Excel Tips Tricks Ebook

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from the
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Mynda Treacy | Microsoft MVP
Microsoft Excel Tips & Tricks

Excel Tips & Tricks
Dear fellow Excel enthusiast,
If you’re not an enthusiast yet, I hope that with the help of these Tips & Tricks you soon
will be.
These are some of my favourite tips and power features that’ll get you well on your way to
‘Excel Guru Status’ giving you not only the recognition you deserve, but also making your
work more enjoyable.
Kind regards,
Mynda Treacy
Microsoft MVP
Co-founder
My Online Training Hub
SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE

You have permission to share this e-book via email, by printing or even posting it on your
website, Facebook account, Twitter or LinkedIn etc.
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1. You don’t charge anyone money for it. That’s my right.

2. You don’t change, edit, or alter the digital format or contents.
3. All links must remain in place.
My hope for this e-book is that you please share it with as many people as possible. And by sharing
the knowledge many more people will love Excel and love their work.
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Contents
Keyboard Shortcuts ................................................................................... 4

Tips & Tricks ............................................................................................... 7
Must Know Functions and Formulas ........................................................ 17
Power Formulas ....................................................................................... 19
Cool Tools ................................................................................................ 20
Tip: Click menu to jump to section
Questions & Support

Questions – If you have any questions or feedback, please contact me
at: website@myonlinetraininghub.com
Excel Support – Post your questions, screenshots and example Excel

files on our Excel Forum where we’d be happy to help:
https://www.MyOnlineTrainingHub.com/excel-forum
Learn More - You can find more Microsoft Office training (including
Excel, Word and Outlook video tutorials) and resources at
https://www.MyOnlineTrainingHub.com

Keyboard Shortcuts
1. Inserts a SUM formula referencing the
adjacent cells.
2. Switches between open Excel windows.
3. Selects the entire worksheet. If the worksheet

contains data, CTRL+A selects the current
region. Pressing CTRL+A a second time selects
the current region and its summary rows.
Pressing CTRL+A a third time selects the
entire worksheet.
Displays the Format Cells dialog box or formatting
4. panes for objects.
5. Copies the cell above the active cell into the

cell. Also copies objects (images, shapes,
charts etc.)
6. Copies a formula from the cell above the
active cell into the cell or the Formula Bar.
Repeats an action, or if you’re editing a cell and

7. the cursor is in between the cell references it will
insert the $ signs for absolute references.
Repeated pressing F4 will scroll through different
levels of absolute references.
8. Uses the Undo command to reverse the last
command or to delete the last entry that you
typed.
9. Opens the Hyperlink dialog box. Also works in
Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and more!
10. Opens the Find dialog box.
11. Opens the Find & Replace dialog box.
12. Opens a new workbook.

13. Displays the Open dialog box to open or find a
file.
14. Edits the active cell and positions the

insertion point at the end of the cell contents.
It also moves the insertion point into the
Formula Bar when editing in a cell is turned
off.
15. Runs Spell Check on the entire worksheet if
only one cell is selected, otherwise Spell
Checks the selected range.
16. Inserts named ranges for an entire table
automatically based on the column or row
headings (your choice).
17. Opens the File Save As dialog box.
18. Saves workbook.
19. Copy
20. Cut
21. Paste
22. Pastes Values (365 and versions later than

2021 only)
23. Move to end of a range of cells (column or

row). Your selected cell will stop at any empty
cell in the range, or if cells are empty it will
stop at the next populated cell in the column
or row. Bonus tip: Also hold SHIFT to select
cells.
24. Quickly move to home. If you have frozen
panes your cursor will stop at the intersection
of the frozen panes.

25. Move between worksheets
or
26. View formulas instead of values
27. Inserts today’s date. Bonus tip: also hold

SHIFT to enter the current time.
28. Opens the emoji palette (in all apps)
29. Opens the right mouse button menu.
Want more keyboard shortcuts?

Keyboard shortcuts help you work faster. Download our 239 Excel Keyboard
Shortcuts e-book here.

Tips & Tricks
30. Hidden Double Click Shortcuts – it’s not all about the keyboard. The mouse also has some
super handy shortcuts available. Check them out here.
31. Transpose Data Copy data > Paste Special > Transpose.
32. Increase Numbers by Set Amount – Enter the figure you want to increase numbers by, say
10%, you’d enter 1.1. Copy the cell containing 1.1 > highlight the cells containing the numbers
you want to increase > Paste Special > Multiply:
Bonus tip: convert negative values to positive by multiplying by -1 and vice versa.

33. AutoFill a Series or Formulas – Double Click on the + symbol on the bottom right of a cell that
is adjacent to the range you want to fill.
Before After
34. Flash Fill – Use built in AI to split, join, clean text and dates. Give flash fill one or more
examples, then select the range and press CTRL+E to flash fill the rest:
35. Force a carriage return in a cell instead of wrapping the text – while editing the cell, press:
36. Use Format Painter more than once – Double Click the Format
Painter and use it as many times as you like. When you’re done
press ESC.

37. Format Sheet Tab Colours – Right-Click mouse on Sheet Tab > Tab Colour.
38. Combine Text from Multiple Cells – Enter your formula with the ampersand ‘&’ between the
cell references e.g. =A1&A2&A3 will add the text in cell A1, A2 and A3 together.
Bonus tip: Excel 2019 onward and 365 users can use the TEXTJOIN function to join text with a
delimiter and ignore empty spaces. More on the TEXTJOIN function here.
39. Delete blank cells in a row or column –

Highlight the column or row containing cells
you want to delete. Press CTRL+G to open the
Go To Dialog Box > Special > Blanks.
Delete cells, rows or columns.
40. Fill blank cells in a row or column - Highlight

the column or row containing cells you want to
fill. Press CTRL+G to open the Go To Dialog Box
> Special > Blanks. Enter the text or formula
you want to insert > press CTRL+ENTER to
enter the text/formula in every blank cell.
41. Copy & Paste visible cells only – In a filtered

list of data copy the list > Paste Special > Skip
Blanks. Or if your list isn’t filtered use Go To
Special to select visible cells only: CTRL+G > Special > Visible Cells Only > Paste.

42. Insert custom cell formats:
Custom Cell Formats Text Before Custom Format Formatted Text

Formatting
Brackets for negative -500 #,##0;(#,##0) (500)
values
Red and brackets for -500 #,##0.00;[Red](#,##0.00) (500.00)
negative values
Day of the week in full 27/03/2010 dddd Saturday
Day, date, month and year 27/03/2010 ddd dd mmm yyyy Sat 27 Mar 2010
Month 27/03/2010 mmmm March
Phone Numbers 755551234 00 0000 0000 07 5555 1234
Phone Numbers with 755551234 (00) 0000 0000 (07) 5555 1234
Brackets
Fractions 10.5 # ??/?? 10 1/2
Trailing Characters Date: @*_ Date:_______________
Leading Characters Page 1 *.@ …………………….Page 1
Click here for more custom cell formats tips and tricks.
43. Use Named Ranges in your formulas to make them easier to build and read when you come
back to your workbook weeks or months later. Click here for the Named Range tutorial.
44. Apply different formats within one cell – it could be different fonts, font colours, styles etc.
Select the cell you want to format > F2 to edit the cell > highlight the text you want to change >
Use the formatting tools on the Home tab of the ribbon.

Move, insert and copy columns, rows and cells using the Mouse + SHIFT or CTRL.
45. Move column, row or cells: Select the range of cells, column(s) or row(s) > hover your mouse
over the edge of your selected range of cells (or columns or rows) >when the mouse pointer
changes to a 4 pointed arrow left click the mouse and hold down while you drag your cells
to a new location.
46. Move and insert column, row or cells: As above except also hold down the SHIFT key while
hovering your mouse over the edge of the selected area. Then drag the cells (while holding
down the SHIFT key) and insert then in a new location.
47. Copy and paste a column, row or cells: As above except hold down the CTRL key while
down the CTRL key) and release the mouse where you want to paste the data.
48. Copy and insert a column, row or cells: As above except hold down the CTRL+SHIFT keys while
down the CTRL+SHIFT keys) and release the mouse where you want to insert your data.
Mouse Pointer in 45 and 46 Mouse Pointer in 47 and 48
Note: these mouse pointers may appear different on your PC if you have a different
operating system or have customised how your mouse appears. Not to worry, the shortcuts
above will still work as described.

49. Copy formulas only - Copy cell
containing formula you want to copy >
Paste Special > Paste Formulas.
50. Quickly enter links to a range of cells –

Copy cells you want to link to > Paste
Special > Paste Links.
51. Freeze rows and or columns at the top

or left of your workbook so that headings
stay in place while you scroll down the
worksheet. Place your cursor at the
intersection of the rows/columns you want
fixed in place i.e. Frozen. Go to View tab of
the ribbon > Freeze Panes:
52. Synchronous Scrolling – want to

compare two workbooks and have
them both scroll at the same time?
With two workbooks open View tab
of the ribbon > View side by side >
Synchronous Scrolling:

Want to tamper-proof your workbook?
53. Hide worksheet tabs > Windows Button > Excel Options > Advanced > Display Options >
uncheck ‘Show sheet tabs’.
54. Hide row and column headers > Windows Button > Excel Options > Advanced > Display
Options for this workbook > uncheck ‘Show row and column headers’ or View tab of the
ribbon > uncheck ‘Headings’ in the Show/Hide group.
55. Hide the formula bar > View tab of the ribbon > uncheck ‘Formula Bar’ in the Show/Hide
group.
Click here for more on workbook protection.
56. Add non-contiguous print areas – Set first print

area, then select second print area and on the
Page Layout tab of the ribbon select ‘Add to print
area’. Each print range will print on a separate
page.
57. Pick from a list of existing values – in the cell

under your data hold down ALT + Down Arrow -
Excel will give you a list of values to choose from.
Use the arrow keys to select the one you want, and
press ENTER to insert it.

58. Print titles on each page automatically – On the Page Layout tab of the ribbon select Print
Titles. This will open the Page Setup dialog box. Enter your rows and/or columns you want
repeated in the boxes highlighted below by clicking in the box and then clicking on the row or
column header on your worksheet.

59. Quickly SUM a range of cells – select entire table (or it could be just a row or column of
values) plus the blank cells you want your SUM formula in, then press the ALT + = keys.
Before pressing ALT + =
These are the blank cells

where the SUM formula
will be inserted.
After pressing ALT + =
Formulas that were

inserted.
60. Generate a unique list of values from

a range – Select the range > Data >
Filter > Advanced Filter > Unique
Records Only.
Note: select if you want to copy it to a

new location or replace the existing
data by selecting ‘Copy to another
location’ and then inserting the ‘Copy
to’ cell reference.

61. Use the AutoCalculate Menu in the bottom right of your Excel window to get a quick sum,
average, or count. Right click on the area to add Min, Max and more. Select the range of cells
you want to sum/average/count. Tip: Hold down CTRL to select non-contiguous ranges.
62. You don’t have to start your formulas with = If you’re a fan of the number keypad and arrow
keys then it’s sometimes inconvenient to move your hand across to the = symbol every time
you want to enter a formula. If you start a formula with + or – Excel will put the = sign in for
you when you press ENTER. After pressing ENTER your formula will look like this =+A1+A2 or =-
A1+A2 which is perfectly fine.
63. Center Across Selection – Instead of Merging

Cells, which puts limits on inserting and deleted
columns and rows among other things, simply
format the cells alignment to ‘Center across
selection’. CTRL+1 to open Format Cells dialog
box > Alignment tab > Horizontal Text Alignment
set to ‘Center across selection’.
64. Find the number of days between two dates – Reference two cells containing dates or enter
your dates inside double quotes e.g. ="20/6/2011"-"28/10/2006" Result = 1696
65. Move quickly to the end of a range of cells – select a cell in the range > move your mouse to the edge
of the cell until your mouse pointer changes to a 4 headed arrow > double click. You can do this on any
edge of the cell to move in the direction of your choice.
66. Fill Handle Cool Tricks – Most of us know that you can left-click
the mouse and drag the fill handle to fill a series (the fill handle is
when your mouse pointer changes to a + symbol when hovered
over the bottom right of the cell range – see image), but have you
tried right-clicking the mouse while you drag the fill handle?
There are myriad choices when you do this, so have a go and
experiment.

Must Know Functions and Formulas
Click the links to read the full tutorial for each function/formula.
67. Pro Excel Formula Writing Tips - Formulas are THE MOST IMPORTANT EXCEL SKILL you can
master, but when you start nesting functions, things can quickly get out of hand. Click here to
learn some little known Excel formula writing tips, tricks and tools that’ll give you ninja level
skills and enable you to decipher any formula. Even ones you haven’t written yourself.
68. Absolute References – Understanding Absolute References is essential to working with

formulas in Excel. Remember: use the F4 tip in the keyboard shortcuts when working with
absolute references. Click here to learn the ins and outs of Absolute References.
69. 5 SUM Function Tricks – The SUM function is usually one of the first functions new Excel users
learn, but most are never aware of these 5 tricks up its sleeve. Click here to learn more.
70. IF, IFS and Nested IFs – Learning how to write an IF statements increases the power and
functionality of Excel tenfold. Learn all 3 options here.
71. IF, OR and AND used together – know these and you’re unstoppable! Click here to take your IF
formulas to the next level.
72. XLOOKUP replaces VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX & MATCH and LOOKUP functions in one go
and isn’t error prone like the others. Learn everything there is to know about XLOOKUP here.
73. SUMIF and SUMIFS – Like the IF statement but for SUM. Excel also has AVERAGEIF and
AVERAGEIFS which work the same as the SUM only they Average. Master the SUMIF and
SUMIFS functions here.
74. COUNTIF and COUNTIFS – similar to SUMIF only since it’s only counting it’s slightly easier, but
no less powerful. Learn COUNTIF and COUNTIFS here.
75. COUNTA – COUNT counts number values, but if you want to count text use COUNTA.
76. AGGREGATE – the new improved SUBTOTAL function. I call it the Swiss Army Knife of functions
because it can sum, average, min, max, count and 15 more as well as skip errors, hidden rows
etc. Master the AGGREGATE function the need for 19 functions in one go.
77. ROUND, ROUNDUP, ROUNDDOWN – Before long you’ll need to round your numbers with
more accuracy than simply formatting the font. Get to grips with rounding in this tutorial.

78. FV Calculate compound interest on savings – Want to save some money for a rainy day and
curious to know what it’ll be worth? Click here to see how Excel can tell you.
79. IFERROR - Once you start using some of the formulas above, you’re likely to have errors
returned. If you’re expecting errors and want to hide them you can use the IFERROR formula.
80. MIN, MAX, SMALL and LARGE – These may seem straight forward, but I’ll show you a few
tricks that you won’t find in the Excel Help Files. Check them out here.
81. UPPER, LOWER and PROPER – Fix text that isn’t formatted as you want. Change all CAPITALS
to all Lower or make the first letter in each word a capital (PROPER). Bonus tip: if you prefer
not to use a formula, you can use a font like Felix Titling that’s all caps instead!
82. SEARCH, FIND, MID – extract data with this system for building formulas that split text. Click
here for my 5 step system for extracting text strings.
83. Time Calculations – Most people at some stage or another need to calculate time in Excel, but
if you don’t understand how Excel treats time you’ll find it infuriating! Click here to see how
Excel handles time under the hood.
84. NOW() and TODAY() – simply type =NOW() in a cell and you will get the date and time as per
your computer clock or =TODAY() will give you the date only. Handy for date/time stamping
your printed reports.

Power Formulas
85. Dynamic Array Formulas – new for Office 2021 and 365 users and the future of Excel. Dynamic
Arrays fundamentally change the Excel calc engine, therefore Excel users of all levels should
master them. Click here to learn about Dynamic Arrays and the fun that awaits.
86. INDEX – Most only know one way to use INDEX. In this tutorial I show you 5 INDEX function
secrets that will prove that you’re a pro user.
87. FILTER – The filter function is one of the new dynamic array functions. It solves problems that
used to require super complex nested array formulas with ease. Learn FILTER here.
88. UNIQUE – Another dynamic array function, UNIQUE can extract a list of distinct values, or a list
of values that only occur once, i.e. unique values. It can return a unique or distinct list from
one column or from multiple columns. It’s magical! Master the UNIQUE function here.
89. VSTACK & HSTACK – These text manipulation functions are life changing enabling us to
rearrange data into a single array as part of the dynamic array function library. Don’t miss out
on these exciting new functions. Check out the VSTACK & HSTACK tutorial here.
90. OFFSET – Tired of having to update your totals to incorporate new rows? This is one great
feature of the OFFSET function, but it has many more uses including dynamic named ranges.
Master OFFSET here.
91. SORT & SORTBY – with these dynamic array functions we can now dynamically sort data with
these easy to use functions. No more complex nested multi-cell array functions. See these
functions in action here: SORT | SORTBY
92. RAND, RANDBETWEEN and RANDARRAY – Generating random data is something I do

regularly as I need to create data to support the tutorials I write, but you could also use it in
your work to do the same, or team it with CHOOSE and use it to choose random values from a
list. Click here for RAND and RANDBETWEEN examples and click here for RANDARRAY
examples.
93. IMAGE - The IMAGE function enables you to insert images into cells with a formula! From
there you can resize them, sort, filter and more. It supports BMP, JPG/JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG,
ICO, and WEBP file types. Check out the IMAGE function here.

Cool Tools
94. Automate the BORING tasks of getting and cleaning data with
Power Query. Stories of automating tasks that used to take 3 hours now
taking 3 minutes with Power Query is not uncommon or an exaggeration.
Get up and running with my Introduction to Power Query video here.
95. Excel Icons – the sophistication of professional icons, images and art can give your workbooks
and reports a truly professional finish. Don’t be surprised if people think you got a graphic
designer involved. Check out Excel’s icon sets here.
96. Camera Tool – You won’t find any mention of the camera tool in a
standard Excel course. After all you won’t even find it in the tool bar or
ribbon. It’s handy if you only have one monitor and pine for two, or if
you want to create dashboards with lots of small charts. See the
Camera tool in action here.
97. Conditional Formatting – Use Conditional Formatting

to bring life to your drab data, make highlighting
duplicates instant and much more. Master Conditional
Formatting here. And if Conditional Formatting with
formulas does your head in, watch this tutorial to see
how it works under the hood. I promise everything
will be easy once you know how it works.
98. Drop Down Lists – or Data Validation as it’s formally called in Excel. If you build forms or
reports for other’s to use, Data Validation can make them more interactive and reduce the
chances of the wrong data being filled out. Click here to learn Data Validation ins and outs.
99. Outlines – You can insert outlines that enable you to quickly hide and unhide
rows and columns using the Group and Ungroup tools. I love using these
instead of hiding columns and rows as it allows me to hide and unhide again
at the click of only one button. Learn how to Group and Outline your data
here.

100. Excel Tables – Formatting your data in a Table allows you to add to the content and have
any formulas or pivot tables that reference the data automatically pick up the new cells.
Tables are the secret to building reports fast and updating them in an instant, and
only 2% of Excel users know about them!
Plus, there’s a range of other benefits like great predefined formatting and more. Get up to
speed with Excel Tables here.
101. PivotTables – A lot of people are

afraid of PivotTables, but they really are
quite simple once you understand the
basics.
If you work with large amounts of data

PivotTables can create dynamic reports
in seconds from tens of thousands of
rows.
Get up to speed with my “PivotTables

Made Easy” video where I also teach
you why things go wrong, so you can
avoid these common mistakes. Click
here to watch the tutorial and
download the practice Excel file.

Thank you for taking the time to read these Tips & Tricks. I snuck in an extra one and quite
a few bonus tips along the way. Enjoy using your new Excel powers. Feel free to email me
with feedback or ideas.
Kind regards,
Mynda Treacy
Microsoft MVP
Co-founder
My Online Training Hub
SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE
Now that you’ve read the whole book, please forward it to your friends
and colleagues and share the knowledge. Please just make sure you
follow the conditions below.
You have permission to share this e-book via email, by printing or even by
posting it on your website, Facebook account, Twitter or LinkedIn etc.
The only conditions are:
1. You don’t charge anyone money for it. That’s my right.

2. You don’t change, edit, or alter the digital format or contents.
3. All links must remain in place.
My hope for this e-book is that you please share it with as many people as
possible. And by sharing the knowledge many more people will love Excel and
love their work.

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Stand Out

Mynda Treacy | Microsoft MVP

Microsoft Excel Tips & Tricks

SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE

The only conditions are:

1. You don’t charge anyone money for it. That’s my right.

© Copyright 2023 MyOnlineTrainingHub.com

My Online Training Hub https://www.MyOnlineTrainingHub.com Page 2

Keyboard Shortcuts ................................................................................... 4

Tip: Click menu to jump to section

Questions & Support

Excel Support – Post your questions, screenshots and example Excel

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2. Switches between open Excel windows.

3. Selects the entire worksheet. If the worksheet

5. Copies the cell above the active cell into the

Repeats an action, or if you’re editing a cell and

10. Opens the Find dialog box.

11. Opens the Find & Replace dialog box.

12. Opens a new workbook.

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14. Edits the active cell and positions the

18. Saves workbook.

22. Pastes Values (365 and versions later than

23. Move to end of a range of cells (column or

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26. View formulas instead of values

27. Inserts today’s date. Bonus tip: also hold

28. Opens the emoji palette (in all apps)

29. Opens the right mouse button menu.

Want more keyboard shortcuts?

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39. Delete blank cells in a row or column –

40. Fill blank cells in a row or column - Highlight

41. Copy & Paste visible cells only – In a filtered

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Custom Cell Formats Text Before Custom Format Formatted Text

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Mouse Pointer in 45 and 46 Mouse Pointer in 47 and 48

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50. Quickly enter links to a range of cells –

51. Freeze rows and or columns at the top

52. Synchronous Scrolling – want to

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Click here for more on workbook protection.

56. Add non-contiguous print areas – Set first print

57. Pick from a list of existing values – in the cell

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Before pressing ALT + =

These are the blank cells

After pressing ALT + =

Formulas that were

60. Generate a unique list of values from

Note: select if you want to copy it to a

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63. Center Across Selection – Instead of Merging