Microsoft Excel Tutorial: Looking for a great formula to format 2025 cells.
To download the workbook from today: Excel I Need A Once In A Lifetime Formula For 2025 - Episode 2665 Sample Files - MrExcel Publishing
Start 2025 with a bang by diving into an Excel adventure like no other! In this tutorial, we explore the fascinating concept of "square years"—numbers that are perfect squares of whole numbers—and why 2025 (45 squared) is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event. We’ll walk you through formulas and creative techniques to visualize this unique year in Excel, while tying it back to historical milestones like the California Gold Rush and the completion of the Hoover Dam.
Discover how to create a stunning 45x45 square grid in Excel, filled with random values and dynamic patterns. Learn the step-by-step process of using Excel’s SEQUENCE function, conditional formatting, and custom formulas to build vibrant visualizations. From generating random numbers to tweaking row heights and column widths for optimal design, this tutorial is packed with practical tips and tricks.
Want to take it to the next level? I’ve devised a formula that trends gradients darker as you move across or down the grid. Using clever logic and Excel’s RAND() function, I created a visually appealing background for my 2025 book cover. But this is just the beginning—your creativity can take this concept even further!
Challenge time! Design your own unique grid pattern using the techniques in this video. Submit your formulas and creations via the link in the description, and the best design will earn you credit as the cover designer for my latest book. Plus, you'll receive a free copy of the book and a complimentary one-year membership to my channel. Let’s see who can create the most jaw-dropping design!
Don’t forget to share this “square year” fun fact at your New Year’s Eve parties and impress your friends with your Excel prowess. Hit that like button, subscribe for more Excel tips, and have an amazing 2025! Check the description for resources, formulas, and submission details.
Buy Bill Jelen's latest Excel book: MrExcel 2024 Igniting Excel
Table of Contents
(0:00) 2023 was 17 squared times 7
(0:23) 2025 is 45 Squared
(0:33) Only square in our lifetime using SEQUENCE function
(0:43) Using Caret for Exponents
(0:55) California Gold Rush and Hoover Dam
(1:14) Designed book cover based on 45x45
(1:30) How to select 45 columns by watching the Name Box
(1:50) Using RAND()
(2:00) Conditional Formatting Color Scale
(2:11) Making each cell perfectly square using pixels
(2:25) Copy and Paste Special Column Widths
(2:36) Using RAND creates a non-interesting pattern
(2:46) Four formulas to create a pattern
(3:48) Can you create better formulas
(4:01) Win a book, membership and credit
(4:18) Hiding the number in a cell with ;;; format
(4:36) Remember to tell your friends about 45 squared
This video answers these search terms
"Excel tutorial 2025 square year formula"
"How to create a 45x45 grid in Excel"
"Excel conditional formatting tricks"
"Dynamic Excel patterns with formulas"
"Excel random number grid tutorial"
"Custom Excel gradients with RAND()"
"2025 is 45 squared Excel demonstration"
"Unique Excel book cover design ideas"
"Advanced Excel visualization techniques"
"Excel SEQUENCE function creative uses"
To download the workbook from today: Excel I Need A Once In A Lifetime Formula For 2025 - Episode 2665 Sample Files - MrExcel Publishing
Start 2025 with a bang by diving into an Excel adventure like no other! In this tutorial, we explore the fascinating concept of "square years"—numbers that are perfect squares of whole numbers—and why 2025 (45 squared) is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event. We’ll walk you through formulas and creative techniques to visualize this unique year in Excel, while tying it back to historical milestones like the California Gold Rush and the completion of the Hoover Dam.
Discover how to create a stunning 45x45 square grid in Excel, filled with random values and dynamic patterns. Learn the step-by-step process of using Excel’s SEQUENCE function, conditional formatting, and custom formulas to build vibrant visualizations. From generating random numbers to tweaking row heights and column widths for optimal design, this tutorial is packed with practical tips and tricks.
Want to take it to the next level? I’ve devised a formula that trends gradients darker as you move across or down the grid. Using clever logic and Excel’s RAND() function, I created a visually appealing background for my 2025 book cover. But this is just the beginning—your creativity can take this concept even further!
Challenge time! Design your own unique grid pattern using the techniques in this video. Submit your formulas and creations via the link in the description, and the best design will earn you credit as the cover designer for my latest book. Plus, you'll receive a free copy of the book and a complimentary one-year membership to my channel. Let’s see who can create the most jaw-dropping design!
Don’t forget to share this “square year” fun fact at your New Year’s Eve parties and impress your friends with your Excel prowess. Hit that like button, subscribe for more Excel tips, and have an amazing 2025! Check the description for resources, formulas, and submission details.
Buy Bill Jelen's latest Excel book: MrExcel 2024 Igniting Excel
Table of Contents
(0:00) 2023 was 17 squared times 7
(0:23) 2025 is 45 Squared
(0:33) Only square in our lifetime using SEQUENCE function
(0:43) Using Caret for Exponents
(0:55) California Gold Rush and Hoover Dam
(1:14) Designed book cover based on 45x45
(1:30) How to select 45 columns by watching the Name Box
(1:50) Using RAND()
(2:00) Conditional Formatting Color Scale
(2:11) Making each cell perfectly square using pixels
(2:25) Copy and Paste Special Column Widths
(2:36) Using RAND creates a non-interesting pattern
(2:46) Four formulas to create a pattern
(3:48) Can you create better formulas
(4:01) Win a book, membership and credit
(4:18) Hiding the number in a cell with ;;; format
(4:36) Remember to tell your friends about 45 squared
This video answers these search terms
"Excel tutorial 2025 square year formula"
"How to create a 45x45 grid in Excel"
"Excel conditional formatting tricks"
"Dynamic Excel patterns with formulas"
"Excel random number grid tutorial"
"Custom Excel gradients with RAND()"
"2025 is 45 squared Excel demonstration"
"Unique Excel book cover design ideas"
"Advanced Excel visualization techniques"
"Excel SEQUENCE function creative uses"
Transcript of the video:
Hey, we're kicking off 2025. I need a clever formula.
A “once in a lifetime formula”, and I think you can help.
Two years ago, it was January 1st, 2023.
I realized on the podcast that that year was 17 squared times seven.
And in that episode, all kinds of formulas to try and figure out if this was ever going to happen again in our lifetimes.
Watch out because in 2025 it is 45 squared. And unless you are very, very old.
This has never happened in your lifetime. And it will not happen again in your lifetime.
Here's all the numbers from 40 to 50.
So the SEQUENCE, 11 rows, one column starting at 40. That number squared, B17 with the caret.
That's how we raised something to the second power.
And that year, right? So it happened in 1600, 1681, 1764.
1849, the California Gold Rush. 1936 was the last time it happened.
That's when they completed Hoover Dam. This year? My 69th book is being published.
And who knows in these other years? I won't be alive certainly in any of these.
So this is it. 45 squared, the only time in our lifetime.
Now I have a book that I update just about every year.
And so as the book cover was being due, I'm like, what should I do for 2025?
I remember that it was a square year, and so I used Excel to design the background of this book.
The first thing to do was to figure out how to get 45 columns.
And I want you to watch right up here in the Name Box.
As I hold down the shift key and arrow right. And we'll see how many columns we have selected.
So I'll go out to 45. That looks like that is column AS.
And then go down to row 45. Select this 45 by 45 square.
=RAND() Contrl+Enter to fill that data.
Now how did I get that green and white formatting in there?
That's Conditional Formatting A color scale. And chose one from green to white.
A little bit of a tweaking with the row height. You can see if you just click there.
You'll see, not that the height is 15, but that it's 20 pixels.
To me, that's more important.
And then back here when I select, I can see the column is 29 pixels. So I adjust to get to 20.
And then copy with Control C. And Paste Special, the Column Widths.
All kinds of weird little tricks here to get this.
And every time I press F9, I get a different pattern.
But that pattern just is not interesting at all, just random numbers.
So I tried to come up with something that I thought would be cool. And the way that I did that.
I started up here in cell A1 with the number zero. And then going across the formula that I used.
We can see here in the formula bar.
Is taking the number to the left of us, plus a random number between negative one and positive four.
So we're going to trend towards darker, as we go across.
Copy that formula across to those cells.
And then in A2, the number just above us and this time a random number from negative two to positive three.
So we're going to slightly trend towards darker as we go down.
But there's a chance that we'll have some things that go backwards with the negative two there.
Copy that formula down to these cells. And then the last formula that I used.
And this formula is used for everything else.
Is the average of the three cells that we've done so far. So left of us, above us, and then left and above.
Plus a random number between zero and one.
And now when I press the F9 key, I'm getting somewhat interesting gradients that look kind of cool.
But I bet that someone watching this video. Actually got a lot of you watching this video.
Have some pattern this cooler than this. So I'm going to put this spreadsheet out.
There'll be a link down to the YouTube description.
If you can come up with some cool formulas.
To come up with an awesome pattern of 2025 squares. That we can use as the background for the book.
You'll get a free copy of the book.
You'll get credit as the cover designer for writing that formula.
And I will pay for a one year membership to my channel. Oh hey, the last trick here.
How do we have those numbers in and don't show the actual number.
Let's see, how did we do that? Is that with a number format?
Yep - of three semicolons.
A great way to have a number in a cell, but not show that number at all. Semicolon as the custom number format.
Alright, well hey, I hope everyone has an awesome 2025.
Make sure to use this fun fact at your New Year's Eve parties that 2025 is 45 squared.
And this will never happen again in our lifetime. I want to thank you for stopping by.
We'll see you next time for another net cast from MrExcel.
Hey, what's this? A new JOIN button?
Yeah, there's a membership section.
This'll be special loyalty badges, emojis, members only videos.
These are things that I just, one off videos that I did for a specific people.
Or when I screw something up, there's an outtake and shows you how to recover from the outtake.
Member shout outs. And a live stream every quarter at least.
Check it out. Thanks.
A “once in a lifetime formula”, and I think you can help.
Two years ago, it was January 1st, 2023.
I realized on the podcast that that year was 17 squared times seven.
And in that episode, all kinds of formulas to try and figure out if this was ever going to happen again in our lifetimes.
Watch out because in 2025 it is 45 squared. And unless you are very, very old.
This has never happened in your lifetime. And it will not happen again in your lifetime.
Here's all the numbers from 40 to 50.
So the SEQUENCE, 11 rows, one column starting at 40. That number squared, B17 with the caret.
That's how we raised something to the second power.
And that year, right? So it happened in 1600, 1681, 1764.
1849, the California Gold Rush. 1936 was the last time it happened.
That's when they completed Hoover Dam. This year? My 69th book is being published.
And who knows in these other years? I won't be alive certainly in any of these.
So this is it. 45 squared, the only time in our lifetime.
Now I have a book that I update just about every year.
And so as the book cover was being due, I'm like, what should I do for 2025?
I remember that it was a square year, and so I used Excel to design the background of this book.
The first thing to do was to figure out how to get 45 columns.
And I want you to watch right up here in the Name Box.
As I hold down the shift key and arrow right. And we'll see how many columns we have selected.
So I'll go out to 45. That looks like that is column AS.
And then go down to row 45. Select this 45 by 45 square.
=RAND() Contrl+Enter to fill that data.
Now how did I get that green and white formatting in there?
That's Conditional Formatting A color scale. And chose one from green to white.
A little bit of a tweaking with the row height. You can see if you just click there.
You'll see, not that the height is 15, but that it's 20 pixels.
To me, that's more important.
And then back here when I select, I can see the column is 29 pixels. So I adjust to get to 20.
And then copy with Control C. And Paste Special, the Column Widths.
All kinds of weird little tricks here to get this.
And every time I press F9, I get a different pattern.
But that pattern just is not interesting at all, just random numbers.
So I tried to come up with something that I thought would be cool. And the way that I did that.
I started up here in cell A1 with the number zero. And then going across the formula that I used.
We can see here in the formula bar.
Is taking the number to the left of us, plus a random number between negative one and positive four.
So we're going to trend towards darker, as we go across.
Copy that formula across to those cells.
And then in A2, the number just above us and this time a random number from negative two to positive three.
So we're going to slightly trend towards darker as we go down.
But there's a chance that we'll have some things that go backwards with the negative two there.
Copy that formula down to these cells. And then the last formula that I used.
And this formula is used for everything else.
Is the average of the three cells that we've done so far. So left of us, above us, and then left and above.
Plus a random number between zero and one.
And now when I press the F9 key, I'm getting somewhat interesting gradients that look kind of cool.
But I bet that someone watching this video. Actually got a lot of you watching this video.
Have some pattern this cooler than this. So I'm going to put this spreadsheet out.
There'll be a link down to the YouTube description.
If you can come up with some cool formulas.
To come up with an awesome pattern of 2025 squares. That we can use as the background for the book.
You'll get a free copy of the book.
You'll get credit as the cover designer for writing that formula.
And I will pay for a one year membership to my channel. Oh hey, the last trick here.
How do we have those numbers in and don't show the actual number.
Let's see, how did we do that? Is that with a number format?
Yep - of three semicolons.
A great way to have a number in a cell, but not show that number at all. Semicolon as the custom number format.
Alright, well hey, I hope everyone has an awesome 2025.
Make sure to use this fun fact at your New Year's Eve parties that 2025 is 45 squared.
And this will never happen again in our lifetime. I want to thank you for stopping by.
We'll see you next time for another net cast from MrExcel.
Hey, what's this? A new JOIN button?
Yeah, there's a membership section.
This'll be special loyalty badges, emojis, members only videos.
These are things that I just, one off videos that I did for a specific people.
Or when I screw something up, there's an outtake and shows you how to recover from the outtake.
Member shout outs. And a live stream every quarter at least.
Check it out. Thanks.
