Excel University Blog

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Posts

Data Validation Alert Styles

By Jeff Lenning | April 18, 2013 |

The Data Validation feature allows you to control what a user can type into a cell. This post digs into the details of the data validation alert style options. Data Validation Primer First, a quick overview of the Data Validation feature. Data Validation has been in Excel for a long time, and it is one of…

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Perform Approximate Match and Fuzzy Lookups in Excel

By Jeff Lenning | April 11, 2013 |

This post explores Excel’s lookup functions, approximate matches, fuzzy lookups, and exact matches.  The built-in Excel lookup functions, such as VLOOKUP, are amazing. When implemented in the right way for special projects or in recurring use workbooks, they are able to save a ton of time. The VLOOKUP function alone has saved countless hours in…

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Make an Excel Worksheet Very Hidden

By Jeff Lenning | April 4, 2013 |

Did you know that Excel has two levels of hidden worksheets?  Excel has “hidden” worksheets, and, “very hidden” worksheets. This post walks through the differences, and how to hide worksheets at each level. By default, all new worksheets are visible.  A visible worksheet’s tab appears in the bottom of the Excel window, enabling the user…

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Pull External Data into Excel

By Jeff Lenning | March 28, 2013 |

Often, we use Excel to summarize detail that comes from some other program or accounting system. There are essentially three ways that I am aware of to get data from another program into a destination Excel worksheet, I’ll nickname them: Copy/Paste Pull Push Copy/Paste The Copy/Paste method is probably the most common.  It is when…

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Excel University Interactive

By Jeff Lenning | March 22, 2013 |

I am excited to announce the launch of Excel University Interactive!  Up until now, the Excel U content was delivered only through a book format (both paperback and digital).  Starting now, the content is officially available as an online interactive group study format as well. This course is the result of a project I started…

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Multiple Condition Summing in Excel with SUMIFS

By Jeff Lenning | March 15, 2013 |

The SUMIFS function is for sure, without a doubt, one of my most favorite Excel functions of all time.  I’m sure I use it in well over half of my workbooks, and it is a must-know function for Excel users.  I’ll try to get you warmed up, but just know that this post only gets…

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Compute the Last Day of the Month in Excel

By Jeff Lenning | March 7, 2013 |

As you probably know, I like converting manual input cells to formula cells in Excel. To me, the more I can delegate to Excel the better off I am.  Some workbooks can benefit by automatically computing the last day of the month, eliminating one more manual input cell. As you also know, it seems that…

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Create an Index Worksheet using Excel Hyperlinks

By Jeff Lenning | February 21, 2013 |

Have you ever worked in a workbook with only a few worksheets…say three or four sheets? Navigating to the correct sheet is fast and easy, and you spend very little time getting to the spot you need to be to do your work. Have you ever worked in a workbook with more sheets? Say, 10,…

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Calculate the Payment of a Loan with the PMT Function in Excel

By Jeff Lenning | February 14, 2013 |

Thanks to Excel’s PMT function, computing the monthly payment of a loan with various terms is easy. In summary, you provide the function with the basic loan information, including the loan amount, the interest rate, and the term, and the function will compute the payment. You provide this basic loan information to the function through…

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Cell styles and worksheets

Excel Cell Styles and Worksheet Protection

By Jeff Lenning | January 17, 2013 |

Overview Starting with Excel 2007, Microsoft enhanced the Excel Cell Styles feature providing great built-in choices and flexibility. The purpose of this post is to briefly discuss the styles feature and demonstrate how it can be used in conjunction with worksheet protection. Cell Styles Think of a cell style as a comprehensive set of cell…

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