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Thursday, July 14, 2011

How to Write Macros for Graphs in Excel

1. Map out the process. You can create a graph from a macro as long as the process is always the same; that is, you will need to pick the same graph type every time. The best way to ensure you don't miss any steps is to map the process out first on a piece of paper. You can write out steps or use blocks and arrows, whichever is most comfortable and easy to read. This process has the potential to save a lot of time in terms of reducing trials and errors.
2. Open the report you want to create a graph for. The challenge with creating a macro for graphs is that the information must be pulled from the same section each time in order for the macro to work. That is, the best way to run a graphing macro is to use it on a report where the formatting stays the same, but the numbers change. This means the numbers which are being graphed are always in the same place.
3. Go to the Tools menu. Click on 'Macros' and 'Record New Macro'.
4. Create the macro name and keyboard short-cut. You can choose anything you want, but let's go with 'Graph' and 'ctrl g' for this example.
5. Begin creating the graph. Once you create the name the macro will begin to record your commands. There are many ways to create a graph, but the easiest is to click on the graph icon in the standard toolbar. This icon looks like a chart. Walk through the wizard, step by step. Each choice will also be chosen in your macro command. When finished click 'OK' and 'Stop Recording'.
6. Run your macro. You can access your graphing calculator in two ways: 1) go to the Tools menu and then click on 'Macros' to see a list of the macros created by name, choose 'Graph' and the select 'Run'; or, 2) hold down the 'ctrl' key and press 'G'.

How to Modify the Data Source in Excel 2007

1. Launch Excel 2007.
2. Click the 'Windows' button in the top-left corner. Scroll down an click 'Open' and then find the spreadsheet that you want to modify. Highlight the field or fields that you want to modify.
3. Click the 'Options' tab. Click the 'Change Data Source' button in the 'Data' group.
4. Click the radio button either next to 'Select a table or range' or 'use an external data source.' Type in the Table/Range' in the field or hit the 'Choose Connection' button and find the source that you want to link with your Excel file.
5. Click the 'OK' button.

Rotate Text in Microsoft Excel

1.
Open Microsoft Excel. Then open an existing worksheet that contains text you would like to rotate-orr create a new worksheet.
2.
Select the cell or cells that contain text you would like to rotate by clicking on a single cell, dragging your mouse across them, or holding down the 'Ctrl' key and clicking on each cell.
3.
Right-click the selected cells and choose 'Format Cells.' Click on the 'Alignment' tab.
4.
Click the 'Horizontal' drop-down button in the 'Text Alignment' section and choose 'Center.' Click the 'Vertical' drop-down button as well, and choose 'Center' there, too.
5.
Move your mouse to the 'Orientation' section of the dialog box. Click the red diamond to the right of the word 'Text' and drag it to rotate the text to the angle you desire. Click 'OK.'

How to Create an Excel 2007 Chart With Text

1. Click the 'Insert' tab of the ribbon at the top of the page. In the 'Charts' area, select the type of chart you want to create. Excel 2007 provides many chart options including bar graphs, scatterplots and pie charts.
2. Click on the 'Select Data' button in the 'Design' section of the ribbon. In the 'Chart Data Range,' select the entire area that contains your chart data. In the 'Legend Entries (Series)' section, click 'Add' to select each segment of information.
3. Define the 'x' values that are displayed on the horizontal axis and the 'y' values that are displayed on the vertical axis. Name the series to display a description on the legend or select the cell that contains the series title to automatically update the chart when you update the cell. Add all of your series and click 'OK' on each screen.
4. Select the 'Layout' tab of the ribbon and click the 'Chart Title' option box. Choose whether you want to display the main title above or on the first lines of the chart. Type in the chart title in the text box.
5. Click the 'Axis Title' drop-down box and select both a horizontal axis label and vertical axis label. Type the descriptions of your data into the new axis text boxes. Save your Excel spreadsheet by pressing 'Ctrl-S' or the save 'Save' icon at the top of the screen.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

How to Create a Report to Display Quarterly Sales in Excel 2007

1. Open a new Excel workbook. A blank spreadsheet will appear on the page.
2. Click on cell 'A1,' which is the top-left cell in the spreadsheet. Type 'Quarter' into the cell and press 'Enter.' Excel will automatically select cell 'A2,' as it is directly beneath the first cell.
3. Type the names of the quarters into the cells directly beneath the first one. Each quarter should have its own cell, and be sure to include year numbers of your data spans more than four quarters. After you type the name of each quarter, press 'Enter' to go to the next cell.
4. Select cell 'B1,' which is directly to the right of the 'Quarter' cell. Type in your data's header here. If you only have one set of sales numbers for each quarter, you can simply type 'Sales' into this cell. If your data is broken down by different regions, stores, channels, or in any other way, enter in a header for the first data series into this cell, then enter the next header into cell 'C1,' and continue until each series of data has a header.
5. Enter your numerical sales data into the cells where the rows representing the quarter intersect the columns representing the data fields.
6. Click cell 'A1.' Press 'Ctrl' and 'A' to select the entire table. Click the 'Insert' tab at the top of the screen. Select the 'Column' button, and choose one of the 'Clustered' column chart options. Excel will create a chart based on your table data. The column headers will automatically be listed to the right of the chart, and the quarters will be listed beneath it.
7. Select the first empty cell to the right of your column headers. Type 'Total' into this cell. Select the cell just beneath this one and enter this formula: '=sum(B2:XY)' where 'XY' is the column letter and row number of the cell just to the left of the current one. Press 'Enter' to complete the formula. Select the cell and move your mouse over the bottom-right corner. Click and hold the mouse button while you drag the mouse down to the last row in the data field. Release the button to copy the formula all the way down the table, making it easy to read the total sales for each quarter.

How to Delete a Single Cell Excel 2003

1. Click the Excel cell you wish to delete.
2. Select 'Edit' at the top of the Excel window. Click 'Delete' from the menu, which opens a dialog box.
3. Select one of the following options in the box: 'Shift Cells Left,' Shift Cells Up,' 'Entire Row' or 'Entire Column.'
4. Click the 'OK' button to close the dialog box, and complete the deletion of the cell.

How to Restore Microsoft Excel to Its Defaults

Option One
1. Open up Microsoft Excel.
2. Click on the 'Tools' menu and then click 'Customize.'
3. Right-click the menu you want to restore and then click the 'Reset' button. This will restore the menu to its original settings. Consequently, restoring all the menus will restore Microsoft Excel to its defaults.
Option Two
4. Click the 'Help' menu in the upper right-hand corner.
5. Select 'Detect and Repair' from the scroll-down menu. Make sure the 'Restore my shortcuts while repairing' is selected.
6. Click 'Start.' This process will restore Microsoft Excel to its original settings (i.e., how it appeared when you first installed it).

How to Repair a Corrupt XLSX File

1. Navigate to the folder containing the XLSX file you want to repair.
2. Right-click the file and select 'Copy' and then right-click on a blank space within the folder and select 'Paste.' This action generates a backup copy of the corrupted file.
3. Open Microsoft Excel 2007 or later.
4. Click the 'Office' button in the top left corner of the window and select 'Open.'
5. Navigate to the folder containing the copy of the XLSX file you generated previously and select it by single-clicking its icon.
6. Click the arrow located to the right of the 'Open' button and select 'Open and Repair.'
7. Select 'Repair.' If you previously attempted this method and the process failed, try to extract only the values and formulas by selecting 'Extract Data' instead. Regardless of the method you choose, your data will appear on the screen within a few seconds if the process completes successfully.

How to Calculate an Interest Rate Using Excel

1. Do your homework. To find the interest rate, you will need to know the time period or length of the loan or investment, the monthly payments and the principle of the loan or investment.
2. Create an Excel spreadsheet to determine your interest rate. Enter a list of headings-Current Value, Future Value, Monthly Payment and Number of Payments. If you begin in cell A1 with the heading 'Current Value,' the remaining headings listed here will fall in cells A2, A3 and A4.
3. Enter the information required in the cells to the right of the headings. If you began in cell A1 as suggested above, you will enter your financial information in cells B1 through B4.
4. Key in the following formula in the cell under your financial data to determine the interest rate of the investment or loan [=Rate (B4,B3,B1)]. Then click the Enter button on the formula bar.
5. Make your decision. When complete, the formula will tell you the interest rate you will be paying on your loan or earning on your investment. If the terms of the investment change during your negotiations, simply re-enter the new information to see if the interest rate is good for you.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

How to Do Bar Charts in Excel 2007

1. Open Microsoft Excel 2007 by double-clicking on the Excel 2007 icon. After Excel loads, open up the spreadsheet you want to make a bar chart for by clicking 'Open,' then selecting the file.
2. Arrange the data on your spreadsheet into either columns or rows. Essentially, you want one heading, followed by data in the cells directly to the right of it (for rows) or directly below it (for columns). Do this for each bar you want to have in your chart. For example, if you want three bars in your bar chart, you'll need three headings, each followed with data.
3. Highlight all of the data. To do this, click on one cell, hold the mouse button down, and drag the cursor across the rest of the data until it's highlighted.
4. Click 'Charts,' which can be found under the 'Insert' tab near the top of Excel 2007. Click 'Bar Chart.' A bar chart will be embedded on your Excel worksheet. To move the chart to a different location, click on it, then click the 'Design' tab, then 'Move Chart.' You can also change the name of your chart by clicking the 'Properties' tab.

How to Draw a Scatter Plot on Microsoft Excel

1. Open a blank worksheet in Microsoft Excel. Enter two columns of data you want to plot on a scatter chart. The data should be two sets of value that intersect. For instance, in column A, you could enter daily rainfall in inches, and in column B, enter temperature in degrees. These are two sets of data that intersect at single data points. Enter the title of each set of data in the first cell of each column.
2. Highlight the cells you want to plot on the chart.
3. Click the 'Insert' tab. In the 'Charts' group, select 'Scatter.'
4. Select a chart icon for the scatter plot you want to use. For instance, click the 'Scatter with Only Markers' icon to create a scatter plot without lines. The chart will appear in your workbook.
5. Click in the chart area to display the 'Chart Tools' tabs.
6. Click the 'Design' tab to select a chart style.
7. Select the chart title and type a new name for the scatter plot. Right-click the title. Use the context menu to change the font and font size of the title.
8. Click the chart area. Click the 'Layout' tab. Click 'Axis Titles' in the 'Labels' group to add both horizontal axis and vertical axis titles, and choose the type you want. Select each title, type the text and press 'Enter.'
9. Select the plot area, and use the 'Format' tab to select the shape style you want to use for the plot.
10. Click the 'Microsoft Office' button, and click 'Save As' to save the scatter plot in your workbook.

How to Disable a Macros Using VBA Excel

1. Open the Excel workbook in which you want to change your macro settings.
2. Click the Microsoft Office icon button in the top, left of your window.
3. Select 'Excel Options' and click 'Trust Center.'
4. Click 'Trust Center Settings' and select 'Macro Settings.'
5. Uncheck the box for the security option 'Trust access to the VBA project object model.'
6. Click 'Apply' and close your settings windows.

Monday, July 11, 2011

How to Convert to VBA in Excel 2007

1. Open Excel. Click the Office button and select 'Excel Options' from the bottom of the menu that opens.
2. Select the 'Popular' tab from the menu on the left. Click the box next to 'Show Developer Tab in the Ribbon.' This will allow you access the VBA editor function.
3. Click the 'Trust Center' tab and select 'Trust Center Settings.'
4. Choose 'Enable All Macros' under 'Macro Settings' and then check the box next to 'Trust Access to the VBA Project Object Model.'
5. Click 'OK.' After you exit to 'Excel Options,' click 'OK' again to go back to Excel. VBA will now be activated.

How to Find Duplicate Cell Content on Excel 2003

1. Place the cursor in cell A1 (or the first cell where you want to test for duplicates). Click the 'Format' menu and then click 'Conditional Formatting.' Click the down-arrow in the box under 'Condition 1' and select 'Formula Is.' Enter the following formula into the text box to the right of 'Formula Is.'=COUNTIF(A:A,A1) > 1
2. Click the 'Format...' button on the right side of the window. Click the 'Patterns' tab and select an easy-to-find color such as red or yellow. Click 'OK.'
3. Click the 'Edit' menu with the cursor still in the cell where you entered the formula and select 'Copy.' Press and hold 'Ctrl' and then press the spacebar at the same time to select the entire column. Click the 'Edit' menu again and select 'Paste Special.' Choose the 'Formats' option in the Paste Special dialog and click 'OK.' Any duplicates found in the column will be highlighted with the selected color.

How to Create New Table Style in Excel 2007

1. Locate the Styles group under the Home tab. Click 'Format as Table.'
2. Choose an existing table. Table styles are organized under light, medium and dark. Each style includes a variety of color choices.
3. Click anywhere in the table to bring up Table Tools. Select the Design tab and click 'More.' Select 'New Table Style.' Type a name for the new table you are creating in the name box.
4. Makes changes to the Table Element box by clicking on each element. Click 'Format' to format or 'Clear' to clear the existing formatting.
5. Click the options you want from the Font, Border and Fill tabs. Press enter or click 'OK' after you make your choices. You can also change the look of a table by turning elements on and off from the Table Tool tab. This allows you to include or omit headers, rows, row banding, column banding, and emphasis on first or last columns.
6. Vary the colors of the table. Look in the Table Styles gallery to choose among sixty different color schemes.
7. Check the formatting changes you made by Previewing. Adjust your changes as needed, and then save.

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