Announcements

Thanks!

Thanks to those of you who wrote in last week about the Excel quick copy and paste tip. There's more, there's always more. Check out today's tip, I've included some of the things you wrote in with as well as some extras. Happy copy/pasting :-)

So, How's Your Typing??

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MS Office 101

Do you have MS Office files that you are constantly opening day after day? Have you ever noticed the list of files you've recently worked on at the bottom of your File menu?

Most of you know if you click one of those files it'll open and save you the headache of navigating through your folders to find the thing.

Have you ever found yourself wishing the list could be longer? Maybe you're wishing it was shorter? Whichever is the case, here's a way to determine the number of files listed at the bottom of the File menu.

To begin, go to the Tools menu, then choose Options.

Click on the General tab at the top of the Options window.

About 3/4 of the way down you should find a listing for Recently used file list: and to the right of that a space for the number of files to list.

You can turn off this feature altogether by deselecting the box or setting the number of files to 0. But that's just crazy talk.

To use this feature and set the number of files you would like to have listed, simply change the number in the box. You may choose any number between 0 and 9. A large number is helpful if you have a lot of files you open on a daily basis.

Just a small way to put a program to work for you!

Office Tip of the Day

Excel Cell Quick Copy - Part 2

Today I want to further clarify and add to the quick copy options that exist in MS Excel when you're copying from one cell to adjacent cell or cells. I find that with most programs one quick tip tends to turn into many quick tips. There's always another small aspect to the trick that can alter things (this seems to be especially true in MS Excel).

Since we discussed the basics last week, let's move on to some of the "extras" of this trick.

As mentioned before, you can click and grab on the little square in the bottom right corner of a cell's highlight to copy the contents of the cell. (You can also do this with the highlight of multiple cells.)

If you're copying a formula, then it works extremely well, copying and pasting the formula while adjusting all relative cell references. It's a huge timesaver.

Some of you found that when you were trying to copy a constant value this way Excel was increasing the value by one digit creating a numbered list. Or if you entered a date, it was increasing the date by one day for each cell. Excel is a smart program with good intentions and is trying to make things easy for you. This is just dandy if it's doing what you want but bad if it's not. However, there is a way to get exactly what you intend each time. (Don't you wish life was like that?)

First of all, I've found that sometimes Excel will increase the value and sometimes it won't. I'm sure there's a setting somewhere triggering this difference but there are quick and easy ways to ensure the program behaves as needed (and tossing your computer isn't one of them).

Numbered lists:

To create a numbered list, you should type the first value in the list in the beginning cell. Then hold down the control key while you click, hold and drag the corner square either down or to the right. The control key will also number in reverse if you drag either up or to the left.

Should you wish to create a list that is incremented by more than 1, simply type in the first 2 values in the list, in separate cells, then highlight both cells. When you click, hold and drag the corner square you will create a list incremented by the difference of the data you entered.

For example, to count by 5's beginning with 0, you would type in 0 then in the next cell type in 5. Highlight both of the cells with the data in them then use the corner square to extend the list, which will be counted by 5's, as far as needed.

Copying a value exactly:

Instead of left click, hold and drag the corner square, try right click, hold and drag the corner square.

When you release the mouse button a small menu will pop up with all kinds of options. The first option should read Copy Cells. Choose this option and the program will fill the cells with the exact value of the first.

An alternative is to type the same data into two cells. Highlight both cells then use the corner square to copy that same value as many times as needed.

Keeping dates constant:

I've found that dates will sequentially fill in, advancing one day for each cell you highlight. To copy and paste a date without changes, hold down the control key when you left click, hold and drag. When you release the mouse button you should have the same date in all your cells.

Creating sequential date lists:

To create lists of dates that do advance, but not necessarily one day at a time, we'll do the right click on the corner square, hold and drag trick again.

When you release the right mouse button the little menu will pop up. This time, however, since you are working on dates there will be some extra options available to you. In the middle section you should find a list of fill options (days, weekdays, months, years). Each of these options will dictate how the dates are advanced.

• Fill Days will advance one day at a time.
• Fill Weekdays will advance the date but skip weekend dates.
• Fill Months will keep the day constant but advance the month by one.
• Finally, Fill Years will leave the month and day alone but advance one year for each new cell.

You will also find that the year will advance whenever the dates cross into January.

Whew! That's quite a lot. Give these things a try. It always amazes me when I find one of these new little things and realize the time I could have saved on previous projects (I could name several things that come to mind where I wasted way too much time. If I'd only known then what I know now. Oh well, that's life.) I'm sure we'll be back to this little topic in the future. There's more, but, then again, isn't there always?