Springtime in the Rockies

This past week has been interesting, when it comes to weather. On some days it has been warm, and other days it has been frigid with blowing snow. Sometimes it can even vary from hour to hour as little snow squalls blow through the area.

This is springtime in the Rockies, to be sure. (OK. Technically it isn't Spring yet, but you know what I mean.) The upshot is that you cannot know what to expect, and if you travel through the area this time of year, you can hope for the best but you need to plan for the worst.

I hope that your week has gone well and that you enjoy the tips in this week's newsletter.

—Allen
     

ExcelTips (ribbon) for 16 March 2024

Editing
Defaulting Input to Negative Values

When entering many negative values in a worksheet, you could save time if you didn't need to enter the minus sign for each value. This tip shows you a few ways you can eliminate the need to use the minus sign.

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(Thanks to Ryszard Raciborski, Nick Jolly, Jos Graindor, Michael Avidan (MVP), David Newcomer, Cedric McKeever, Maury Nunes, Ron Solecki, Bruce Watson, Bob Stillerman, Ira Bernstein, Wayne Seymour, James Woolley, Jim Cupec, Fred van der Meulen, and Mary Perez for contributing to this tip.)

 
Macros extend Excel
Deleting Every X Rows

Grab some info from a source other than Excel, and you may find the need to delete a certain pattern of rows from a worksheet. The macro presented in this tip allows you to delete every other row, every third row, etc.

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Making Sense of Times and Dates

One of Excel's great strengths is its ability to work with huge amounts of raw data. Two of the most common types of data stored in Excel are times and dates. Working with these special data types is not as easy as it may first seem. Check out ExcelTips: Times and Dates and learn the secrets of working with your times and dates.

 
Data Validation
Answering Questions in Order

It is not unusual to use Excel to gather the answers to users' questions. If you want your users to answer your questions in a specific order, you can use both data validation and conditional formatting, as described in this tip.

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Data Validation
Limiting Input to Two Decimal Places

When entering data in a worksheet, you may want to exercise some degree of control on the values that can be entered. This tip looks at two ways you could limit data input to values that contain no more than two decimal places.

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Find and Replace
Inconsistent Behavior of Find and Replace Dialog Box

The Find and Replace feature in Excel is one of the workhorse editing tools you can use. When the Find and Replace dialog box is displayed, the contents of the Find What box should be selected automatically. If they are not, that can lead to frustration.

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Printing
Custom Page Numbers on Printouts

Excel is rather weak on giving you control over how page numbers appear on a printout. This is never more apparent than when you want to create some sort of custom page number scheme, as illustrated in this tip.

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Help Wanted

This section is for those having problems making Excel behave. If Excel is giving you fits, feel free to submit your own Help Wanted question.

If you have a solution for the problems below, click the link after the problem to send us your answer. (All responses become the sole property of Sharon Parq Associates, Inc., and can be used in any way deemed appropriate.) If your response is used in a future issue, you will be credited for your contribution to the answer.

 
Excel Dark Mode

Microsoft Word has a dark mode that allows the background to be dark and the printing in white. I find this a great setting when I'm working in a document for a long time. Does Excel have a similar setting? I would find it equally helpful if it does.
—Frank Inaba (provide an answer for this Help Wanted question)

 
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