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1. Display Formulas

To display worksheet formulas for auditing and printing, press [Ctrl] + ~ (called a tilde and found on many keyboards to the left of the #1 key). Use this shortcut again to revert back to worksheet results. In Excel 2010 and Excel 2007, this option, Show Formulas, is found under the Formulas tab.

2. Fast Moves Between Worksheets in a Workbook

Try these keyboard shortcuts to toggle or cycle between worksheets:

Next worksheet: [Ctrl] + [Page Down]Previous worksheet: [Ctrl] + [Page Up]

These shortcuts work great in smaller workbooks but how do you quickly move to a specific worksheet especially now that Excel 2007 supports up to 1,024 worksheets, an increase from the limit of 255 worksheets in Excel 2003? For another way to easily navigate to a worksheet in an Excel workbook, right-click on any of the 4 triangle navigation buttons (located immediately to the left of the worksheet tabs) to display a pop-up menu of worksheet names. Just choose the worksheet you want. The option for More Sheets displays as needed for a complete list of worksheets in the workbook.

3. Fast Data Entry

Save time with these quick and easy ways to enter data into an Excel worksheet:

Enter current date: [Ctrl] +;Repeat data from the cell immediately above: [Ctrl] + ' (single quote)

4. Wrapping Text

When entering titles or long paragraphs of text, the [Enter] key will move to a new cell. Instead press [Alt] + [Enter] to create a line break or new line in the same cell. With this shortcut, you can decide where the text breaks for column headings, text descriptions, and Excel notes and comments.

Not every long text entry needs this specific control, and so, you can anticipate and automatically format lengthy entries to wrap to multiple lines by applying the Wrap Text alignment feature to entire columns or rows even if some of your cells won't need it. To apply the Wrap Text format to a selection in Excel 2003, choose Format > Cells, select the Alignment tab, and check the Wrap text option. To format a selection in Excel 2007 to wrap text, pick the Wrap Text command from the Alignment group in the Home tab.

5. Go To Shortcut

Quickly move to a specific cell or range by pressing [F5] or [Ctrl] + G (Go To).

6. Editing Cells

Excel has lots of choices for editing text, values or a formula in a worksheet cell including:

Typing a new entry in the cell (no need to delete previous contents)Double-click on cell to open "in-place" or direct editingPress [F2] to open the current cell for editingClick once into the Formula Bar (above column headings)Press [Delete] to clear contents (cell is empty but retains formatting)When a cell is opened for editing, click with the mouse or use arrow keys, [Backspace], [Delete], [Home] and [End] to navigate within the cell.

7. Keyboard Shortcut to Go To the Formula Bar

The previous Excel tip included the option to edit a cell by pressing the [F2] function key which, by default, positions the cursor in the cell instead of the Formula bar. If you really like keyboard shortcuts over the mouse, you can change the [F2] function key so it moves directly to the Formula bar. Just follow the steps below for your version of Microsoft Excel:

Excel 2010: Pick the File tab and then select Options from the bottom of the screen.Excel 2007: Click the Office button and then pick Excel Options (at the bottom right).Select Advanced in the left pane.Uncheck the Allow editing directly in cell option. OK to apply.

8. Easy Cell Formatting

Try these quick Excel keyboard shortcuts to change formatting for your current selection:

Open the Format Cells dialog box: [Ctrl] + 1Apply the currency format: [Ctrl] + $Apply the percentage format: [Ctrl] + %

9. Quickly See a Sum or Average

Want to see a quick total or other calculation? Just highlight some numbers in a worksheet. Next, look at the status bar at the bottom of the window. As part of a feature called AutoCalculate, Excel displays the average of the numbers, a count of the cells, and the sum. The average, count, and sum in the status bar get updated each time you click another cell. By the way, when you use this tip, Excel ignores any cells you click that contain text or graphics instead of numbers. Although you can't automatically create fixed results from these calculations, this is an easy way to audit or review your Excel worksheets. You can also use this trick with non-adjacent cells. Just click on one cell, and then hold down the [Ctrl] key while you click on additional cells you want to add to the other selected values.

10. Quick Select All

If most or all of your Excel worksheet will have the same format (font style, size, number, etc.), you can apply global formatting to the cells even before you type text, data, or formulas into the cells. To select all of the cells in the current range or data list, press [Ctrl] + A. Press again to select the entire worksheet (Select All) or by clicking once on the upper-right intersection (the blank rectangle) of Column A and Row 1. Then choose the cell formatting options that you want to see in your worksheet.

Dawn Bjork Buzbee is The Software Pro® and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) as well as a certified Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Master Instructor, certified Microsoft Applications Specialist (MCAS) Instructor, and a certified Microsoft Office expert. Dawn shares smart and easy ways to effectively use software through her work as a software speaker, trainer, consultant, and author of 6 books. Discover more software tips, tricks, tactics, and techniques at http://www.softwarepro.com/.

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Even if you are using Microsoft Office 2010 or Office 2007, it's likely you have a lot of files created in Microsoft Office 2003 or earlier. When you open any of these Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files from Office 2010 or Office 2007, Compatibility Mode is turned on, and you see [Compatibility Mode] in the title bar of the document window. Compatibility Mode ensures your files can still be fully edited by others who are using previous versions of Microsoft Office although you may no longer need this backwards capability. What are your choices for working with these "older" but important files in a newer version of Microsoft Office?

Options for Working with Office 2003 Files

No Changes. When you are editing a file originally created in an Office 2003 program, you can continue to work in Compatibility Mode and save the file as usual without changing the file format. That is, keep working with it and saving as before; the file will not be automatically changed to a new version. These Office 2003 files can still be opened from Office 2010 or any earlier version.
Save As to Newest Version. You can save any Office 2003 or earlier file as a Microsoft Office 2010 (or Office 2007) version. The Save As option is found under the Backstage View/File tab (Office 2010) or the Office Button (Office 2007). The downside is that unless you specify a different location or delete the older file, both files will remain in the same location but with different file extensions.
Convert to Newest Version. To take advantage of all of the latest features in your current version of Microsoft Office, you can convert a file to the appropriate Office 2010/2007 file format. For example, the Convert command in Microsoft Word converts and replaces a document with the.doc format, and upgrades the file to the.docx format. The Convert option is recommended over Save As.

How to Convert a File to an Office 2010 or Office 2007 File Format

Converting your file gives you access to the new and enhanced features in Office 2010 or Office 2007 such as tables, expanded worksheets, and PivotTables in Excel, SmartArt and Picture Styles in Word, and new graphics and transition features in PowerPoint. However, people who are using previous versions of Office may have difficulty viewing or editing certain portions of the file created with these new or enhanced features.

To Convert a File:

From one of your Microsoft Office 2010 or Office 2007 programs (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint), open any file created in an earlier version of Microsoft Office.
In Office 2010: Select the Backstage View (File tab) and choose the Convert button from the Info tab. In Office 2007: Click the Office Button in the upper-left corner and choose Convert from the menu.
Next, you will see a program-specific prompt about the convert action. Navigate through your choices.
If the program doesn't close and reopen automatically, close the file and reopen it to continue using it with all of the available features in your Office 2010 program. The converted file will open with the appropriate file extension. For example, when you save an Excel 2003 file containing macros, it will normally be converted as an Excel 2010 macro-enabled workbook (.xlsm extension).

Converted files are replaced with the updated file and file format. The Convert command is not available when a file is already saved with an Office 2010/2007 file format. Note: Before proceeding with the convert process, consider if you want to first backup your files.

© Dawn Bjork Buzbee, MCT, The Software Pro®

Dawn Bjork Buzbee is The Software Pro® and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) as well as a certified Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Master Instructor, certified Microsoft Applications Specialist (MCAS) Instructor, and a certified Microsoft Office expert. Dawn shares smart and easy ways to effectively use software through her work as a software speaker, trainer, consultant, and author of 6 books. Discover more software tips, tricks, tactics, and techniques at http://www.softwarepro.com/.

View the original article here

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