Training Index                Power Courses index

Cleaning up data for use in Microsoft Excel

Be aware that these video clips use Windows Media Player. Click on the hyperlink and, depending on your connection speed, you may need to wait a few moments.

Title	Price	Video Clip (Windows Media Player)
Data Auto Filter Once you have retrieved large quantities of data into Microsoft Excel, it is useful to be able to investigate the data. The Data Auto Filter basics tutorial provides you with a number of options to filter out certain data.	FREE	Data AutoFilter  (6 min)
Cleaning up data using the Data Auto Filter Once you understand what is in your data set, you may need to clean it up by deleting certain rows or columns. This can be very time consuming if you have to work through it manually. The Auto Filter can be used to automate some of the process.	FREE	Data Cleanup with the AutoFilter (7 min)
The GoTo Special command Once you have removed unnecessary rows and columns, you may need to quickly work through the rest of the cells, performing certain functions based on the contents of the cells (constants, formula, text etc.) This tool allows you to navigate through a spreadsheet quickly.	FREE	GoTo Special Command (7 min)
Filling in the blank cells quickly and easily The GoTo special command is extremely useful when you receive a data dump from a main line system where the categories are staggered so that each row does NOT contain all the required information e.g. Cat 1-        subcat1                   subcat2                   subcat3 Cat 2-        subcat1 etc	FREE	Fill in blanks (3 min)
Paste Special Once you have the data almost in the correct format, you may find that certain bits of information need to be changed e.g. the numbers in one of the columns are all negative but you want them to be positive. The Paste Special command provides a number of useful tools to quickly get around these sorts of problems.	FREE	Multiple Sheet Changes (11 min)
Next Step You now should have the data cleaned up to a point where you can get Excel to do some work on it. To find out how to manipulate the data further, look at our Data Manipulation tutorial.
Quote of the page: The two words 'information' and 'communication' are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through - Sydney J Harris
Web AuditExcel.co.za	Don't believe spreadsheet errors can cost your company serious money! Visit our War Stories page to see what is actually happening out there!

Do you like what you see. Tell your friends. If you have a training co-ordinator at your organisation tell them that there is free excel training available at this site.

Don't like what you see. Tell us at training@AuditExcel.co.za .

Do you have suggestions of what you would like to see. Tell us at training@AuditExcel.co.za .