The Traveling Continues

This has to be the longest traveling streak I've been on in a long time. Last week I mentioned I was down in Texas, visiting with my father, aunt, and sister. Well, I was able to make it back home on Thursday, and then on the next day I flew out to Tennessee to visit for a couple of days with my youngest son and his family.

There I times I don't know whether I'm coming or going! The traveling will be drawing to a close in the near future, thank goodness. It will be nice to be able to stop and relax for a bit instead of always hurrying off somewhere.

In the meantime, don't forget that the doors to my PivotTables for the Faint of Heart course are currently open. That won't last long, however, as they will close this coming Thursday. Here is where you can find more information:

    https://usingoffice.com/pivottables/

This is the only time the course has been open this year, and it won't be open again until sometime well into 2026. If you want to discover how you can put PivotTables, PivotCharts, slicers, and timelines to work with your data, there is no better time than right now. (Don't let this slip away!)

I hope that your week has been good and that you enjoy the tips in this week's newsletter.

—Allen
     

ExcelTips (menu) for 13 September 2025
Excel can calculate at lightening speed
Backing Up Your Customized Toolbars

After customizing your Excel toolbars, it is a good idea to make a backup of the file that contains the information. Here's how to do it.

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Date formulas
Calculating a Date Five Days before the First Business Day

Excel allows you to perform all sorts of calculations using dates. A good example of this is using a formula to figure out a date that is five days before the first business day of any given month. This tip shows how easy Excel makes such a calculation.

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(Thanks to Roger Mason, Steve Lindquist, John Hughes, Rick Rothstein, Charlie O'Neill, Yakov Goldin, Neil Rothbart, Bob Gaillard, Henri den Hollander, George Bailey, Clarence Washington, Krishna Pillalamarri, Doug Horton, KokTiong Loh, Nick Kramer, and Russell Hendel for contributing to this tip.)

 
Serious about Sorting?

Organize your data in the order that makes sense to you. Excel's sorting tools make it easy to get at the data you need. Get a firm grip on sorting today and your data management tasks will be easier than ever!

 
Math and trig functions
Strange ATAN Results

You may use Excel's trigonometric functions to do some quick calculations, and suddenly notice that the results in your worksheet are different than the results you get using a calculator. The reason could be as simple as understanding what Excel expects in its functions.

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Excel can calculate at lightening speed
Error in Linked PivotTable Value

Excel allows you to link to values in other workbooks, even if those values are in PivotTables. However, Excel may display an error value instead of the proper value if you don't have the linked workbook open. Here's how to prevent the error value.

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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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