Did you ever want Microsoft Excel to be easier to work with? The TechPREE Excel Add-in might be what you have been looking for! Check out the Excel Add-in below for Excel 2003 and 2007 with full VIDEO TUTORIALS!

This add-in will make several basic options more accessible and easier to work with. Included in this article are video tutorials on how to install the Add-in and how to use it. This framework needed to complete this article is the reason I have not written anything else on the blog for over week. I ended up spending over 60 hours on putting together the toolset needed to create the video tutorials and how to share it on the blog (I am tired now but it was all worth the learning experience).

Here is a little teaser of the Add-in!

Click image for full size version

WHY THIS ARTICLE?

I open the Microsoft Excel application 40-100 times/day (yes, it is true), and there are several basic operations that I apply on each document to make it easier to view and analyze the data in the files. I have done this for a long time and several years ago, I ended up customizing Excel to automate the operations I applied every time I opened a document. I prefer to apply commands using the keyboard, which was another reason why I needed to customize my Excel experience. The customizations I applied have been extremely helpful for me for over 4 years. I have hardly changed anything from my original customization. Since I put together this article, I cleaned up the Visual Basic error handling in my custom code to improve the user experience. I have always wanted to share my customizations, but never took the time to figure out a good way to distribute them to others. In order to write this article, I took on the challenge to create an “Excel Add-in”, which is Excel’s distribution technique for adding features to its application. I am happy to say that I succeeded and very happy with the result.

The Add-in below may seem basic in the view of Excel experts; however, my target audience is not Excel experts. I like to make Excel easier to use for “normal” users. I would not do unless I already knew there are folks out there who will benefit from this. Bottom line is that I do not like wasting time, and this Add-in saves me a bundle of time. There are many ways to customize your Excel experience further if you look hard enough on the web. For those of you who like to do your own research, I have included some good Excel resources on the web at the end of this article. For the rest of you, continue reading and see if my Add-in can help you out!

A little note about Excel 2003 vs. 2007

My Add-in works for both the 2003 and 2007 version of Excel (video tutorial below shows how to install the Add-in for both versions). If you have started using Excel 2007, as part of the Office 2007 package you may want to consider keeping the 2003 version around. I have both on my machine but I only work with the 2003 version for two very good reasons. First, my clients do not have the 2007 version installed yet on their systems, and second, Excel 2007 is incredibly slow and just does not cut it for me. I cannot believe that Microsoft took their best application throughout history and created the disgraceful application called Excel 2007. I had so many hopes for the new version but I guess Microsoft just did not listen to their users. See this article for a great comparison between the two versions. You can decide for yourself!

Article about EXCEL 2003 versus 2007: Decide for yourself!

WHAT is included in the Add-in?

• A “Quick Format” feature, which applies colors, drop-down filters, etc. to enhance data analysis. This probably saves me 30min per day.
• Remove all formatting in a spreadsheet! This saves time if you want to get rid of all possible formatting in a spreadsheet.
• Easily insert/delete cells and columns using the “Insert Down” and “Delete Up”. This command applies these actions through a simple key shortcut instead of using the built-in feature, which takes several mouse commands.
• Change letter upper/lower/proper case for selection or entire spreadsheet. Perhaps not for everyone but I like this feature.
• Paste vales without any formatting, such as colors, formulas etc. If you know about this option, you know that it takes FOUR mouse-clicks using the built-in menus in Excel. This is a major saver! This feature has special code to make it easy to copy “values only” from outside sources, such as web sites etc.

DOWNLOAD THE XLA FILE BY CLICKING THIS LINK

The file is an .XLA file embedded in a .ZIP archive. Just unzip the archive and safe the .XLA file somewhere on your local machine.

In the video tutorials below, click the flash video play button to start the player. Then, click the square button to view the video in full screen. Otherwise, you will not see all the details.

VIDEO TUTORIAL: How to install TechPREE Excel 2003, 2007 Add-in

VIDEO TUTORIAL: Features of the TechPREE Excel Add-in

TOOLBAR FEATURES
	Toggles visible grid On/Off
	Adds color to header cells with text in them AutoFit the width of header columns Applies AutoFilter to header columns
	Removes formulas for cells in active sheet Removes ALL formatting for cells in active sheet Removes AutoFilter for header columns if enabled
	AutoFit the width of header columns
	Pastes value in clipboard as CLEAR TEXT. The source of the clipboard is irrelevant. Useful when copying information from non-Excel sources, such as web pages, and pasting clipboard into Excel.
	Turns AutoFilter On/Off

OTHER GOOD EXCEL RESOURCES ON THE WEB
The sites below have some amazing tips and tutorials for Excel for FREE. I am a novice compared to the folks behind these web pages. You should check them out!

• www.MrExcel.com
• www.OzGrid.com
• www.excelforum.com
• www.j-walk.com
• www.dailydoseofexcel.com
• www.rondebruin.nl/tips.htm
• www.cpearson.com/excel/
• www.exceltips.vitalnews.com
• www.excelguru.ca

Esbjorn

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