Excel for Mac Text Functions

Transcription

1 [Type here] Excel for Mac Text Functions HOW TO CLEAN UP TEXT IN A FLASH This document looks at some of the tools available in Excel 2008 and Excel 2011 for manipulating text. Last updated 16 th July 2015 It is suitable for anyone who uses Excel on a Mac for databases such as lists of contacts, students or delegates. This workbook assumes a working knowledge of Excel. A basic knowledge of using functions in Excel like SUM and COUNT would be an advantage. You can download the exercise files for this workbook from our website with the course code is141e. This document and other Information Services documents are held online on our website:

2 University of Brighton Information Services Contents Find and Replace to update multiple entries in one hit... 3 Autofill to copy a formula down a column... 4 Splitting one column of text into two or more columns (Convert Text to Columns)... 5 Merging columns into one (CONCATENATE)... 7 Paste Values to avoid errors when deleting columns... 8 Changing the case of text (PROPER, UPPER & LOWER)...11 Copying part of a column of text...13 LEFT function to extract text from the left of a cell...13 RIGHT function to extract text from the right of a cell...14 MID function to extract text from the middle of a cell...14 Removing spaces (TRIM function)...15 Duplicate entries...17 Conditional formatting to identify duplicates (Excel 2011 only)...17 Remove Duplicates (Excel 2011 only)...18 Use a formula to identify duplicate entries...19 Copy & Transpose a column to a row...22 Page 2 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

3 Excel for MAC Text Functions Find and Replace to update multiple entries in one hit If you need to replace all instances of a certain string of text with another, use find and replace: Click on Edit >> Replace on the menu bar. Click on Replace Type the text that you want to replace in the Find what box Type the text that you want to replace it with in the Replace with box. Click on Replace all. Exercise A Using Find and Replace Open up the exercise file Find_Replace.xlsx. This is a membership list. For this exercise, imagine that we have changed the branding of our membership types. We have renamed our Life membership to now be called Super. We want to therefore replace any instances of the word Life with the word Super. Select the column containing the membership types by clicking on the column header for column F. Click on Edit >> Replace on the menu bar. Type Life in the Find what box. This asks Excel to find all instances of the word Life. Type Super in the Replace with box. This tells Excel you want to replace the word Life with the word Super. Click on Replace all. Excel will tell you how many replacements it has made. Click OK to close the message. Click Close to close the Find and Replace window. Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 3

4 University of Brighton Information Services Autofill to copy a formula down a column When you want a formula to appear in every cell within a column: Build the formula in the first cell in the column Use autofill to copy the formula down the column We will use the autofill technique throughout this booklet. To use autofill: Select the cell(s) you want to copy. The fill handle will appear at the bottom right of the selection. Point at the fill handle until it becomes a cross. Click and drag to copy the data OR Double-click to autofill all rows. Click on to change the type of fill (series, copy, formula only etc.) Double click on one of the newly-populated cells within the column to check that the copied cell references are correct. Exercise B Using Autofill Open up the exercise file Autofill.xlsx and double click on cell I2. Cell I2 contains a formula to calculate the monthly payment for that row, based on the annual fee in column G. We are going to copy this formula down the row to automatically calculate the monthly fee for each row using the same formula. Press Esc on your keyboard to exit the function. Select cell I2. The fill handle will appear at the bottom right of the cell. Point at the fill handle until it becomes a black cross. Click and drag down column I to copy the data OR double-click to autofill all rows in the column. Double-click only works if the column to the left has data in every cell. Double click on one of the newly populated cells to check the cell references for that row. When you have finished checking, press Esc on your keyboard to exit the function. Page 4 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

5 Excel for MAC Text Functions Splitting one column of text into two or more columns (Convert Text to Columns) Text to Columns can be used where a common character (delimiter) separates two or more sections of text within each cell in a column. Common delimiters include a space, semi-colon (;) or comma (,). Check that there are enough empty columns to the right of the column you are going to split. You will need one column per section of text to be split, including the original column itself. To insert an empty column if needed: Click on the column letter of the column to the right of the column you want to split Click on the menu path Insert >> Columns Click on the column heading of the column you want to split In Excel 2011, click on the data tab and then click on the icon. In Excel 2008, click on the menu path Data >> Text to columns. The Convert Text to Columns wizard appears. For sections of text separated by commas, spaces, semi-colons or other characters, check that the Delimited option is selected and click Next In the Delimiters section, choose what character separates the two sections of text in your column. For instance, in the example at the top of the page, a space separates the first name and the surname in column B. So a space is the delimiter. Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 5

6 University of Brighton Information Services If the character separating your text is not in the list, choose Other and then type the character used as the delimiter in the box as shown on the left and click Next. In the Data preview at the bottom of the window, check that the proposed split is what you are expecting and then click on Finish. Exercise C Using Text to Columns Open up the exercise file Text_to_Columns.xlsx. In this exercise we are going to split the Name column into separate First Name and Surname columns. Our Name column has 2 words in each cell, separated by a space. So: We need 2 columns for the split (including column B itself) The delimiter (which tells Excel where to make the split) is a space. Insert a blank column to the right of column B. Select column B by clicking on the column letter. In Excel 2011, click on the data tab and then click on the icon. In Excel 2008, click on the menu path Data >> Text to columns. The Convert Text to Columns wizard appears. Our text has a delimiter, so we do not change anything in the first step of the wizard, we simply click Next. In the next step of the wizard, we must tell Excel what the delimiter is. The default is a Tab. Our delimiter is a space, so deselect Tab and click to select Space. Click Next. Page 6 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

7 Excel for MAC Text Functions In the Data preview at the bottom of the window, check that the proposed split is OK: check that each name has been split as you were expecting. Click on Finish. Merging columns into one (CONCATENATE) This involves three steps: Insert a new column In the new column, use the CONCATENATE function to build the new string of text original columns) Use Paste Values to strip the CONCATENATE formula from the new column, leaving just the string of text (only needed if you want to delete the Format Example Result =CONCATENATE(text1, text2, ) Where text can be: A cell reference Fixed text (always contained within quotation marks ) =CONCATENATE(B2,,C2) =CONCATENATE( Patient s name is,b2,,c2) Roger Wilson Patient s name is Roger Wilson Exercise D Using CONCATENATE Open up the exercise file CONCATENATE_1.xlsx. In this exercise we are going to merge the Name and Surname columns into one column. Insert a new column to the right of column C and type Full Name as the column heading. In cell D2, start your CONCATENATE function by typing =CONCATENATE( Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 7

8 University of Brighton Information Services Use your mouse to click on cell B2 and then type a comma (to say you have finished identifying the first part of the text string). Your function will now read =CONCATENATE(B2, We want a space to appear between the first name and surname. To achieve this, type, Your function will now read =CONCATENATE(B2,, with the final comma indicating that you have finished identifying the second part of the text string Use your mouse to click on cell C2. Your function will now read =CONCATENATE(B2,,C2 Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and copy the formula down the column using autofill. To enable us to delete columns B and C we will now need to Paste Values, as explained in the next section Paste Values to avoid errors when deleting columns After using a text function like CONCATENATE, we often want to delete the columns referenced in the function, leaving just the new column containing the result of the function. For example, in the exercise on the previous page, we may want to delete column B (First Name) and column C (Last Name) and just leave the new column D (Full Name). If a text function like CONCATENATE, PROPER or LEFT references cells in other columns, simply deleting those columns will result in an error as the text function will no longer be able to find the cells it references. Before we can delete the referenced columns, we must first remove any functions that reference the columns you want to delete. To do this: Select the column containing the text function (e.g. the CONCATENATE function) by clicking once on the column header Page 8 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

9 Excel for MAC Text Functions In Excel 2008: Follow the menu path Edit >> Copy to copy the selected column Follow the menu path Edit >> Paste Special Click on Values and then click OK. In Excel 2011: Click on the Copy icon on the standard toolbar. Click on the drop-down arrow on the Paste icon on the Home tab on the ribbon, Click to select Values. This copies and pastes the column over itself. Using Paste Values pastes in just the values (the result of the function) rather than the function itself. This removes any references to other columns and enables you to delete the unwanted referenced columns without any problem. Exercise E Demonstration of what happens if we do not use Paste Values Let s see what happens if we just try to delete the referenced columns without using Paste Values first of all: Use the file from the previous exercise or open the file CONCATENATE_2.xlsx Double-click on cell D2 to remind yourself of its contents. The cells referenced in columns B and C are highlighted. Press Esc on your keyboard to exit the function. Delete column B. Column D shows #REF! to indicate that there is a problem with the formula contained in that column. This is because column B was referenced by the CONCATENATE function used in that column. Click on the menu path Edit >> Undo to back out the deletion of column B. So simply deleting referenced columns will not work. Next, let s see what happens if we use a simple Copy and Paste: Double click on cell D2 to remind yourself of its contents (a CONCATENATE function) and then press Esc on your keyboard to exit the function. Select column D by clicking on the column header. Copy the column (in Excel 2008, follow the menu path Edit >> Copy, in Excel 2011 click on the Copy icon on the standard toolbar). Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 9

10 University of Brighton Information Services Replace the content of column D with the copied cells (in Excel 2008 follow the menu path Edit >> Paste, in Excel 2011 click on the Paste icon on the Home tab). Double click on cell D2 to check its contents now. It still contains the CONCATENATE function and the cell references. Nothing has changed. If we delete columns B and C now we will have the same problem as before. Press Esc on your keyboard to exit the function. Exercise F Using Paste Values Here s how to do it properly: Select column D by clicking on the column header. Copy the selected column (in Excel 2008, follow the menu path Edit >> Copy, in Excel 2011 click on the Copy icon on the standard toolbar). Paste the values of the copied cells: 1. In Excel 2008, follow the menu path Edit >> Paste Special. Click on Values and then click OK. In Excel 2011, Click on the drop-down arrow on the Paste icon on the Home tab on the ribbon. Click to select Values. Double click on cell D2 to check its contents now. It now contains only text the names themselves. Paste Values has pasted the result of the CONCATENATE function into column D, rather than the function itself. Delete columns B and C. As column D no longer contains the CONCATENATE function, it no longer references columns B and C and you are able to delete them without any problem. We will use this technique of copying a column and pasting its values back upon itself over and over when using text functions. Page 10 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

11 Excel for MAC Text Functions Changing the case of text (PROPER, UPPER & LOWER) Sometimes the text in a column of text is not consistent. For instance, if an address database has been built by people submitting a form online, some names will be UPPER CASE, whilst others will be lower case whilst others may be a mixture of the two. If we want to use those names for professional-looking mail-merges, we first need to clean up the text so that it is consistent. There are a number of text functions available for changing the case of text: Format Example Result Notes =PROPER(text) Where text can be a cell reference =PROPER(B2) ROGER WILSON becomes Roger Wilson roger wilson becomes Roger Wilson Roger Wilson will stay as Roger Wilson Useful for lists of names =UPPER(text) Where text can be a cell reference =UPPER(B2) ROGER WILSON will stay as ROGER WILSON roger wilson becomes ROGER WILSON Useful for post codes in address lists Roger Wilson becomes ROGER WILSON =LOWER (text) Where text can be a cell reference =LOWER(B2) ROGER WILSON becomes roger wilson roger wilson will stay as roger wilson Roger Wilson becomes roger wilson Useful for addresses The technique for using any of these text functions is the same: Insert a new column In the new column, use the relevant text function to convert the text from another column Use Paste Values to strip the text function from the new column, leaving just the text itself Delete the original columns if needed The exercises on the next page walk you through each function. Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 11

12 University of Brighton Information Services Exercise G Using the PROPER function This function is useful for lists of names. The first letter of each word is converted to upper case and all other letters are converted to lower case. Open the exercise file Case_Functions_1.xlsx In this exercise we are going to use the PROPER function to convert the name and surnames in the list. Insert 2 new columns to the right of column C. This should create columns D and E as empty columns. In cell D2, start your PROPER function by typing =PROPER( Use your mouse to click on cell B2 (the first name). The function will now read =PROPER(B2 Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and then copy the formula down the column using autofill. Repeat steps 3-5, but this time convert the surnames in column C so that they appear in column E. Follow the Paste Values technique to delete columns B and C without losing the text in columns D and E (see page 8) Exercise H Using the UPPER function This function is useful for post codes in address lists. All letters are converted to UPPER CASE. Continue with the exercise file Case_Functions_1.xlsx In this exercise we are going to use the UPPER function to convert the post codes in the list. Insert a new column to the right of the Post Code column. This should create column H as an empty column. In cell H2, start your UPPER function by typing =UPPER( Use your mouse to click on cell G2 (the first post code). The function will now read =UPPER(G2 Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and then copy the formula down column H using autofill. Follow the Paste Values technique to delete column G without losing the text in columns H (see page 8) Page 12 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

13 Excel for MAC Text Functions Exercise I Using the LOWER function This function is useful for addresses in contacts lists. All letters are converted to lower case. Continue with the exercise file Case_Functions_1.xlsx In this exercise we are going to use the LOWER function to convert the addresses in the list. In cell I2, start your LOWER function by typing =LOWER( Use your mouse to click on cell H2 (the first address). The function will now read =LOWER(H2 Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and then copy the formula down column I using autofill. Follow the Paste Values technique to delete column H without losing the text in columns I (see page 8) Handy Hint: If you want to change the case of text in Microsoft Word 2008, Word 2011 or Entourage 2008: Select the text you want to change Press the fn and SHIFT and F3 keys together: pressing once will convert all text to UPPER CASE pressing once again will convert all text to lower case pressing once again will convert all text to Proper case. This technique does not work in Outlook Copying part of a column of text Sometimes multiple strings of text appear together in one column when you would prefer them to be in separate columns, but there is no delimiter between the strings of text to enable us to use Text to Columns. This can happen with codes and data extracted from other systems. There are a number of text functions available for extracting characters from a string of text: LEFT function to extract text from the left of a cell LEFT Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 13

14 University of Brighton Information Services The format of the function is: =LEFT(text,number_of_characters) where: text is a cell reference number_of_characters is the number of characters you want to copy In cell C2 in the example above, the formula would be =LEFT(B2,4) RIGHT function to extract text from the right of a cell The format of the function is: =RIGHT(text,number_of_characters) where: text is a cell reference number_of_characters is the number of characters you want to copy In cell E2 in the example above, the formula would be =RIGHT(B2,5) MID function to extract text from the middle of a cell The format of the function is: =MID(text,start_number,number_of_characters) where: text is a cell reference start_number is where you want to start from (counting the number of characters from the left of the cell) number_of_characters is the number of characters you want to copy In cell D2 in the example above, the formula would be =MID(B2,5,4) We re going to replicate the example above, splitting the EFIN code into its component parts. Exercise J Using the LEFT function Open the exercise file LEFT_RIGHT_MID.xlsx In cell C2, start your LEFT function by typing =LEFT( Click on cell B2 and then type a comma to tell Excel that you have finished that piece of information. Your function should now read =LEFT(B2, Type 4 to indicate that you want to extract the first 4 characters of the text in cell B2. Your function should now read =LEFT(B2,4 Page 14 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

15 Excel for MAC Text Functions Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and then copy the formula down the column using autofill. Exercise K Using the RIGHT function In cell E2, start your RIGHT function by typing =RIGHT( Click on cell B2 and then type a comma to tell Excel that you have finished that piece of information. Your function should now read =RIGHT(B2, Type 5 to indicate that you want to extract the last 5 characters of the text in cell B2. Your function should now read =RIGHT(B2,5 Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and then copy the formula down the column using autofill. Exercise L Using the MID function In cell D2, start your MID function by typing =MID( Click on cell B2 and then type a comma to tell Excel that you have finished that piece of information. Your function should now read =MID(B2, Type 5 to indicate that you want start extracting characters from the fifth character, counting from the left of cell B2. Your function should now read =MID(B2,5 Type a comma to tell Excel that you have finished that piece of information. Your function should now read =MID(B2,5, Type 4 to indicate that you want to extract 4 characters of the text (starting from the character identified in step 3). Your function should now read =MID(B2,5,4 Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and then copy the formula down the column using autofill Removing spaces (TRIM function) Sometimes erroneous spaces within a cell will affect how well functions such as LEFT, MID and RIGHT perform (see cell E4 in the previous exercise a space at the end of the text in cell B4 results in the first character being omitted, resulting in 1000 instead of the expected G1000). As these spaces are usually quite difficult to find, it is useful to perform a blanket clean-up of a column before using other text functions on that column. To do this we use the TRIM function. Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 15

16 University of Brighton Information Services The technique for the TRIM functions is the same as for other text functions such as PROPER: Insert a new column In the new column, use the TRIM function to convert the text from another column Use Paste Values to strip the text function from the new column, leaving just the text itself. If you already have functions dependent on the original column, you may need to copy the new column but paste it over the original column to avoid errors with dependent cells see the technique used in the exercise below. Delete the extra column if needed The format of the function is: =TRIM(text) where text is a cell reference. In cell C2 in the example above, the formula would be =TRIM(B2). Let s practise that. Exercise M Using the TRIM function Continue with the exercise file LEFT_RIGHT_MID.xlsx Insert a new column to the right of column B. In cell C2, start your TRIM function by typing =TRIM( and then click on cell B2. Your function should now read =TRIM(B2 Press ENTER on your keyboard to complete the function and then copy the formula down the column using autofill. Select column C by clicking on the column header. Copy the selected column (in Excel 2008, follow the menu path Edit >> Copy, in Excel 2011 click on the Copy icon on the standard toolbar). Select column B by clicking on the column header. Paste the values of the copied cells: 2. In Excel 2008, follow the menu path Edit >> Paste Special. Click on Values and then click OK. Page 16 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

17 Excel for MAC Text Functions In Excel 2011, Click on the drop-down arrow on the Paste icon on the Home tab on the ribbon. Click to select Values. Delete column C. Duplicate entries There are a number of ways of handling duplicate entries in your data. We ll look at just some here. Conditional formatting (Excel 2011 only) this will colour duplicate entries within a column. The technique shown here can only be used to find duplicates within one column and not to find duplicates by comparing multiple columns in rows. Remove duplicates (Excel 2011 only) this finds duplicates and deletes them. Only to be used when you are confident that you are happy to delete duplicates without checking them first. Use a formula to identify duplicates This allows you identify duplicates by checking multiple columns. Useful if you want to check duplicates before deleting them. This is the only way to identify duplicates in Excel Each of these options is explained below. Conditional formatting to identify duplicates (Excel 2011 only) This will colour duplicate entries within a column. The technique shown here can only be used to find duplicates within one column and not to find duplicates by comparing multiple columns in rows. Click on the column you want to analyse On the Home tab, click on the Conditional Formatting icon Click on Highlight Cell Rules Click on Duplicate Values A pop-up window appears. Choose how you want to format the duplicates and click OK. Exercise N Using conditional formatting to identify duplicates Open the exercise file Duplicates.xlsx Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 17

18 University of Brighton Information Services On the Conditional Formatting tab, select column A by clicking on the column header. On the Home tab, click on the Conditional Formatting icon and then click on Highlight Cell Rules. Click on Duplicate Values. Choose to format duplicate entries with Red Text and then click OK. All duplicate entries in column A will be coloured red. Remove Duplicates (Excel 2011 only) This is the fastest way of eliminating duplicates from your data. You tell Excel how to identify the duplicates and it finds them and deletes them for you. The deletion happens immediately. There is no option to check the duplicates. If you want to check the duplicates first, do not use this option. To remove duplicates: Select the columns to use for checking for duplicate entries. On the Data tab, click on Remove Duplicates The pop up window confirms which columns will be used for checking for duplicate entries, along with how many duplicates have been found. Click Remove Duplicates. Exercise O Using Remove Duplicates Continue with the exercise file Duplicates.xlsx. Click on the Remove Duplicates worksheet. Take a look at the data and see which rows are similar to others. First let s see what happens if we only duplicate rows with a match in every column. Select columns A to D and then click on Remove Duplicates on the Data tab. Page 18 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

19 Excel for MAC Text Functions In the pop up window, leave all of the columns selected and click Remove Duplicates. Excel will find no duplicates. This is because it is checking every column for duplicates and column D has unique values. Now let s change the criteria to exclude column D from the check. Select columns A to C and then click on Remove Duplicates on the Data tab. In the pop up window, leave all of the columns selected and click Remove Duplicates. Excel will remove 2 duplicate rows compare your results with the original list shown above (or on the Conditional Formatting worksheet) to see what has been deleted. Use a formula to identify duplicate entries This technique involves using a formula to make an entry in a separate column to indicate if a row is a duplicate. You can then sort the spreadsheet and check the duplicate rows to decide what to do with them. In the example on the left we have determined a duplicate to be those rows where columns A, B and C match columns A, B and C in another row. This technique uses the COUNTIFS function, which counts cells that meet certain criteria. Format Example =COUNTIFS(range of cells for criteria check 1, =COUNTIFS(A1:A10, Gold,B1:B10, >20 ) criteria 1 to satisfy, range of cells for criteria Counts number of rows where column A check 2, criteria 2 to satisfy,...) contains the word Gold AND column B is greater than 20 To use COUNTIFS to find duplicates, the format of the function is: =COUNTIFS(A:A,An,B:B,Bn,...) where: n is the current row number A, B etc. are the columns to check for a match So, in our example above, the function in cell E2 would read: =COUNTIFS(A:A,A2,B:B,B2,C:C,C2) Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 19

20 University of Brighton Information Services i.e. How many times does the content of A2 appear anywhere else in column A (A:A) at the same time as the content of B2 appears somewhere else in column B (B:B) and the content of C2 appears somewhere else above in column C (B:B)? Any result greater than 1 indicates that a duplicate has been found for that row. The count will always be at least 1 as the cell being checked for (e.g. A2) always appears once in the column (e.g. column A). Exercise P Using COUNTIFS to identify duplicate rows Let s practise using our spreadsheet. Open the exercise file Duplicates.xlsx. Click on the Unique Entries Formula worksheet. We are going to check for rows that have the same Payroll number and Name. We will use column E for this. Click on cell E2 and type =COUNTIFS( to start the function In this row (row 2) we are going to check: If cell A2 matches any cells in column A If cell B2 matches any cells in column B Click on the letter A at the top of column A to select that column. This asks Excel to check column A. The function in cell E2 will read: =COUNTIFS(A:A Type a comma to indicate that you have finished this piece of information. Click on cell A2. This asks Excel to look for a match for the contents of cell A2. The function in cell E2 will read: =COUNTIFS(A:A,A2 Type a comma to indicate that you have finished this piece of information. Repeat steps 3-5 for column B to ask Excel to check if the contents of cell B2 appear anywhere else in column B (you do not need a comma at the end of the function). The function in cell E2 will read: =COUNTIFS(A:A,A2,B:B,B2 Press ENTER to complete the condition. The function in cell E2 will be =COUNTIFS(A:A,A2,B:B,B2) The result will be 3. This row appears 3 times. Copy the formula down column E using autofill. Take a look at the results in column E. Based on our criteria (a match in both columns A and B) only 2 rows are unique. These are identified with a 1 in column E. Page 20 Last Updated 15 th July 2015

21 Excel for MAC Text Functions You can include as many columns as you need in your check. Let s add column C to our check. Double click on cell E2 to edit the formula. Click just after the B2 reference so that your insertion point is flashing in between the 2 and the final bracket. Type a comma to indicate that you are going to add another condition to the function. Follow steps 3-5 for column C to ask Excel to check if the contents of cell C2 appear anywhere else in column C. The function in cell E2 will be read =COUNTIFS(A:A,A2,B:B,B2,C:C:C2) Press ENTER to complete the condition and copy the formula down column E using autofill. If you would prefer your duplicates to be identified using text rather than numbers: Add >1 to the end of your function. So in cell E2 in the exercice above, the function would read =COUNTIFS(A:A,A2,B:B,B2,C:C:C2)>1 Copy the function down the cells using Autofill. The example below shows how this would appear in the spreadsheet: Where the count is greater than 1 (duplicates), the result of the function will be TRUE. Where the count = 1 (no duplicate), the result of the function will be FALSE. Note: A green triangle may appear in the cells in column E when using this formula. This is because the formula checks all cells in the column. As some of the cells are empty, Excel gives you a warning to tell you that you have referenced empty cells in your formula. This is not a problem here and you can ignore this in this instance. If you see a green triangle in a cell in Excel you should always check it by: Clicking once in the cell showing the green triangle Clicking on the icon that appears to the left. Printed Wednesday, 29 July 2015 Page 21

22 University of Brighton Information Services Copy & Transpose a column to a row You can turn a column of text into a row of text and vice-versa. You do this by copying the text and choosing Transpose instead of Paste to paste the text. This is not used often, but it can really save you time when you need it. Select the text you want to move In Excel 2008: Follow the menu path Edit >> Copy to copy the selected column Follow the menu path Edit >> Paste Special Click on Transpose and then click OK. In Excel 2011: Click on the Copy icon on the standard toolbar. Click on the drop-down arrow on the Paste icon on the Home tab on the ribbon, Click to select Transpose. Exercise Q Using Copy & Transpose Let s practise that technique. Open the exercise file Paste_Transpose.xlsx and select cells A2 to A13. Copy the selected cells (in Excel 2008, follow the menu path Edit >> Copy, in Excel 2011, Click on the Copy icon on the standard toolbar). Click in cell B1 and Paste-Transpose the copied cells in Excel 2008, follow the menu path Edit >> Paste Special and then click on Transpose. In Excel 2011, click on the drop-down arrow on the Paste icon on the Home tab on the ribbon, and then click to select Transpose. Page 22 Last Updated 15 th July 2015