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Introduction
Customize Excel to meet your needs: Spending you can go after the procedures in the particular
some upfront time customizing Excel so that it part of the book that really interest you at the time,
works faster, more reliably, and more like how putting all the rest of the tips and tricks aside until
you work on a daily basis can save you time you need to have a look at them. In case you’re the
(and aggravation) later. least bit curious, here’s the lowdown on each part
Automate repetitive tasks: This book shows and the types of techniques you can expect to find
there.
you how to lighten your work load by taking
fewer steps to do everyday tasks, especially
those involving data entry and formatting in Part I: Making Excel Work Your Way
the worksheet.
These techniques enable you to cut through the
Excel screen clutter and get the program to work
Foolish Assumptions and look the way you want it. Find out how to cus-
tomize everything from the Excel screen display to
the pull-down menus and toolbars. You also find out
I’m only going to make one foolish assumption about
how to streamline program startup and save time
you and that is that you use Microsoft Excel in your
by knowing exactly where you saved the spread-
work or studies at the basic level. If pushed, I further
sheet you worked on the day before.
guess that you aren’t particularly interested in know-
ing Excel at an expert level but are terribly motivated
to find out how to do the stuff you need to get done Part II: Quick Worksheet Creation Tricks
more efficiently. If that’s the case, then this is defi-
The techniques in this part are dedicated to showing
nitely the book for you. Fortunately, even if you hap-
you more efficient ways not only to build your spread-
pen to be one of those users who’s highly motivated
sheets but also to make them more accurate. Here
to become the company’s resident spreadsheet
you find out how to quickly navigate the worksheet,
guru, you’ve still come to the right place.
make proficient cell selections, and do data entry
like the pros. In addition, you find out how to ensure
As far as your hardware and software go, I’m assum-
accurate entries with Excel’s data validation and
ing that you already have a version of Excel between
Text to Speech features.
Excel 97 and 2003 (the latest) installed on your
computer and that you’re using a standard instal-
lation running on a version of Windows between Part III: Handy Ways to Format and Present
Windows 95 and Windows XP or Windows 2000. Worksheet Data
Although the figures in this book all show Excel 2003
happily running on Windows XP, it makes no differ- This part contains the techniques that you need
ence to most of the written instructions if you’re to easily and quickly make the data in your work-
using an earlier version of Excel on an earlier ver- sheet its most presentable. Here you find out how
sion of Windows. to instantly format tables of data through a com-
bination of tips and tricks. You also find out how to
create and apply custom number formats and select
What’s In This Book the alignment features best suited to the particular
data you’re working with. Finally, you find out how
to quickly conjure up charts and graphs that can
Excel Timesaving Techniques For Dummies is divided
demonstrate trends and analyses otherwise hidden
into nine parts that contain loosely related tech-
in the data itself.
niques for working smarter and faster. That way,