INDEX is an Excel function that allows you to find a value inside a list or table of data in Excel. If you know (or can calculate) the row and column position of the value you want, INDEX is the function to retrieve that value for you. This lesson shows you how to use the INDEX function and includes some simple examples to help illustrate how you can use it.
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The IF() function in Excel allows you to evaluate a situation which has two possible outcomes (e.g. sales are greater than $1000) and calculate a different value for each outcome. However, sometimes you need to work with situations where there are more than two possible outcomes. That's where multiple, or nested, IF functions come in handy. In this tutorial we'll cover how to use nested IF functions to calculate sales commission for a team of sales people, given a range of different commission rates.
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When you create a new Pivot Table, Excel either uses the source data you selected or automatically selects the data for you. But data changes often, which means you also need to be able to update your pivot tables to reflect the new or changed data. This lesson shows you how to update existing data, and add new data to an Excel pivot table.
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If you are working with large tables of data in Excel, you can make your spreadsheet easier to read by formatting alternate rows to be shaded a different colour. There are a number of ways you can achieve this. This lesson shows you a quick and easy way to do it on Excel 2011 for Mac.
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If you're using the Autofilter feature, you're probably wondering how to perform calculations on only those values that are being displayed by the filter. The SUBTOTAL() function is the answer.
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Excel's VLOOKUP function is excellent when you want to find a value in a table based on a lookup value. But if your table includes your lookup value multiple times, you'll find that VLOOKUP can't do it. This lesson shows you how to use the INDEX function (plus some other functions) to find all matching values in a list, and return a value from another column in the same row. It also looks at how to do this when you want to return all values which are a partial match (i.e. a wildcard search) to the values in your lookup table.
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Excel offers a couple of handy functions that you can use to calculate the smallest and largest values in a range of cells. They are simple functions that go by the names of MIN() and MAX(). This lesson shows you how to use them. It also introduces SMALL() and LARGE(), functions which duplicate what MIN and MAX do, plus more besides.
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If you're using Excel to calculate dates, it is useful to know how to add (or subtract) a certain number of working or business days to a date. This lesson introduces the WORKDAY() function and shows you how to use it.
Printing from Excel can be very frustrating, especially if your spreadsheet is too wide or too tall to fit on a single page.
You can use the Scaling option in Page Setup to set limits on how many pages wide and tall your document should be when you print it. The problem with that is that you can find your page fits onto one page, but becomes too small to read. Not only that, but Excel ignores any manual page breaks you've entered. This lesson explains how you can print your spreadsheet so it automatically scales to be one page wide without forcing the rows into a single page.
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Rounding in Excel refers to reducing the number of digits in a number to make it easier to work with. A common example is rounding a price to two decimal places. Rounding errors can cause havoc with your spreadsheets without you even realising it. A common mistake occurs when you change the display format of a number to show fewer digits after the decimal point and assume that the number has been rounded for use in other calculations. This lesson explains how rounding in Excel works, and shows you how to use the different rounding functions available in Excel.
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When you create a formula in Excel that refers to other cells in the worksheet, Excel will store the information about those cells as relative references. Relative references and their counterpart, absolute references, are one of the things that make spreadsheets such a powerful tool.
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Creating charts in Excel can be a frustrating process. This lesson starts with the basics, and shows you the simple steps you need to follow to create a basic column or bar chart in Excel.
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When writing a formula that references other cells, it can sometimes be useful to check that those cells contain a valid value. In this lesson, we'll look at Excel's ISNUMBER function as a way of doing this.
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The SUM function in Excel allows you to add up the values in a range of cells. However, sometimes you only want to add up the cells that meet certain criteria. That's where the SUMIF function comes in handy, along with the more capable SUMIFS function.
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If you work with large Excel spreadsheets, you'll probably know the hassle of scrolling left and right, up and down as you try to work with all that data. You can use the Zoom feature to make the spreadsheet smaller and fit more onto the screen, but that doesn't always give you the result you want. Often, it will make your spreadsheet too small or not small enough.
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Excel Formulas
Do you need help with an Excel formula or function? We have lessons on a range of different Excel functions, and the list is growing all the time.
Click here to see the full list of Excel Formulas and Functions