Twenty Something Sense

Almost any job these days uses some type of spreadsheet and in most cases that means you’re using Microsoft Excel. I use Excel all the time both personally and at work and I’m betting you do as well.

One of the things I noticed when I first started working was the difference between a “well formatted” Excel document and just an Excel document. The difference is that the formatted version is readable and easier to gain information from while the second is illegible, hard to understand and frustrating. The second Excel sheet is honestly the typical (I’d guess 80% of the time) which means delays in work, improper decision making and unnecessary stress/frustration.

Below I have suggested a few books to get you going in Excel and have also provided a few of the formatting techniques I use on every Excel sheet I create.

Best Microsoft Excel Books:

1. Microsoft Office Excel 2007 Inside Out – Learn everything you need to know for working with Microsoft Office Excel 2007–from the inside out! This book packs hundreds of time-saving solutions, troubleshooting tips, and workarounds for using Office Excel 2007–all in concise, fast-answer format.
2. New Perspectives on Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Comprehensive- Following the critical thinking, problem-solving approach of the New Perspectives Series learners will gain a comprehensive understanding of Microsoft Excel 2007, including the new features of the software. The case-based tutorials challenge learners to apply what they are learning to real-life tasks, preparing them to easily transfer skills to new situations. With the New Perspectives Series approach, learners understand why they’re learning what they’re learning, and are better situated to retain skills.
3. Excel 2007 Bible – Whether you’re already a power user or just starting, find out how to get the most out of this major new release of Excel from expert instructor and Microsoft MVP, “Mr. Spreadsheet,” John Walkenbach. Each of the book’s seven parts thoroughly focuses on key elements, so no matter what your level of expertise, you’ll find what you need in the hundreds of examples, techniques, and tips in this comprehensive resource.

Here are a few tips to get you going – for this example, lets say you start with this:

1. Always clean up your headings – The headings of an Excel document are extremely important as it helps your data to be more readable. There are 5 easy steps to make this happen;

1. Make the size of the font 1-level bigger than the rest of your data.
2. Bold your headings
3. Center your headings
4. Add a neutral (but not white) background to your headings
5. Put a border around your headings.

After following the steps above, you should have something like this:

2. Always add a borders to your data – Adding borders again adds to the readability of your data allowing for fast intake. To do this simply highlight your data and use the ‘Borders’ drop down on the tool bar and select ‘All Borders’. Next, leaving the highlight, use the ‘Borders’ drop down again to select ‘Thick Box Border’. You will know have thin lines throughout your data with a thick box border around the entire data set.

3. Shade row data – Adding a background color to alternating rows can again increase the readability of your data. To do this for small set of data simply select every-other row while holding down the ‘ctrl’ key. Once they are highlighted, use ‘Fill Color’ tool to add a light background color. You could also highlight the entire data set and use the ‘AutoFormat’ command under the ‘Format’ drop-down.  After completing this, your data will be much easier to read and should look something like this:

4. Remove and label your worksheets – For whatever reason a new workbook (Excel file) starts with 3 worksheets. Remove any worksheets that are not used! Also rename the worksheets that you are using to something meaningful. If you do not, this can be confusing to your viewers.  The tabs pictured below can be found in the bottom-left of the Excel application.


5. Excel is location sensitive – When you save an excel file, wherever you are in the file is where the next person who opens the file will start. For example if you have 100 rows of data and you have scrolled down to change something – if you save it here – the next person will start viewing at the same location. This can be very irritating is someone is unfamiliar with the data. Get in a habit of saving your files when you are viewing the ‘A1′ cell of your Excel file.

These are a few of my main tips I give. What other tips do folks have? Are there other ideas for making excel data more readable?