Six tips that will help you get the most out of Microsoft Excel

Love it or hate it, Microsoft Excel is a staple of daily life when it comes to running any kind of business. Heck, some people even rely on it to run their personal tasks in their own lives. It can interpret vast amounts of information and help manage tasks effectively.

However, as well as calculations and chart creation, Excel has powerful, lesser-known features that can significantly enhance productivity and data security for small businesses.

Let’s delve into some of these features and unlock the full potential of this well-known programme.

1. File size compressor

Heavy Excel files that are brimming with data, charts and images can become sluggish and difficult to manage. They can be slow to open, hard to share and impact efficiency.

Compressing the file size can improve these issues. If you go to ‘File’, choose ‘Info’, select ‘Compress Media’, and pick a quality that works for you.

Another way to compress Excel files is to remove unnecessary formatting, unused cells and pivot table caches to keep your files as small as possible.

2. File recovery

Data loss is a nightmare scenario, especially when it’s a big file with lots of information.

Fortunately, there are many file recovery options before you declare all to be lost in space! Should you experience a system crash or have a file close unexpectedly, Excel’s AutoRecover feature may be able to save the information.

Make sure it’s activated by going to ‘File’, then ‘Options’, click ‘Save’, and ensure the ‘Save AutoRecover information’ box is checked. Regularly saving versions of your document will allow you to revert to the most up-to-date earlier copy.

3. Password protect documents

Protect yourself from data breaches by keeping your information hidden behind a password. This added layer of security gives you an extra kind of protection.

Under ‘File’, select ‘Info’, choose ‘Protect Workbook’, and then ‘Encrypt with Password’.

A strong, unique password is advisable. Make sure you keep a secure record of it, too! Losing this password means you could lose access to the file.

4. Import and export PDFs

PDFs are great because nearly anyone can access them from any device. To save your Excel file as a PDF, go to ‘File’, then ‘Save As’, then ‘PDF’ (it will be in a dropdown menu).

What’s more, you can convert a PDF back into an Excel spreadsheet by using the ‘Data’ tab and selecting ‘Get Data’, then ‘From File’, then ‘From PDF’.

5. Power Query

Power Query is a game changer for all digital marketing agencies – and it can be useful for other businesses too. It makes the process of gathering and merging data simple, directly within Excel.

Go to the ‘Data’ tab, and Power Query allows you to connect to other databases, web pages, or another spreadsheet. This means raw data can be transformed into a more structured format – and you don’t need to know how to code!

6. Automate repetitive tasks with macros

Macros are a great way to automate repetitive tasks in Excel. Not only does this save you time, but will also eliminate the risk of human error.

You can instruct Excel to repeat certain steps with just one click. To create a macro, make your way to the ‘View’ tab, select ‘Macros’, and choose ‘Record Macro’. This means you can focus on other tasks. It’s like having your own office assistant!

These are just six things that Excel can do to vastly reduce the time you spend pouring over spreadsheets in the future.

Anyone can benefit from these advanced features, which can lead to significant improvements in data management, security and analysis.

These hacks could improve productivity and effectiveness and help reduce time sitting at a computer screen, leaving you room to grow your business in other ways.