a lot of time. With it you can re-order data, or just pick out what you do and don’t need. For example, you could sort by alphabetical name, or age, etc.