4: Conditional formattingĪnalyzing/transforming data is important, but it is just as useful to be able to identify variances in a range of values using graphics like colors, bars or icons. It is always good to resort to Excel Data Tables as you will have less work managing your data table and can focus on more interesting work like data transformation/analysis. What do you get when using Tables in Excel? A consistent structure and formatting of your entire data table, automated copied formulas (across columns), non-repeating column headers and more. If you want your data tables to be neat and structured you need to use Excel Data Tables. There is almost no limit in the possibilities. Just select a range of data (data in columns with headers) and select the ROWS, COLUMNS and VALUES for your Pivot Table! You can also create custom columns (based on formulas), summarize data by groups/rows/columns etc. PivotTables allow you to transform and analyze data in a structure manner. This is definitely one of the 10 top Excel features! Pivots can process a large amount of data in a short period of time and are optimized in the Excel back-end for performance. Almost the first thing I always do when analyzing data is pivot the data in multiple manners and analyze the patterns/results. You can’t call yourself an advanced Excel user without knowing about PivotTables! There is no other feature in Excel I being used more often and with success. So let’s start with the 10 Top Excel Features… No. I have decided therefore to list some of the top 10 features regarded often as the most significant and useful to know.
Although, I value VBA it should also be the solution of last resort compare to “native” Excel features used more common. I have seen more than once users reaching out to use VBA macros instead of much easier PivotTables/Charts. It is nothing incredible that many users have issues due to not being aware of some of the most significant features in Excel like PivotTables, Array Formulas, Tables and other. I am a frequent visitor to StackOverflow to see what is troubling the Excel community (and other developer/analyst communities). Today on Top 10 Excel features you need to know.