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Office Productivity
Tips & Tricks
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Graphics/Media & Digital Design | IT Professional
Create backups to revert from unwanted saved changes (Excel 2000/2001/2002/2003/2007)
When you're working fast, you're bound to make mistakes. You'll often catch your errors right away, but it's easy to make accidental changes to a workbook's existing data and not notice until it's too late. If you've ever felt the nausea that accompanies the realization that you've just saved workbook changes that unintentionally destroy large amounts of data, you should investigate Excel's backup feature.
Excel's backup capability provides a way to restore a workbook as it existed prior to when you last saved the file. Unfortunately, the feature isn't as easy to use as it probably should be--it's activated in an obscure manner and must be set up on a file-by-file basis.
You specify whether automatic backups should be created when you save a workbook. Once enabled, the setting remains active for all subsequent saves, unless you specifically disable it. To activate the setting in a new file, click the Save button or choose File | Save from the menu bar. (In Excel 2007, click the Office button and then choose Save.) If you're working with an existing file, choose File | Save As from the menu bar. (In Excel 2007, click the Office button and then choose Save As.)
When the Save As dialog box appears, click the Tools button on the dialog box's toolbar and select General Options from the subsequent menu. Next, select the Always Create Backup check box and click OK. Finally, name and save the file as you normally would.
From now on, Excel creates a backup in the same folder as the original file whenever you save the workbook. Instead of an .xls file extension (or .xlsx file extension in Excel 2007), the backup uses an .xlk extension. The .xlk extension is the same even for Excel 2007 files. Excel automatically names the backup by incorporating the name of the original file, using the format Backup Of Filename.
Keep in mind that Excel only maintains one backup file. Each time you save your workbook, the last backup file is overwritten with a new one.
To restore a backup, choose File | Open from Excel's menu bar. Then, choose Backup Files from the Files Of Type dropdown list, select the appropriate backup file and click Open. You can create a new workbook from the backup by choosing File | Save As and saving a regular Excel file.
Easily flip an AutoShape (Microsoft PowerPoint 2000/2002/v.X/2003/2007)
If your AutoShape (or Shape in PowerPoint 2007) isn't looking quite like you'd hoped, try flipping it. To do this:
- Select the AutoShape you wish to flip.
- Select Draw | Rotate Or Flip from the Drawing Toolbar.
- Select Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical.
In PowerPoint 2007, you won't have a Drawing toolbar. Here's how to flip your Shape instead:
- Select the Shape you wish to flip.
- Click on the Format tab in the Drawing Tools ribbon.
- In the Arrange group, click on the Rotate button to open a dropdown menu. Select Flip Horizontal or Flip Vertical from the dropdown list, depending on how you want to flip the Shape.
Remove names from Outlook's AutoComplete list (Outlook 2002/2003)
Beginning with version 2002, Outlook includes a handy AutoComplete feature. When you begin to enter a name or email address in the To, CC, or Bcc field of a Message or Meeting Request form, Outlook offers a matching list of names or addresses you've sent items to in the past, which is similar to Microsoft Internet Explorer's URL AutoComplete feature. However, if there's a name or email address that's no longer valid, or you sent an Outlook item with an incorrect email address in the past, those names and addresses continue to display in the dropdown list until you delete them. To do so, begin typing a name in one of the before-mentioned fields, and then use the arrow keys to select the invalid entry in the AutoComplete list. Finally, press the [Delete] key to permanently remove it from the list.
Instantly change the background for just a few slides in a presentation (PowerPoint 2000/2002/2003/2004)
You can quickly change the background color or fill for multiple slides in your presentation simultaneously without having to change it for all of them.
To do so:
- Switch to the Slide Sorter View and hold down [Ctrl] ([Shift] in PowerPoint 2004) as you click on each slide you wish to modify.
- Choose Format | Background to launch the Background dialog box and select the color or fill effect that you want for the selected slides.
Click Apply when you're satisfied with your changes to update the selected slides while keeping the unselected slides unchanged.
Combine data from multiple cells into one (Excel 2000/2001/2002/2003/2004/2007)
Excel makes it easy to combine information stored in separate cells into a single cell. There are two ways to concatenate information--using the CONCATENATE function or using ampersand (&) concatenation operator. To demonstrate, let's say that a worksheet stores name information in two columns. First names are stored in column A and last names are stored in column B. A project you're working on requires that the data is combine into a "Last Name, First Name" format.
To examine both concatenation techniques, enter a first name in column A and a last name in column B, as we described. Then, in cell C1, enter the following formula:
=CONCATENATE(B1,", ",A1)
Notice that we combined cell references with a literal text string, the comma and space that separate the last and first names. Although we didn't include any, you can also concatenate numeric data. The CONCATENATE function can accept up to 30 arguments.
To produce the same result using the concatenation operator, enter the following formula in cell D1:
=B1&", "&A1
Note that this approach can also concatenate numeric data, but it isn't limited to 30 items. You can use these data-combining techniques in Excel 2007 the same way you use them in earlier versions.
Create a contact directly from an email message (Outlook 2000/2002/2003/2007)
It's easy to create a new contact from an email message. Click on an email message, and then drag it to the Contacts folder in the Folder List (drag it to the Contacts icon in the Navigation Pane in 2003/2007). If you have multiple folders within the Contacts folder, just drag it to the specific folder where you'd like this Contact to reside. When you release the mouse button, the Contacts tab displays with any pertinent information from the email message filled in. Add additional information as needed, and then click Save And Close. This technique can also be used to create email messages, Calendar entries, tasks, journal entries, and notes. For example, drag a Calendar entry to the Inbox in the Folder List (or Mail icon in the Navigation Pane in 2003/2007) to create an email message.
Get AutoShape flexibility with a clip art appearance (Microsoft PowerPoint 2000/2002/2003)
If you rely on AutoShapes for much of your creation process, you can get AutoShapes that look like clip art objects. To do so:
- Select AutoShapes | More AutoShapes from the Drawing Toolbar. The More AutoShapes pane appears (in 2000, the More AutoShapes dialog box opens).
- Double-click on an AutoShape to insert it (in 2000, open a category first, then click the desired AutoShape and choose Insert Clip from the pop-up menu).
Reverse direction when searching in a worksheet (Excel 97/2000/2001/2002)
When you're using the Find or Replace feature in Excel, it's easy to accidentally click the Find Next button one too many times. Fortunately, you don't have to cycle through all of the matches in the worksheet to get back to ones you missed the first time. Instead, just hold down the [Shift] key when you click the Find Next button. Excel searches in the opposite direction through the worksheet as it hunts for matches to your search string.
Insert a sheet based on a custom template (Excel 97/2000/v. X/2002/2003)
When you insert a worksheet using the Insert | Worksheet menu command, Excel automatically bases the new sheet on the default template. However, you may not want to insert just a blank worksheet. For instance, say your company uses a special Project Tracking template. A workbook is dedicated to each client and there could be several project worksheets in each workbook. Instead of inserting a blank sheet, you want to insert a blank Project Tracking form. Fortunately, you can select what template Excel uses to create a new worksheet. Instead of using the menu command, right-click on a worksheet tab (or [control]-click on a Mac) and then choose Insert from the shortcut menu. The Insert dialog box appears, displaying your PC's templates. Simply select the appropriate one and click OK.
Track a contact's activities (Outlook 2000/2002/2003)
Outlook is a powerful organizational and productivity tool, so why not let it help you whenever possible? You can track a contact's activities by linking items to that contact. This can be useful for such things as client billing purposes or just to find an email that you know you sent to a specific person. Some items, such as emails and meetings, are automatically linked to a contact without having to take any steps on your part. To view what items are currently linked to a contact, click on the Contacts folder in the Folder List (Contacts icon in the Navigation Pane in 2003). Find the contact that you'd like to track and double-click on it. Click on the Activities tab. Here you'll see all the emails, meetings, appointments, tasks, journal entries, notes, and documents linked to that contact.
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