To extract number from string in Excel, it'd take a little ingenuity, a bit of patience, and a bunch of different functions nested into each other. Or, you can run the Extract tool and have the job done with a mouse click. Continue reading
Learn how to count the number of cells with various data types. What data is processed by COUNT? How does COUNT differ from COUNTA? What can I count with these functions? Find out the answers to these and some other questions in today's article. Continue reading
Although there is no such thing as Substring function in Excel, there exist three Text functions to extract text of a given length from a cell. Additionally, there are FIND and SEARCH functions to get a substring before or after a specific character. Continue reading
Merging multiple Excel workbooks into one file could be a cumbersome and long process. So, which is the best way to handle the problem: copy the sheet tabs, run VBA code or use a special tool? Continue reading
As with other basic math operations, Microsoft Excel provides several ways to divide numbers and cells. Which one to use depends on your personal preferences and a particular task you need to solve. Continue reading
In our previous tutorial, we were looking at Excel If contains formulas that return some value to another column if the target cell contains a specific value. Aside from that, what else can you do if a cell contains certain text or number? Continue reading
It's time to talk about the ways of calculating time in Google Sheets. We'll discuss the ways of finding time difference in detail, see how to sum dates and time together, and learn to display only date or time units and set them apart completely. Continue reading
One of the most common tasks in Excel is checking whether a cell contains a value of interest. What kind of value can that be? Just any text or number, specific text, or any value at all (not empty cell). Continue reading
Today we dig into the ways of working with dates and time in Google spreadsheet. See the ways of inputting date and time values into your table, learn why you may need to convert them to decimal, and find out about custom number formats Google tables offer. Continue reading
As with all basic arithmetic operations, there is more than one way to multiply columns in Excel. This tutorial will show you a few possible solutions so you can choose the one that works best for you. Continue reading
How can we change the case of the first letter from lower to upper in Excel cells? Do we have to type each character manually into every cell? Not anymore! Today I will share three methods of capitalizing first letters in your table. Continue reading
This tutorial shows how to use the multiplication operator in Excel and how to write a formula to multiply cells, columns and rows, numbers and percentages, and more. Continue reading
When you work with Google spreadsheet, sooner or later you may need to use some functionality that you've never used before. Checkboxes and drop-downs can quickly turn out to be such features. Let's see how useful they can be in Google Sheets. Continue reading
"Give me a formula, and I shall make it return an error," an Excel user would say. In this tutorial, we won't be looking at how to return errors in Excel, we'd rather learn how to prevent them in order to keep your worksheets clean and your formulas transparent. Continue reading
You want to put today's date in some cell? Or you wish to highlight the current date in your Excel calendar? Or you'd like to find the date closest to today? All this can be done by using the Excel TODAY function and this tutorial will teach you how. Continue reading
The Excel MOD function is designed to get the division remainder, but it can do much more than its original purpose. In this tutorial, you will find a few non-trivial uses of MOD in Excel that may prove useful in your worksheets. Continue reading
Highlighting certain data with color is a great way to draw attention to the records. Wouldn’t it be great if such format change happened automatically for specific cells? This is where conditional formatting comes in handy. Google Sheets can do this work for us, all we need is to explain what we want to get. Continue reading
When you need to determine the relative position of a number in a list of numbers, the easiest way is to sort the numbers in ascending or descending order. If for some reason sorting is not possible, the Excel RANK function is the perfect tool to do the job. Continue reading
We continue our "Back to Basics" journey by digging deeper into editing Google Sheets. Today, in addition to learning some simple features like formatting and deleting the data, we’ll discuss how to add comments and notes, work offline, and quickly review all the changes made to the file. Continue reading
Moving on to another stop of our "Back to Basics" journey, today I will tell you more about managing your sheets. Learn how to share, move and protect your data in Google Sheets. Continue reading
In yesterday's tutorial we started to look at Excel Data Validation - what its purpose is, how it works, and how to use built-in rules to validate data in your worksheets. Today, we are going to take a step further and talk about the nitty-gritty aspects of custom data validation. Continue reading
When setting up a workbook for your users, you may often want to control information input into specific cells to make sure all data entries are accurate and consistent. Among other things, you may want to allow only particular data type such as numbers or dates in a cell, or limit numbers to a certain range and text to a given length. Continue reading
Whether you analyze business indicators, make presentation or write a report, charts and graphs will help your audience to understand complex dependencies and regularities. This tutorial will teach you different ways to build charts and graphs in Google Sheets to make your presentations informative and impressive. Continue reading
When collaborating on an Excel workbook, you may want to keep track of the changes that have been made to it. On a printed copy, you could use a red pen to mark edits. In an Excel worksheet, you can review, accept or reject changes electronically by using the Track Changes feature. Continue reading
It's not a secret that most people are used to work with the data tables in MS Excel. However, now it has a worthy competitor. Allow us to introduce you to Google Sheets. Continue reading
The recent versions of Excel make it easy to share and collaborate on workbooks. By sharing an Excel file, you allow multiple users edit the same document simultaneously, which saves you the trouble of keeping track of multiple versions. Continue reading
Flipping data in Excel sounds like a trivial one-click task, but surprisingly there is no such inbuilt option. In this tutorial, you will find a few quick ways to flip tables vertically and horizontally preserving the original formatting and formulas. Continue reading
If you are working with a continuously changing data set, you may want to make your named range dynamic so that it automatically expands to accommodate newly added data. In this tutorial, you will find detailed step-by-step guidance on how to do this. Continue reading
Names in Excel are a paradoxical thing: being one of the most useful features, they are often considered pointless or nerdy. This tutorial will teach you different ways to create a named range in Excel to make your formulas much easier to write, read, and re-use. Continue reading
A widespread opinion is that VLOOKUP is one of the most difficult and obscure functions. But that's not true! In fact, it's easy to do VLOOKUP in Google Sheets, and in a moment you will make sure of it. Continue reading
