Become a Formatting Ninja

I hope your weekend is going well, and that you are able to spend a bit of time with your family or friends. I wanted to remind you about the updated edition of Excel Custom Formats, which I announced about 10 days ago. I've received some good comments from those who have taken the time to check out the new edition.

If you haven't checked it out, you really should. Why? Because this new edition of Excel Custom Formats is on sale right now, but it will only be on sale through this coming Wednesday. Through then you can get your own copy, either as a download or on CD-ROM, for 30% off the regular price.

Excel Custom Formats contains everything you could want to know about how to apply powerful formatting to the cells in a worksheet. With the information in these e-books, you won't be bound by the common, built-in formats provided by Excel.

Make sure you check out Excel Custom Formats today, before this special offer is gone. More information is here:

    https://store.tips.net/T010132

Thanks for your continued support of ExcelTips.

—Allen
     

ExcelTips (menu) for 18 April 2026
Math and trig functions
Using the XIRR Function

One of the financial worksheet functions provided in Excel is the XIRR function. This is used to figure out an internal rate of return when the payments associated with an investment are not evenly spaced. Here's how to use the function.

Read this tip »

 
Charts and charting
Controlling Chart Gridlines

Gridlines are often added to charts to help improve the readability of the chart itself. Here's how you can control whether Excel adds gridlines to your charts or not.

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Lookup Exactly the Data You Want

Excel's lookup functions are easily the most powerful worksheet functions you can use. Master these seven functions you'll never again view a worksheet full of data in the same way. The power these functions provide you is anything but small. Take your first step today!

 
Powerful spreadsheets
Using Early Dates

Excel is brilliant at handling dates, as long as they aren't dates earlier than the base date used by the program. If you need to use earlier dates, then you'll want to be aware of the information in this tip.

Read this tip »

 
Powerful spreadsheets
Specifying Proper Case

If you need to change the case of letters in a cell, one of the functions you can use is the PROPER function. This tip describes how to use the function to alter the appearance of your text.

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Special Note!

I've been publishing ExcelTips for years. Decades, actually. The newsletter you are reading right now is for very old versions of Excel. I still publish it because I know that some people are still using very old versions of Excel. Most people, however, are using newer versions of the program. If you are are using a newer version of Excel (2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, or the version in Microsoft 365), then you should seriously consider changing to the version of the newsletter designed for you. You can do so by clicking this link.

Thanks for your support of ExcelTips, and I hope you enjoy whichever version of the newsletter you receive. If you have any questions, just let me know.

 
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