Charting with a Large Number of Data Set Formats

When you are trying to convey quite a bit of data in a chart, formatting all your data series can be challenging. This tip looks at some ideas you can use to make sure your data is conveyed in the best way possible.

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(Thanks to Dave Newcomer, Ryszard Raciborski, and Peter McNab for contributing to this tip.)

Finding Circular References

If you have circular references in a workbook, you may see an error message appear when you first open that workbook. If you want to track down those offending circular references, Excel provides two different techniques you can use.

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Macros! Macros! Get Your Macros Here!

Learn all the best methods for creating and using Excel macros. ExcelTips: The Macros is the best single source for learning about macros or improving your existing skills. Be the person everyone looks to when something needs to happen in Excel. Get yours today!

Cleaning Text

You can use the CLEAN worksheet function to remove any non-printable characters from a cell. This can come in handy when you want to pare down what is stored in a worksheet.

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Using COUNTIF with Colors

Excel allows you to easily format cells with different fonts, borders, and colors. If you want to count the number of cells that use a particular background color, there are a couple of approaches you can use. This tip shows you how.

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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.

Excel Stops Recalculating

I've been using Excel for quite some time. I noticed that one of my often-used workbooks recently stopped recalculating. When I check if calculation has been set to manual (Excel Options), it has been. I haven't purposely done this, however. Is there some shortcut key I'm hitting, by mistake, that sets calculation to manual?
—Vernon Richards (provide an answer for this Help Wanted question)