Friday, February 25, 2011

Excel Cell Reference Tip

By default, Excel uses the "A1" format when referring to cells.  This means that the "A" is the Column and the "1" is the Row that is being referred to.  Most Excel users understand this; but some spreadsheet programs do not use this referencing.

Instead, other programs use the "R1C1" format when referencing cells.  Excel allows for this format as well.

To specify the format you want to use, follow these steps.

Excel 2007:


Click on the "Office" button and select the "Excel Options" button.

Select the "Formulas" tab on the left menu.

Check the "R1C1 reference style" checkbox in the "Working with Formulas" section and click the "OK" button to save the changes.

Excel 07 R1C1 Cell Reference Option

Excel 2003:
Click on the "Tools" menu and select the "Options" menu item.  Follow the above instructions from here.

Excel 2010:
Click on the "File" tab and select the "Excel Options" button.  Follow the above instructions from here.

Notice the Column Headers are now numbers instead of letters.

Excel 07 R1C1 Cell Reference Screen Shot

NOTE:
  If you prefer the "A1" formatting and need to change Excel back to this preference, simply follow the above steps and uncheck the "R1C1" checkbox.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Outlook Printing Tip

How many times have you clicked on the "Print" button in Outlook only to have 4 or 5 or more pages print?  And you really only wanted the first page of the e-mail - you know, the part that showed on your Preview Pane.

I've spoken of this tip before in relation to Word and Excel; but it also applies to Outlook.

Click and drag the mouse to highlight the area you want to print.

Click on "File | Print"and in the Print Dialog window, click on the "Selection" option within the "Page Range" area.  See the image below.

Outlook Print Selection

Click on the "Print" button to print.  Only the highlighted selection of the e-mail will print.  This tip can save you a lot of wasted paper and ink.

NOTE:  Depending on the version of Outlook, you will need to double-click to open the e-mail prior to highlighting and selecting "File | Print."

Friday, February 4, 2011

Outlook Archive Tip

When Outlook is first setup, the default Auto-Archive is 6 months.  This means that e-mails dated 6 months ago will automatically be moved into the "Archive" folder.

This saves space in your .PST file; which is the file that contains your e-mail account information - all e-mails in the user account folder.

There are a few ways to change the Archive settings; however, for most people, Auto-Archive is probably best.

But, what if you send and receive a hundred or more e-mails a day?  This could add up to quite a bit of e-mails in your folders and can slow Outlook down.

Simply change the "Auto-Archive" settings to a smaller time period.  Follow these steps to do so.

Click on the "File" menu and select the "Options" menu item.

Click on the "Other" tab.

Click on the "AutoArchive" button.

Ensure that the "Archive or Delete old items" is checked.

Once it is checked, select any of the options below to setup the AutoArchive to the time period you want.

Outlook AutoArchive Settings

Click on the "OK" button to save the changes and exit the window.

Click on the "OK" button to close the "Options" window and return to Outlook.

How to Delete Blank Rows in Excel