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Microsoft Office
Mark Kaelin
TechRepublic Staff
Mark Kaelin
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Office challenge: What's the shortcut for unhiding columns and rows in Excel 2007?
This week, Excel 2007 has dropped a favorite keyboard shortcut; can you help a TechRepublic member find a new one?
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 8, 2011, 8:17 AM PST | Latest comment by CPellecchia
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Get help entering Excel functions with a keyboard shortcut
This keyboard shortcut displays function arguments, syntax, and helps guide you through the input process.
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 7, 2011, 7:41 AM PST
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Add color or a picture to a Word document's background
There's nothing wrong with a white background, but Word lets you change the color of a document's background. You can even use a picture, but don't get carried away.
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 6, 2011, 12:00 PM PST
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Microsoft Word 101: A quick look at formatting styles
Using Word styles will help you work more efficiently and create consistent documents that are easy to maintain and modify.
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 5, 2011, 7:54 AM PST | Latest comment by simchuck
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Office solution: What to do when [Ctrl]+Z stops working
This week, learn the solution to last week's Office challenge: Why doesn't [Ctrl]+z work anymore?
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 1, 2011, 12:23 PM PST
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Office challenge: What's the most efficient way to print different areas of the same Excel sheet?
In this week's challenge, test your Excel skills by showing readers how to print selected views of their data, efficiently.
Posted by Susan Harkins | December 1, 2011, 8:31 AM PST | Latest comment by basil.cinnamon
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Use conditional formatting in Excel to highlight important dates
If you don't want events slipping up on you, or past you, use Excel's conditional formatting as an alert system.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 30, 2011, 7:08 AM PST | Latest comment by Robiisan
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Save time by creating an Excel workbook workspace
If you open the same group of Excel workbooks every day, you can save yourself some time by creating a workspace.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 29, 2011, 8:22 AM PST | Latest comment by henry.ongtauco
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Why Outlook sometimes fails to find an email address
Ever had Outlook refuse to offer an email suggestion when you enter a contact name? Learn why, and how to work around this limitation.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 28, 2011, 12:43 AM PST | Latest comment by alexltk0506
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Office solution: You can change the defaults for PowerPoint text boxes
Learn the solution to last week's Office challenge: Can you change the defaults for PowerPoint text boxes?
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 23, 2011, 12:39 AM PST
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Office challenge: Why doesn't [Ctrl]+z work anymore?
This week, test your general Office skills by discovering why a user's [Ctrl]+z shortcut no longer cancels the last action.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 23, 2011, 12:35 AM PST | Latest comment by zimmerwoman
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Use an accessibility option to alert yourself to toggle keys
If you accidentally hit the CapsLock key often, you might want to relieve the frustration with this accessibility option.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 22, 2011, 1:33 PM PST | Latest comment by ian@...
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Quickly add a header or footer to every sheet in an Excel workbook
You don't have to add a header to every Excel worksheet individually when you can group them first.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 22, 2011, 10:33 AM PST | Latest comment by hougs
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Animate individual elements of a PowerPoint chart
PowerPoint will let you animate chart elements, but the option's not easy to find. If you don't know about it, you might not even go looking for it.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 22, 2011, 10:27 AM PST | Latest comment by ssharkins@...
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Office solution: Why an IF() might return an unexpected result
This week, learn about string comparison from the discussion that followed last week's Office challenge: When an IF() returns FALSE, when it should return TRUE.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 17, 2011, 11:47 AM PST | Latest comment by ssharkins@...
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Office challenge: Can you change the defaults for PowerPoint text boxes?
This week, show your PowerPoint prowess by showing us how to change defaults for text boxes.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 17, 2011, 11:43 AM PST | Latest comment by Nebraska Jack
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Emphasize a picture in a Word doc by changing its shape
Square is square. However, you can change a square picture in a Word doc to any number of shapes in just a few quick steps.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 16, 2011, 10:42 AM PST | Latest comment by fishcad
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Use SmartArt to create a more interesting bulleted list in Word
Ordinary bullets are adequate for most Word documents, but when you need to add more style, try SmartArt.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 15, 2011, 8:00 AM PST | Latest comment by skooboy
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Use SUMIFS() to sum by multiple conditions in Excel
Excel's SUMIF() lets you sum values, conditionally. It's new sibling, SUMIFS() lets you sum values by multiple conditions.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 14, 2011, 11:25 AM PST | Latest comment by peter.r7
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Office solution: Improving Excel's charting defaults
Here's a few improvements to last week's default chart; what changes would you make to improve this chart?
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 10, 2011, 12:51 PM PST | Latest comment by Ian005
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Two ways to add checkbox controls to a Word document
Use a customized bulleted list or a content control to insert checkboxes into a Word document, depending on how you are going to use it.
Posted by Susan Harkins | February 22, 2012, 8:16 AM PST | Latest comment by ian@...
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How to add a drop-down list to an Excel cell
Drop-down lists can greatly facilitate data entry. Here's a look at how to use Excel's data validation feature to create handy lists within your worksheets.
Posted by Susan Harkins | June 12, 2008, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by dhivya.vasu01@...
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Transpose Excel data from rows to columns, or vice versa
When you need to flip-flop data in an Excel worksheet, don't waste time doing it manually. Excel offers a handy Transpose option that will quickly take care of the task.
Posted by Jeff Davis | June 23, 2009, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by excelinexcel
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Use SUMIFS() to sum by multiple conditions in Excel
Excel's SUMIF() lets you sum values, conditionally. It's new sibling, SUMIFS() lets you sum values by multiple conditions.
Posted by Susan Harkins | November 14, 2011, 11:25 AM PST | Latest comment by peter.r7
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How to use Excel 2010's new conditional formatting with references
Excel 2010's new referencing option makes conditional formatting more powerful than ever before!
Posted by Susan Harkins | August 30, 2010, 8:40 AM PDT | Latest comment by jeboy.06
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Add horizontal lines to a Word document
Susan Harkins shows you two easy ways to insert a horizontal line into a Word document.
Posted by Susan Harkins | September 29, 2010, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by Shrike49
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A quick and dirty way to compare columns of Excel data
Using this little-known feature in Excel, you can quickly compare one column of data to another.
Posted by Susan Harkins | April 6, 2012, 11:41 AM PDT | Latest comment by HAL 9000
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Four ways to insert an em dash in a Word document
When you need an em dash, you can let Word enter it for you the easy way. If that approach doesn't suit your needs, try one of three manual methods.
Posted by Susan Harkins | March 1, 2010, 12:00 AM PST | Latest comment by Marshwiggle
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Use COUNTIFS() to evaluate multiple count and criteria ranges
Excel's COUNTIFS() function is flexible enough to handle different ranges and data types.
Posted by Susan Harkins | May 21, 2012, 10:37 AM PDT | Latest comment by jbenton@...
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How to Alphabetize Lists In Word
I learned something new the other day—Word can alphabetize a list. I’m sure many users already know this, but it’s brand new to me. Years ago, I could do this with WordPerfect, but I’ve...
Posted by Susan Harkins | May 29, 2007, 12:13 PM PDT
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The secret to unhiding column A in an Excel worksheet
After you hide column A, it might seem like it's gone forever. Fortunately, there are two simple tricks for unhiding it.
Posted by Susan Harkins | March 16, 2009, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by fallon.stuart@...
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Quickly fill blank cells in Excel
Blank cells can spell trouble. Here's an easy way to fill in those blanks and protect the validity of your data.
Posted by Susan Harkins | April 26, 2010, 10:50 AM PDT | Latest comment by Midhunmj
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Use Word's Vertical Alignment settings to center a page
Centering text vertically isn't difficult; you just have to know where to look!
Posted by Susan Harkins | July 28, 2010, 6:30 PM PDT
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Build a simple timesheet in Excel
Excel makes it easy to set up a system for tracking time. Follow these steps to create your own or download our sample timesheet template and customize it to fit your needs.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 26, 2010, 9:43 AM PST | Latest comment by raj_as
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Create an Excel data entry form that includes check boxes
You can keep a lot of information on an Excel data entry form, but you can make it easier for your users -- and yourself -- to create tables by adding check boxes. Here's how to set up check boxes...
Posted by Mary Ann Richardson | July 31, 2007, 12:00 AM PDT | Latest comment by Corbybhoy
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Use a formula to trigger Excel's Conditional Formatting feature
If you need a visual clue to hype a worksheet, use Excel's Conditional Formatting feature to help values stand out.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 5, 2009, 1:07 PM PST | Latest comment by JNirvaha
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Use a custom format in Excel to display easier to read millions
Use a custom format in Microsoft Excel to reduce the number of digits in a large number without losing its scale.
Posted by Susan Harkins | March 14, 2012, 11:16 AM PDT | Latest comment by jeng02@...
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A quick way to delete blank rows in Excel
Deleting blank rows in an Excel data range is easy with this technique, but watch out for unintended consequences.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 5, 2012, 11:48 AM PST | Latest comment by jbenton@...
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Delete a stubborn page break in Word
Sometimes, Word won't let you delete a page break. The fix is usually simple -- although the cause might surprise you.
Posted by Susan Harkins | January 8, 2010, 7:13 AM PST | Latest comment by kramer22
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Two ways to build dynamic charts in Excel
Users will appreciate a chart that updates right before their eyes. In Excel 2007 and 2010 it's as easy as creating a table. In earlier versions, you'll need the formula method.
Posted by Susan Harkins | April 19, 2012, 11:48 AM PDT | Latest comment by chip_long@...
