Excel Stops Recalculating

Virtually everyone depends on Excel to automatically recalculate a workbook as edits are made. If it isn't done automatically, then the problem could lie in how your workbooks were saved and the order in which you open them. This tip explains this odd behavior by Excel.

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(Thanks to Steve Aprahamian, Ryszard Raciborski, Michael Avidan (MVP), Alex Blakenburg, Dave Newcomer, James Woolley, and Ronald Doeleman for contributing to this tip.)

Protecting an Entire Workbook

Want to stop other people from making unauthorized changes to your workbook? Excel provides a way that you can protect the workbook, as described in this tip.

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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.

Summing Based on Part of a Control Cell

When analyzing data, you may have a need to calculate a sum based on just part of a particular cell. This tip examines three ways you can approach such a task.

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Creating a Directory in a Macro

One of the things you can do with macros is to work with disk files. As you do so, you may have a need to create a new directory in which your files can be stored. Here's how to do it.

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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.

Defeating Exponent Parsing

I handle building management for our company, and I routinely have to enter room locations into spreadsheets. For instance, 2W07 is second floor, west wing, room 7. When I enter a room in the east wing, such as 4E12, Excel converts my entry to a number using exponentiation. Is there a way to stop this type of parsing as I'm entering information?
—Donna Zanderson (provide an answer for this Help Wanted question)