Word and Excel tips and tricks
Author: mety Labels:: Word and Excel tips and tricksSorting by the Rows We all know that we can get Excel to run a sort on columns of data; that is to sort the data in a column either ascending or descending. But, did you know that you can do the same thing to data that is in rows? No? Well, maybe that's because it's sort of "hidden" in the fine print of a Custom Sort. Now I do realize that we most often put data into columns but sometimes the setup just makes more sense set up in rows. Or maybe you're someone who "thinks" that way and will naturally set things up from left to right instead of top to bottom. In any case, Excel can sort data from left to right either ascending or descending so it's not a bad idea to know how. To find Excel's setting for sorting from left to right we need to start in the Custom Sort dialog box. Once again, different versions, different directions: - In older versions of Excel it can be found in the Data menu, Sort choice. - In Excel 2007 & 2010 you need to go to the Home tab of the Ribbon, click the Sort & Filter button and choose Custom Sort. At this point we're all looking to click the Options button. Select Sort left to right.  Click OK and proceed with your sort settings as usual. This handy little tidbit combined with your previous abilities to sort in columns should allow you to manipulate the data just about any way that's necessary. ~April That's a helpful way to sort my data! Rate or add to this tip here! --- Select an Entire TableWorking with a table in MS Word? Finding out you need to select the entire table to oh, let's say, change the font or format the borders or whatever? The list could go on and on. What do you do? Do you select the first cell, hold the mouse button down and drag, hoping not to miss anything by releasing the mouse button too early or accidentally highlighting the lines below the table? Or, maybe you like the Shift key technique. You know, where you select the first cell, hold down the Shift key and then select the last cell. That's not a bad plan, unless the last cell is pages and pages away and you've got to scroll to get there. Looking for a better selection process? Well, here are a couple of quick and easy selection processes for MS Word tables. To select the entire table, you could: Click on the move handle of the table (found in the upper left corner).  Click on the resize handle of the table (found in the bottom right corner).  And... in older versions of Word I found that I could use Alt key + double-click on the table. (Using Word 2007? Sorry but all I seemed able to accomplish was to open the Research task pane and have the cursor jump between left & center justified.) Any way you choose, it beats the old drag and scroll methods! |
