Microsoft Excel Tips

MAKE LIKE A BANANA AND SPLIT

Sometimes, being able to look at two or more areas of your worksheet at the same time is really helpful--like when you're creating a formula in row 200 that refers to cells in rows 3 and 5. No problem. You can split your Excel 97 window to view two or more parts of the same document at the same time. Here's how:

1. Click on the split bar (the tiny box on top of the vertical scroll bar or at the right of the horizontal scroll bar) or choose Window >> Split.
2. When the double-arrow pointer appears, drag the split bar to the desired position.
3. Use the scroll bars to display the appropriate worksheet areas in each window.
4. When you're finished, double-click on the split bar(s) to remove it (them).

SPREAD OUT

If you've got a workbook with lots of tabs, you may not have enough room to display them all. But you can display as many as possible by adjusting the tab split box:

1. Point to the tab split box (the tiny box to the left of the horizontal scroll bar, just left of the left arrow).
2. When the double-arrow pointer appears, drag the box to the right to shrink the scroll bar and make more room for tabs.

CHANGE YOUR SHEETS

To change the number of sheets that appear in a new Excel workbook, go to Tools/Options and pick the General tab. Change the "Sheets in new workbook" number.

NEW WORKSHEET

To add a blank worksheet to an existing workbook, open the workbook and choose Insert/Worksheet.

DATE YOUR CELL