Counting in Excel

There are three simple COUNT functions if you need to count cells in Microsoft Excel. There are two additional COUNT functions (COUNTIF and COUNTIFS) that are a little more complex and require multiple arguments. For this post, I'll only focus on COUNT, COUNTA, and COUNTBLANK.

=COUNT(value1,...)
This function counts the number of cells in a range that contain numbers. If the cell contains any alpha character, it will not be counted. The arguments can be a single cell, range of cells, or a non-contiguous range of cells (multiple arguments).

=COUNTA(value1,...)
This function counts the number of cells in a range that are not empty. Think of the A as ALL. I want a count of ALL cells that contain something. The "something" can be any character, as long as the cell is not empty. The arguments can be a single cell, range of cells, or a non-contiguous range of cells (multiple arguments).

=COUNTBLANK(range)
This function counts the number of empty cells in a specified range of cells. If someone used the SPACEBAR to "clear" a cell, this function will recognize the space as a character and count it. It truly means the cell has nothing entered in it.

Move Text in Word with F2

Shortcuts are wonderful. I've used CTRL+X and CTRL+V for a simple cut and paste, but have you used the function key F2?

1. Select the text to move.
2. Press the F2 function key on your keyboard.
3. Place the cursor (insertion point) where you want to move the text to and then press ENTER.

Hiatus is over

My apologies for letting this blog become neglected for the past couple of years. I've have a lot of tough personal issues with myself and family. I finally feel like I'm in a place to resume posts. The next new post will be in March 2017.

Capture notes and info from whiteboards and more with Office Lens

The other day, one of our student workers and I were in a meeting and he was taking notes "old school" on paper. When we were done, he wanted to share his notes with me, so he took out his phone and took a picture. I was concerned since it was a horrible angle and the light from the window was reflecting on the paper. The picture of the notes he sent was auto corrected, angle adjusted and perfectly readable. WHAT?! I had to know what it was. He told me Office Lens. Best of all, it's free. There it is. My favorite adjective:  FREE. Tell me more.

Office Lens from Microsoft is available for free for Windows phone, iOS andAndroid. It will allows you to take a picture of a photo, document or whiteboard and then save it where you want. When taking the picture, it will work to frame the subject as you move. When you have the subject framed, take the picture. It's not perfect, but I've found it far better than others. After taking the photo, you have the opportunity to crop even more if needed. When you're ready, click the Save icon at the bottom. You'll be asked to name the image and where you'd like to save it. You can save it on your phone, or if you want to save it in OneNote or OneDrive you'll need to sign into your Microsoft account if this is the first time.

I love the option to save to OneNote since I use OneNote for taking notes in meetings and at conferences. I often take a picture of a flip chart or presentation slide since a picture is better than retyping everything. I used to send pictures to OneNote on my phone, but the angle or lighting can be weird and make it hard to read. Office Lens does a great job with the lighting and angle. Also, OneNote has the option to make the text in an image searchable. Just right-click the image in OneNote and click Make Text in Image Searchable. SWEET!

Now for the big questions, "How can I use this in training?" Easy answer. If you ever do brainstorming sessions or group breakouts, you can use Office Lens to capture the information quickly without retyping everything. HUGE time-saver. Plus, it's so easy to share from your phone or tablet.

Below are two photos. The first is the picture I took from my phone's camera. The second I took from the same distance, same lighting and same angle using Office Lens. Notice the lighting and angle adjustment to make it more readable? Yeah, it's pretty nice.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Saint Patrick was a gentleman,
Who through strategy and stealth,
Drove all the snakes from Ireland,
Here’s a toasting to his health.

But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself and then
Forget the good Saint Patrick
And see all those snakes again.

'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!'
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

List of all sheets in an Excel workbook

I love when tips work in Windows and on the Mac. Here's one that has been around for many versions, but still a favorite of mine. Right-click any of the worksheet navigational arrows (bottom-left) and a list of all sheets are listed. Simply click the one you want and you'll activate that worksheet. Much easier than clicking the Next or Previous arrow a bunch to find the sheet you need.

Happy Holidays!