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| Troubleshooting Microsoft® Excel 2002 |
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Table of Contents
| About this book | xiii |
| Troubleshooting tips | xv |
| Charts | 2 |
| Quick fixes To make a chart type appropriate for your data If your axis labels are missing or illegible To create your own chart type for future use | 2 |
| My chart includes data I don't want | 4 |
| My chart doesn't change when I update my worksheet | 6 |
| I've resized my plot area, and now all the chart elements don't fit | 8 |
| My chart doesn't look the way I expect when I print my worksheet | 10 |
| It's hard to see what all this data means | 12 |
| Clipboard | 14 |
| Quick fixes To make the dashed line around copied cells go away To cut or copy more than 24 items to the Office XP Clipboard | 14 |
| When I paste into a cell, I get a Clipboard button and I'm not sure why | 16 |
| I linked content from a cell I copied, and now I don't want it to be linked | 18 |
| I copied content to the Clipboard, and now I can't paste it | 20 |
| I can't cut or copy the content from one of my cells | 22 |
| Columns and rows | 24 |
| Quick fixes To hide columns or rows To make all columns the same width or rows the same height To adjust the width of a single column or row | 24 |
| I adjusted my row heights, and now my new entries don't fit | 26 |
| Some of my columns and rows are out of order | 28 |
| I hid some of my columns, and now I can't get them back | 30 |
| Rows are missing from my worksheet | 32 |
| Comments and Track Changes | 34 |
| Quick fixes To include comments in your printout To get rid of a comment | 35 |
| Comments and track-change comments pop up on the screen, and I don't want them to | 36 |
| I don't want my name to appear in the comment box | 38 |
| Other people make changes to my worksheet, and I want to keep track of those changes | 40 |
| I don't want to keep some of the changes made since Track Changes was turned on | 42 |
| Conditional formatting | 44 |
| Quick fixes Turn off conditional formatting The Conditional Formatting command is unavailable | 45 |
| I'm not sure how to set up conditional formatting | 46 |
| I don't know how to set up multiple conditions | 48 |
| I applied conditional formatting, but it didn't work | 50 |
| The conditional formats I set up aren't updated when I edit my worksheet | 52 |
| I'm not sure how to change my conditional formats | 54 |
| Currency | 56 |
| Quick fixes If you want to type the euro symbol yourself If your numbers appear as pound signs To reduce the number of displayed decimal places | 56 |
| I clicked the Currency Style button, but now I wish I hadn't | 58 |
| I don't have a Euro Currency Formatting button on my toolbar | 60 |
| When I press Enter, the number I typed changes | 62 |
| I'm not sure how to format my numbers as foreign currency | 64 |
| Data analysis | 66 |
| Quick fixes Change the Calculation options for your worksheet To protect your scenarios from unwanted edits | 67 |
| I get an error message when I try to set up a data table | 68 |
| The scenario I set up doesn't work the way I expected | 70 |
| Solver doesn't seem to be solving my problem | 72 |
| I'm not sure how Goal Seek works | 74 |
| Dates | 76 |
| Quick fixes To apply a single format to all of your dates To change the formatting of cells currently formatted as dates | 76 |
| When I enter a date, a number I don't recognize appears in the cell | 78 |
| The month and day I entered appear transposed in the date | 80 |
| The date format I need isn't provided by Excel | 82 |
| When I put Excel content into a Microsoft Access database, I have trouble with the date formats | 84 |
| Diagrams | 86 |
| Quick fixes To change the order of objects (and the text they contain) To edit your diagram text | 86 |
| The diagram I inserted doesn't look the way I want it to | 88 |
| When I add text to my diagram, it doesn't fit in the allocated space | 90 |
| I don't like the color of my diagram shapes and lines | 92 |
| I changed the type of diagram I'm using, and now my text is in the wrong places | 94 |
| Drawing shapes and lines | 96 |
| Quick fixes To create a default AutoShape for your drawings To display the Drawing toolbar If the AutoShape command is missing from the Format menu To change an existing AutoShape to a new shape | 96 |
| The Group command isn't available on the Draw menu | 98 |
| When I move my AutoShape, it changes size | 100 |
| My callouts aren't pointing to the correct items | 102 |
| I typed text into an AutoShape, and some of it is hidden | 104 |
| I rotated my shape, but its text didn't rotate with it | 106 |
| Entering data | 108 |
| Quick fixes You can override AutoComplete To enter content into a range of cells To establish and fill in a numerical pattern | 108 |
| When I type in the active cell, nothing happens | 110 |
| Text that I typed in a cell looks cut off by adjoining cells | 112 |
| I'm tired of entering the same series of labels in my worksheets | 114 |
| I can't get my data validation rules to work | 116 |
| The symbol I want to insert doesn't seem to be available | 118 |
| Exporting and importing | 120 |
| Quick fixes If an error message appears when you try to edit imported objects You can make Excel 2002 workbooks accessible for earlier versions If the Excel chart you pasted into your PowerPoint presentation changes | 120 |
| The object type I want isn't listed in the Object dialog box | 122 |
| When I paste a Word table into my worksheet, the table's content appears in the wrong cells | 124 |
| When I paste Excel cells into a Word table, the content appears in the wrong cells | 126 |
| The chart I pasted into a Word document doesn't change when I update the Excel data | 130 |
| When I paste Excel data into an Access table, column headings appear as the first record | 134 |
| Filtering records | 136 |
| Quick fixes To keep your column headings (field names) on the screen To find all your blank fields, use AutoFilter | 136 |
| When I filter my list, all of my records disappear | 138 |
| I don't see my filter criteria in the AutoFilter list | 140 |
| I don't know how to find and fix errors and inconsistencies in my data | 142 |
| The advanced filter I applied didn't work | 144 |
| Formatting numbers | 146 |
| Quick fixes To turn a number into a percentage If you can't tell your negative and positive numbers apart | 146 |
| When I type a decimal ending in zero, the zero disappears | 148 |
| I typed a number, but it's not right-aligned | 150 |
| The fractions I entered aren't displayed correctly | 152 |
| None of the available number formats meets my needs | 154 |
| Formatting text | 156 |
| Quick fixes Make missing text reappear Avoid using very ornate or artistic fonts | 157 |
| My worksheet text is too small to read | 158 |
| The format of my text isn't consistent throughout my worksheet | 160 |
| I'm not sure how to format paragraph text in my worksheet | 162 |
| I can't center a title across the top row of my worksheet | 164 |
| People keep changing my text formatting, and I don't want them to | 166 |
| Formatting worksheets | 168 |
| Quick fixes When you apply shading to cells To name a worksheet | 169 |
| When I move a cell's content, the formatting comes with it | 170 |
| I can't control how the AutoFormat command is applied | 172 |
| I don't want to have to build identical worksheets individually | 174 |
| Formulas | 178 |
| Quick fixes To see your formulas instead of their results To include data from other workbooks in your current worksheet | 179 |
| My formula causes an error message to appear | 180 |
| When I test my formula on a calculator, I get a different answer | 184 |
| When I edit the cells referenced in my formula, the result doesn't change | 186 |
| The results of my summary worksheet formulas are incorrect | 190 |
| Functions | 192 |
| Quick fixes Locate the Paste Function button Build functions yourself Rebuild your faulty function | 192 |
| I don't know how to construct the function I need | 194 |
| I don't know what to include in this function | 196 |
| I get an error message when I enter my function | 198 |
| Cells I need to include in my function aren't in my active worksheet | 200 |
| I'm not sure how to combine two functions in one formula | 202 |
| Graphics | 204 |
| Quick fixes Edit an image you placed on a worksheet Use the correct image format | 204 |
| When I search for a graphic by keyword, none are found | 206 |
| I'm tired of the images I have on my computer, and I want new ones | 208 |
| I want to scan an image, but Excel doesn't think I'm attached to a scanner | 210 |
| My clip art files are very disorganized, and I can't find the images I need | 212 |
| Hyperlinks | 214 |
| Quick fixes To use a graphic as the hyperlink object If the target of your hyperlink has been moved | 214 |
| I'm not sure how to link to a spot in my current workbook | 216 |
| I don't know the exact Web address that my hyperlink should point to | 218 |
| I click a hyperlink in my worksheet, and nothing happens | 220 |
| When I click my hyperlink, it creates a new, blank workbook | 222 |
| Macros | 224 |
| Quick fixes To create a keyboard shortcut for your macro Scan for viruses in macros | 225 |
| My macro won't run in the active workbook | 226 |
| My macro doesn't work at all | 228 |
| I made an error while recording my macro | 230 |
| I don't know how to delete macros I no longer need | 232 |
| Naming cells | 234 |
| Quick fixes To change the name of a cell Microsoft Excel has some limitations when it comes to cell names | 234 |
| It's taking too long to find cells in my worksheet | 236 |
| I'm not sure how to apply a name to a range of cells | 238 |
| I don't know how to turn column and row labels into names | 240 |
| It takes too long to name the same cells in all my worksheets | 242 |
| Outlining | 244 |
| Quick fixes To restrict the outline to just some of your worksheet cells To get rid of an outline you no longer need | 245 |
| I'm not sure if my worksheet can be turned into an outline | 246 |
| When I use the Auto Outline command, I get an error message | 248 |
| When I copy summary data to another worksheet, the details are copied too | 250 |
| My worksheet content doesn't fall into appropriate outline groups | 252 |
| PivotTables | 254 |
| Quick fixes If your computer tells you there isn't enough memory to create a PivotTable To include new or edited data in your PivotTable | 255 |
| I made mistakes setting up my PivotTable, but I don't want to start over | 256 |
| My data includes blank fields, but they're not showing up in my PivotTable | 260 |
| I double-clicked a cell in my PivotTable, and a new sheet was added to my workbook | 262 |
| I refreshed my PivotTable, but the data still doesn't reflect my changes | 264 |
| I don't want to have to re-create my PivotTable for use with other data | 266 |
| Printing | 268 |
| Quick fixes To make your gridlines print out with the rest of your worksheet content If you need to print a small section of your worksheet | 268 |
| I can't print my whole worksheet on a single page | 270 |
| I can print only part of my worksheet, but I want to print all of it | 272 |
| My column and row labels don't appear on every page of my printout | 274 |
| It takes too long to open and print all of my workbooks one at a time | 276 |
| Saving | 278 |
| Quick fixes To save your workbook for use in another application To rename your previously saved workbook | 279 |
| I can't save my workbook | 280 |
| I'm tired of changing folders every time I save a new workbook | 282 |
| I can't find my workbook | 284 |
| I can't save my workbook in HTML format | 286 |
| Searching for data | 290 |
| Quick fixes Ensure that your Find process searches all of your worksheets Resolve a problem with your Replace All procedure | 291 |
| I have a very large database, and I can't find one of my records | 292 |
| When I use the Find command, I get an error message | 294 |
| I used Replace All, and now I wish I hadn't | 296 |
| The Find command doesn't allow me to search by example | 298 |
| I don't know how the new Search pane works | 300 |
| Security | 302 |
| Quick fix If you can't keep people out of your files | 303 |
| I want to keep people from opening my workbook | 304 |
| My name appears in my workbook's File Properties, and I don't want it to | 306 |
| I forgot my password for opening this workbook | 308 |
| Sorting data | 310 |
| Quick fixes If you get an error message after attempting to sort If only a portion of your database was sorted | 311 |
| I'm not sure how to sort my database by more than one field | 312 |
| The sort I applied didn't work as I expected | 314 |
| My column labels don't appear in the Sort dialog box | 316 |
| I didn't set up my database properly, and now I can't sort it | 318 |
| Speech recognition | 320 |
| Quick fixes Training is first and foremost in using speech recognition To issue menu commands | 320 |
| I can't seem to train Excel to understand my speech | 322 |
| When I dictate worksheet entries, the wrong data appears | 324 |
| I'm using new terminology, and the terms aren't being recognized | 326 |
| Spelling | 328 |
| Quick fixes You can customize Excel's spelling checker Turn off unwanted spelling corrections | 329 |
| The spelling checker isn't catching all of my spelling errors | 330 |
| I'm not sure how to check the spelling of foreign words | 332 |
| I use a lot of complex terms, and I'm tired of typing them | 334 |
| Subtotal reports | 336 |
| Quick fixes You can keep your subtotal reports in place forever To delete subtotals and restore your worksheet | 336 |
| When I click the Subtotals command, I get an error message | 338 |
| My subtotals are in the wrong places | 340 |
| The wrong function is applied to my subtotaled records | 342 |
| Templates | 344 |
| Quick fixes To make sure your templates appear in the Templates dialog box If you need to edit a template | 345 |
| I don't want to keep creating the same workbook over and over | 346 |
| My template doesn't appear in the Templates dialog box | 350 |
| My template includes data from other workbooks, but now that data is missing | 352 |
| I'm tired of inserting my information every time I use Excel's installed templates | 354 |
| Web tools | 358 |
| Quick fixes To use the Online Collaboration feature successfully To reach Microsoft's Office Web site | 358 |
| The Tools On The Web Command doesn't work | 360 |
| I can't find the Excel help I need online | 362 |
| I'm not sure how to get updates and add-ins from the Web | 366 |
| Workspace customization | 368 |
| Quick fixes To remove a toolbar button To rearrange the buttons on your toolbars | 369 |
| When I open Excel, the Formatting toolbar is missing | 370 |
| The toolbars don't have all the buttons I want | 372 |
| I want all my new workbooks to have four blank worksheets, not three | 374 |
| The gridlines on my worksheet are too dark | 376 |
| Glossary | 379 |
| Quick fix index | 385 |
| Index | 387 |
Last Updated: April 7, 2002
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