Contextures News

Excel Pivot Table Builder

Mar 29, 2016

Highlight numbers in a list, store pivot table layouts, and more, in this week's Excel news. If there are topics that you'd like to see covered in future newsletters, please let me know.

 -  Debra -  ddalgleish @ contextures.com
     Visit my Excel website for many more tutorials and videos.

Highlight Latest Numbers

Last week, someone watched my video about highlighting the selected lottery numbers in an Excel list. He asked how to add a different color for the last occurrence of each number.

I like an interesting Excel challenge, and posted the instructions for how to highlight those numbers. You can download the sample file too, to see how it works.

You could use this technique for other types of lists too. Just make sure there aren't any duplicate items in the same row.

Pivot Table Builder

I've just uploaded a new product -- Pivot Table Builder (PTB). It lets you store multiple lists with pivot table layout settings. Then, you can apply those settings to a new pivot table, or update an existing one, with just a couple of clicks.

If you've already bought a copy of my Pivot Power Premium (PPP) add-in, there's good news -- it will be getting these tools too, in the next few weeks. If you can't wait for the update, please let me know, and I'll send you a free copy of the PTB add-in, in the next couple of days.

Your Feedback

Thanks for your emails about last week's article on the INFO function. I'm glad you liked that tip! Julian C used it to see how many active workbooks there were: =INFO("NUMFILE"), and was surprised by the large number.

If you've got Excel add-ins installed, INFO counts the sheets in those workbooks too, even though you can't see them. For example, when I turned off the Solver add-in, that removed 5 sheets from my INFO count.

If you have any tips or questions after reading this week's newsletter, please let me know.

Excel Articles

Here are a couple of Excel articles I read recently, that you might find useful.

Excel Challenge -- Chandoo created an Easter egg hunt in Excel, so you can spend the day looking for hidden pandas. There are spoilers in the comments, so don't read those unless you want help in solving the puzzles. (Level - Intermediate)

Data Insights -- If you missed the live streaming of sessions from Microsoft's Data Insights Summit last week, you can watch them online now. Some videos are on the Power BI site, and there are more on the Power BI YouTube channel. (Level - Intermediate/Advanced)

More Excel Articles -- There wasn't an Excel Roundup this week, due to the holiday, but you can visit my Excel website for many more tutorials and videos.

Blast of Winter

Unlike that nice spring day in last week's bike picture, winter returned this week. We had freezing rain, and cold, windy weather. My website was down all day Friday too, but that was caused by server problems, not the ice storm.

The icy coating made an interesting view from the office window though -- just like having textured glass. Fortunately, it's melted now, and we had nice weather for our Easter brunch on Sunday.

NOTE: If you have any problems with the links in the email, you can see this newsletter on my website -- copy this link and paste it into your browser:

www.contextures.com/newsletter/excelnews2016/20160329ctx.html

Recommended Excel Products

• Pivot Table Builder: Use the Pivot Table Builder add-in to quickly create or update pivot tables. You can store multiple lists with pivot table layout settings in your workbook. Quickly create and store those lists, then apply them to any existing pivot table in the workbook, or create a new pivot table.

• Excel Chart Tools: If you build complex charts, save time with Jon Peltier's Excel Charting add-in

• See more recommended Excel products

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Note: I am an affiliate for some of the products mentioned in this newsletter, and earn a commission on the sales.