MS Excel Secrets - Table IT!!!!!!!!

If you have ever needed to make an Excel spreadsheet look good in a hurry, then you need to use the table feature. 

It was introduced a couple of versions ago but has been updated and improved so that it is super easy to take a plain bunch of data and make it look presentable in just a few minutes.

Once you turn on the table feature, you can easily sort, compute and format the data for any occasion.

Read lots more MS Excel Secrets

Starting by selecting the data range that you want to format. (Make sure that the data you have selected has no blank rows between your headings and your data. The table feature will not work with blank rows. Next, click the Home tab. Click the Format as Table button and choose from the variety of per-designed table styles. Don’t worry if the styles aren’t exactly what you’d like. You can customize and adjust easily after you have made your initial choices.

A small dialog box will appear asking you if the data range is correct. You can also choose at this point if you have column headings or not so that Excel will know to use them. When you are done with those two parts, click OK. Note, if you want to be able to sort, it is best to have column headings (or as Excel calls them, headers). You now have a table made from your data that is already formatted and ready to go.

To further customize your table, you can use the Table Tools design tab at the top of the Excel screen. You will see check boxes that will allow you to add Total columns or rows, just by placing a check in the box. You can also remove or add special formatting for the first row or column using these same check boxes. If you choose the Total Row check box, you will see an extra row added at the bottom of your data. You can click on any of these cells and choose to SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE, etc. any of the columns of data. (There is a drop down arrow next to each cell that you click on in this Total Row where you can pick the function you would like to use.)

Additionally, you can sort the data on specific column by choose the drop down arrow on the column heading of your choice. For example, if you had an address list with names, street address, city, etc., you could just click on the drop down arrow to the right of the City column heading and choose to sort those from A to Z.

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