Excel Tips


Randomly Sequence a List »

May 13, 2022

The students in my class must present an oral book report. Rather than have them go alphabetically, I want to randomly sequence them. How can Excel help me do that?


Create Random Numbers »

May 12, 2022

I want to create a range of random numbers or letters.


Add Comments to a Formula »

May 11, 2022

I spent a great deal of time perfecting the formula shown below. I would like to leave myself notes about it so I can figure it out again six months from now.


Lookup Two Values »

May 10, 2022

I have to lookup two values. I need to match both a company code and a cost center.


Is there Something More Flexible than CHOOSE? »

May 9, 2022

CHOOSE is strange in that it requires values such as 1, 2, 3. What if I need to check for values like 1, 7, 64?


I Don’t Want to Use a Lookup Table to Choose One of Five Choices »

May 6, 2022

I have to choose among five choices. I don’t want to nest a bunch of IF functions, and I really don’t want to add a lookup table off to the side of my worksheet. Is there a function that will allow me to specify the possible values in the function?


Embed a Small Lookup Table In Formula »

May 5, 2022

I have a small 5-row lookup table hidden out in column AA:AB. The sales reps who use the spreadsheet might inadvertently delete a row in their data, deleting the lookup table. Can I put the lookup table somewhere that they won’t destroy it?


Sum All of the Lookups »

May 4, 2022

Are there any other arcane tricks with the old LOOKUP function that you can use to close out this string of topics on lookup?


Return the Last Matching Value »

May 3, 2022

VLOOKUP returns the first match that it finds. I need to get the last match in the data. In this figure, I want to lookup A and find the 12 from row 5, since that is the latest data for A.