Until recently, there has been just one easy way to generate dates in Excel - the AutoFill feature. The introduction of the new dynamic array SEQUENCE function has made it possible to make a series of dates with a formula too. This tutorial takes an in-depth look at both methods so that you can choose the one that works best for you. Continue reading
The times when you had to put numbers in sequence in Excel manually are long gone. In modern Excel, you can make a simple number series in a flash with the Auto Fill feature. If you have a more specific task in mind, then use the SEQUENCE function, which is specially designed for this purpose. Continue reading
As you probably know, Microsoft Excel has several functions for generating random numbers such as RAND, RANDBETWEEN and RANDARRAY. However, there is no guarantee that their result will be duplicate free. This tutorial shows a few formulas to build your own unique random number generator for Excel. Continue reading
A while ago, we described a few different ways to randomly select in Excel. Most of those solutions rely on the RAND and RANDBETWEEN functions, which may generate duplicate numbers. If you need a random selection without duplicates, then use the approaches described in this tutorial. Continue reading
As you probably know, Microsoft Excel already has a couple of randomizing functions. What is the sense in introducing another one? In a nutshell, because it's far more powerful and can replace all of the older functions. Continue reading
Due to the revolutionary update in the Excel 365 calculation engine, array formulas become very straightforward and understandable for everyone, not just for super users. The tutorial explains what dynamic arrays are, and how they can make your worksheets more efficient. Continue reading
Microsoft Excel provides a number of ways to arrange text data alphabetically, dates chronologically, and numbers from smallest to largest. In addition to the traditional Sort functionality, Excel 365 introduces a brand-new way to sort data with formulas. Continue reading
The Sort functionality has been around for a long time. But with the introduction of dynamic arrays in Excel 365, there appeared an amazingly simple way to sort in Excel with formulas. The beauty of this method is that the results update automatically when the source data changes. Continue reading
The introduction of the FILTER function in Excel 365 has become a long-awaited alternative to the conventional methods. Unlike the Filter feature that needs to be re-applied with each data change, Excel formulas recalculate automatically, so you need to set up your filter just once! Continue reading
In the previous versions of Excel, getting a list of unique values was a hard challenge. The introduction of the UNIQUE function in Excel 365 has changed everything! Now, you don't need to be a formula expert to get unique values from a range, based on one or multiple criteria, and sort the results in alphabetical order. Continue reading
Until recently, there were two prevalent methods to merge cell contents in Excel: the concatenation operator and CONCATENATE function. With the introduction of TEXTJOIN, it seems like a more powerful alternative has appeared, which enables you to join text in a more flexible manner including any delimiter in between. Continue reading
There are many situations when you need to check if a cell is empty or not. For instance, if cell is blank, then you might want to sum, count, copy a value from another cell, or do nothing. In these scenarios, ISBLANK is the right function to use. Continue reading
Whenever you need to get information about the contents of some cell in Excel, you'd typically use the so-called Information functions. Both ISTEXT and ISNONTEXT belong to this category. The ISTEXT function checks if a value is text and ISNONTEXT tests if a value is not text. Continue reading
The concept of the ISNUMBER function in Excel is very simple - it just checks whether a given value is a number or not. But the practical uses of the function go far beyond its basic concept, especially when combined with other functions within larger formulas. Continue reading
When looking up some information in Excel, it's a rare case when all the data is on the same sheet. More often, you will have to search across multiple sheets or even different workbooks. The good news is that Microsoft Excel provides more than one way to do this. Continue reading
Although Microsoft Excel has special functions for vertical and horizontal lookup, expert users normally replace them with INDEX MATCH, which is superior to VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP in many ways. Among other things, it can look up two or more criteria in columns and rows. Continue reading
The tutorial introduces XLOOKUP - the new function for vertical and horizontal lookup in Excel. Left lookup, last match, Vlookup with multiple criteria and a lot more things that used to require a rocket science degree to accomplish have now become as easy as ABC. Continue reading
When it comes to finding the minimum based on conditions, there are several possible solutions. You’ll see different approaches to locate the lowest value and choose the one that suits best for you. Continue reading
If you have a large range of data to find the lowest value in, the scrolling and looking for it manually is not an option. Please check different ways of locating a minimum number in Excel and choose the best one for your task. Continue reading
Almost every Excel user is familiar with the good old MAX function that is designed to return the largest value in a dataset. In some situations, however, you may need to drill down into your data further to find the max value based on certain criteria. Continue reading
Traditionally, when you needed to find the highest value with conditions in Excel, you had to build your own MAX IF formula. While not a big deal for experienced users, that might present certain difficulties for novices. Luckily, Microsoft has recently introduced a new function that lets us do conditional max an easy way! Continue reading
MAX is one of the most straightforward and easy-to-use Excel functions. However, it does have a couple of tricks knowing which will give you a big advantage. Continue reading
When you know the internal rate of return of a project, you may think you have all you need to evaluate it - the bigger the IRR the better. In practice, it's not that simple. Continue reading
For many years, finance experts and textbooks have warned about the flaws and deficiencies of the internal rate of return, but many executives keep using it for assessing capital projects. Do they enjoy living on the edge or simply are not aware of the existence of MIRR? Continue reading
Calculating IRR for periodic cash flows is easy. In real life situations, however, cash inflows and outflows often happen at irregular intervals. Thankfully, Microsoft Excel has a special function to find IRR in such cases, and this tutorial will teach you how to use it. Continue reading
IRR in Excel is one of the financial functions for calculating the internal rate of return, which is frequently used in capital budgeting to judge projected returns on investments. Continue reading
Microsoft Excel has a special function for calculating NPV, but its use can be tricky especially if you have little experience in financial modeling. The purpose of this tutorial is to show you how the Excel NPV function works and point out possible pitfalls when calculating the net present value of a series of cash flows. Continue reading
Variance is one of the most useful tools in probability theory and statistics. In science, it describes how far each number in the data set is from the mean. In practice, it often shows how much something changes. In this article, we will analyze different methods of calculating variance in Excel. Continue reading
The interest portion of a loan payment can be calculated manually by multiplying the period's interest rate by the remaining balance. But Microsoft Excel has a special function for this – the IPMT function. In this tutorial, we will go in-depth explaining its syntax and providing real-life formula examples. Continue reading
When you make periodic payments on a loan or mortgage, a certain part of each payment goes towards the interest and the remainder is applied to the loan principal. In this tutorial, we will look at how to use the PPMT function to calculate the principal portion of the payment. Continue reading
