Excel 2016 2013 2010 2007 2003

Using a custom sort order

Excel proposes different ways to sort data. You may sort your data in alphabetical order, according to the background or text color of the data, etc.
In some cases, you may want to sort your data in non-standard ways. For example, if your data consists of month names, you usually want it to be ordered by month numbers rather than alphabetically.

Adding a header and footer to the worksheet

Headers and footers are widely used in Microsoft Word documents, but you should know that Excel also has headers and footers.
The header shows the information at the top of every printed page. The footer shows the information at the bottom of every printed page. By default, new workbooks do not have headers or footers.

Working with spreadsheets

This tip describes shortcut keys that can be useful for adding, deleting, moving, or coping spreadsheets. See also how to change the color for worksheet tabs, making the spreadsheet very hidden.

Select special types of cells

While working in Excel, you may need to find certain types of cells in your worksheets. For example, cells that contain comments, formulas, or only formulas with errors. See how to select all the embedded charts on the worksheet and how to select a large data range in one click in Excel.

Find and replace in Excel

You can instantly find and edit data and text without manually combing through printed or handwritten pages while working with documents or spreadsheets on your computer or laptop. Word provides a convenient "find and replace" feature that allows you to use wildcards.

The compatibility mode in Excel

If you open a workbook created in an older version of Microsoft Excel, you may see Compatibility Mode near the filename in the title bar:

Convert workbooks to HTML format

The default file format for files created in Excel for Microsoft 365 is the .xlsx format. You can easily save a workbook, spreadsheet, or even selected area in various formats such as .xls, PDF, HTML, etc. See also how to save workbook in .xls format or PDF format.

Save workbooks in PDF format

The PDF file format is widely used because there are many free programs, applications, and websites for viewing PDF files and the official free Adobe Reader program. A significant amount of modern professional printing equipment has hardware support for the PDF format, which allows you to print files in this format without using any software.

Save a workbook as an XLS file for use with an older version of Excel

By default, Excel saves all workbooks in the newest format (*.xlsx), but you can change the default format to *.xls or anything else.

Turn off the automatic creation of hyperlinks in Excel

A hyperlink in Excel is a text that you can click on to quickly navigate to other spreadsheets, files, or pages on the Internet. You can set up hyperlinks to display files stored on your computer, at remote locations, and on the Internet. For example, see how to organize your workbook using hyperlinks: