The term False Friends is used in various fields including linguistics and chess. In this post I’ll explain how it applies to Microsoft Excel! Continue reading
False Friends in Excel
Posts Tagged → match
Excel Running Template
My super fit cousin Joe Perry contacted me with a few questions about an Excel spreadsheet he uses to track his running. Continue reading
Excel data concept taught backwards
I’ve been a data analyst since 2001. It’s often challenging to accurately & quickly explain certain concepts. There is one that is a classic. I’m going to explain it with the help of Hugh MacLeod’s book “Evil Plans”. No nerdy data terms. The concept first. Continue reading
Video 00174 Ranking Values into Tiers in Excel
Last year I started visiting some REDDIT Excel groups. A few weeks ago I saw an interesting Excel question and provided a simple two step solution. Continue reading
Formulas or VBA to create military code?
How do you know whether you should use Excel Formulas or Excel VBA? Sometimes both work and sometimes only one works. This series will explore this question. Let’s start with an idea from Sumit Bansal at TrumpExcel. Continue reading
Video 00142 Horizontal list to Vertical list (layered transpose)
We don’t always find out how data got twisted into awkward forms. Our job is to fix it by normalizing, unwinding, transposing, etc. Once the data is in the correct format we can then get to the real job of extracting meaning from it. Continue reading
The Dangers of Binning in Excel
In Excel we can bin numbers. We can also bin letters. Rare but possible. However, be careful when binning a mix of letters and symbols! What could go wrong? A student who earns a B- could end up with an A- grade! Continue reading
Video 00067 What you see may not be what you get
Something weird is going on here…
You’re trying to compare two lists of data to see what items from ‘List B’ are in ‘List A’. Sounds simple enough, right?
But some of the lookup values are not found even though you can clearly see the value in ‘List B’.
Video 00064 Solution_Customized and Sorted Data Validation List
Hide and Seek
Imagine a data validation drop down list with many names that are not sorted. Trying to find a particular name in that list would get frustrating as the list grows.
Did you know that there are ways to sort text in Excel? Continue reading