Excel Tip - Conditional Formatting.

Excel Tip - Conditional Formatting

This tip comes in handy when you are using Excel for a report. You can set it up so that when values are above or beneath a particular threshold, the data will be formatted in a particular manner.

Here is an example of a way you can use conditional formatting:
You have a spreadsheet you use to track deadlines. You can set the format for the "due date" column so that if the due date is less than 2 weeks away, the cell will be shaded yellow. Once the due date has passed, the date will be underlined and in red. This way, you can quickly see which due dates are coming up, and which deadlines have slipped.

To use conditional formatting:

1. Select the cells you want to format.
2. Click on the Format menu, and select Conditional formatting.
3. Set the format appropriately.

For additional information, see Learn Excel Formulas from A to Z - Atlanta Excel Training Class.

Outlook Tip - Quickly Calculate Dates

In a previous Outlook tip, Write Now, Send Later, I talked about using Outlook's Message Options feature to send an email at a later date.



Here's another shortcut that I use when:

• scheduling a Message for future delivery,
  
• setting appointments in Calendar, or
  
• setting deadlines in Tasks.

Did you know Outlook saves you the hassle of looking up a date? If you want to set a task deadline for 6 weeks from now, for example, all you have to do is type +6w in the due date field. Outlook automatically calculates the dates for you.




Here are some other date shortcuts:

• 
  d: days
  
• h: hours
  
• m: minutes
  
• mo: months
  
• y: years

So, 90 minutes from now will be entered as +90m.



Hope you find this helpful.

Excel - Change the Default File Location

When you try to open an Excel workbook, Microsoft's default is to look in your c:\documents subfolder.

Here's a quick trick I use to change the default file location. The seconds you save will add up to hours over time.

• Click on the Tools menu.
• Click on Options.
• Select the General Tab.
• Under Default File Location, type in your new location (ex., c:\excel). By the way, you can also change the number of sheets in a new workbook (Excel's default is 3).

For additional information, see Learn Excel Formulas from A to Z - Atlanta Excel Training Class.