Tips, Tricks, and Answers

The following articles are available for the 'Working with Other Programs' topic. Click the article''s title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

   Changing Links
If your worksheet is linked to data in other worksheets, you may need to change the link from time to time. Here's how to accomplish the task.

   Converting Imported Information to Numeric Values
If the information you import into Excel is treated as text by the program, you may want to convert it to numeric values. This tip explains some great ways you can approach the problem and get the numeric values you need.

   CSV File Opens with Data in a Single Column
When you import a CSV file into an Excel worksheet, you may be surprised at how the program allocates the information among columns. This tip explains how Excel figures out what goes where.

   Excel Applies Scientific Notation to Imported Data
Using Excel to import data from another source (such as a database) is a great approach to analyze that data. What do you do, however, when the data you import is misinterpreted by Excel? Here's a way to handle that problem.

   Exporting Latitude and Longitude
A handy way to store latitude and longitude values in Excel is to treat them as regular time values. When it comes around to exporting those values for use with other programs, you'll appreciate the information in this tip.

   File Formats that Include Field Formats
If you import data into Excel that is created by other programs, you know that it can be bothersome to get your data formatted correctly. This tip discusses text-only file formats (such as CSV) and whether you can specify individual field formatting in the file.

   Getting Rid of Empty Rows after Importing
Import data into a worksheet (or paste it there) and you may find that you end up with a group of blank cells you need to get rid of. Here are some handy ideas on getting rid of those extra rows.

   Ignoring Other Applications
Do you want Excel to ignore other applications that may be running on your computer? You can configure the program to do just that.

   Importing Huge Data Files
Sometimes, when importing data created by other programs, you may find that there is too much for Excel to handle. Here's how you can still accomplish the task.

   Working with Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheets
If you've got some older data around your office that started in an old Lotus 1-2-3 system, you may want to open it in Excel. How Excel works with that older data depends on a couple of program settings you make.