The Microsoft Office Blog

Excel and Access have a lot in common when it comes to managing data. However, there are some key differences that you need to know. Let's say you're planning a massive family reunion (a job for the family's well-organized masochist). Figuring out who can sit next to whom (thus avoiding last year's scandals...

Sparklines for Excel 2010 are almost like these little strings of light, illuminating your data. They can can help you to discover patterns or trends in your data (making it more useful for you and the people you're going to share the data with, too). I mean, displaying data in rows and columns is great...

Here's a really simple Excel tip that many of you may already know. I know for a fact that at least ONE of the hard-core Excel developer writers around here did NOT know this magical tip I'm about to impart to you. I'm going to make it short and sweet (ish). You can use this tip when you find yourself...

Here are three highly useful (well, in my opinion) tips for Excel. They're not complicated, they're not "hidden," and their directions aren't hard to follow. I'll bet you'll have times when you can really use them. So try them out and file them in your noggin's Excel folder for future use. Scenario You...

Calendar Updates provides free FIFA World Cup schedules that you can add to your Outlook calendar. Each event includes U.S. television broadcast information, a link to the FIFA World Cup website, and a link to view a map and check the weather for the location of the game. And of course, it's free. Here...

I know that there exists people who—without fail—stick closely to their budget, always pay every single bill on time (and in full) and still have money in their paper route or babysitting savings account. I would not be one of those people. (I'm not even sure I know one of those people—oh...

You have a lot of decisions to make: Invite old flames? Hire Uncle Buddy's '70s glam rock band for the reception? Purple taffeta or fuchsia crinoline for the bridesmaids? Office can't help you with those kinds of decisions, but I can: No. No. Let the bridesmaids wear what they want. (Trust me on this...

There are a lot of business intelligence tools and applications out there, all designed to help you suss out trends, make sense data, and analyze business processes. But it seems like the majority of them are not particularly flexible enough to handle massive amounts of data from a variety of external...

What used to be considered “collaboration”—taking turns scribbling on a whiteboard; back and forth emailing of documents; playing good-cop-bad-cop—is now obsolete. (Well, maybe not that last one; it still seems to work on Law & Order although not for long .) And although this...

If you know me (and many of you do), you know I'm about customizing. All of us are like snowflakes, each one a unique and special individual. We have our individual tastes, likes, dislikes, fashion sense, lack of fashion sense, love for the ribbon just as it is, want to make it our own... The Quick Access...

Ah, the ribbon. Yes, the ribbon...again. It's such a hot cocktail party topic (too hot for water cooler chitchat not that offices have water coolers anymore). But I digress. However much I tout the value and adorableness of the ribbon, love does not always come quickly; love does not always come at first...

Your Ribbon, your way (Here's a feature you really wanted...and now you get it.) When the Ribbon was introduced in Excel 2007, although it was possible to add commands to a Quick Access Toolbar, you couldn't add your own tabs or groups on the ribbon. In Excel 2010, however, you can create your own tabs...

There are a couple of ways to make sure that everyone is able to read, view, and work with Office 2007 documents, presentations, and workbooks. If you are the one who created the Office 2007 file, you can save a copy of it that is compatible with Word 97-2003, PowerPoint 97-2003, or Excel 97-2003. Read...

So you're planning a birthday party...well, let me tell you, there are many things to think about beyond what kind of cake to make (or buy and pretend you made). I've picked out what I think are the critical steps to making sure your party is a success, for the birthday boy or girl and for their guests...

Note This works for Excel 2010 and Excel 2007 If you want to print a specific selection on a worksheet, you can define an area that includes just that section. You can also add cells to that area and also clear it when you want to print the entire worksheet. On the worksheet, select the cells that you...

(Thanks to J.P. Bagel for this tip) If you've ever had an Excel workbook with multiple sheets, rather quickly, you get to the point where you no longer can see all the tabs in one view. Of course, you can use the built-in tabs navigation buttons, and go the next, previous, first, or last sheet, but wouldn...

Go right ahead — be a martyr and get a cramp in your mouse hand scrolling to the bottom or top of your data. Or, enjoy your time on this earth (or wherever you're from...) by pressing CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the worksheet or in an Excel list. Press CTRL+END to select the last cell...

Now that we're all deep in the mire of tax season, I though I'd offer a tip about how to find the most current and up-to-date templates and advice: Visit the Finance Guide on Office Online. This is a veritable treasure trove of any sort of tax and finance resource you can think of: Forms, advice from...

Listen to my podcast about PivotChart reports and then read my PivotChart report column on Office Online to learn how you can make a PivotChart report of your very own. Click here to play this audio clip — Crabby

You need to learn about and use PivotTable reports. Period. If you're a business owner, a parent, a coach, or anyone else who deals with data, you're doing yourself a disservice by not employing this handy tool. So...it's time to jump in and figure out just what the heck this mysterious (and therefore...