Does using Excel take longer than you think it should? Consider the following hacks to save precious time!
Keyboard Shortcuts
One of the best life hacks for Excel is all of the keyboard shortcuts. You can use shortcuts to do anything from removing text to pivoting data. There are also shortcuts for undoing those actions, which is great if you want to know how to unpivot data in Excel.
You can search for keyboard shortcuts online to find the full list. Consider what you want to do and how you want to save time. Then, you'll be able to get the shortcuts you need. Start with a few, and learn more as you need them so that you don't waste time learning shortcuts.
Select All Cells
If you ever want or need to select all cells, that can take a while. Fortunately, there's an easy hack that can save you a lot of time. Look for the small box above the first row and to the left of column A, and you can click on that.
Then, you'll be able to select or deselect all of the cells within a sheet. You can then do whatever you want, such as add the cells up or delete them. Your finger will thank you later.
Duplicate Sheets
Maybe you have a budget tracker or use Excel to track your income. If you have a sheet you use every month, you shouldn't have to recreate it from scratch. Instead, create a basic sheet that you can use as a template.
Then, you can click on the sheet tab itself. You should see the option to duplicate or copy the sheet, which will populate a new tab next to it. Then, you'll be able to rename the new tab so that it's easy to find, and you can maintain any data, sums, and other features you've added to the original.
Switch Between Files
Perhaps you work with multiple Excel files for whatever reason. Instead of using your mouse to click on the right file, you can use the keyboard. Yes, this technically falls under keyboard shortcuts, but it's a great example to know.
You'll want to use the control key and press T to switch from one Excel file to another. This is great if you have a lot of windows open and don't want to go searching for a new Excel file. When you're on Mac, you can also do this, but you'll want to use command instead of control.
Add Multiple Rows or Columns
Sometimes, you may need to add multiple rows or columns. Excel makes it easy to add one at a time, but it's unclear how to add a section in one go. If you don't want to add columns or rows one by one, you can do so with a life hack.
You'll need to select the number of rows or columns that you want to add. Then, you can use the same steps you would to add a single row or column. If you need to add a lot of rows at once, you might find this saves you a lot of time.
View All Text
If you ever need to write a lot of text in one cell, it can be frustrating. As soon as you add text to the cell next to it, you won't be able to see everything in the first one.
Luckily, you can right-click on the cell in question. Click on "Format Cells" and select "Wrap text" to make the text wrap within the width of the column.
Excel can be hard to use for beginners, but it's super powerful. Keep these hacks in mind when you want to be more efficient.
