Microsoft Office Q&A: Ask anything (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Hey everyone!

So, I wanted to pick your brains about how you guys are handling MS Word 2013 and MS Excel 2013 lately.
I’ve been running into some seriously annoying glitches, and I'm trying to figure out if it's just my machine acting up or if this is a widespread headache.

In Word, it's driving me nuts—whenever I finish typing something and try to switch the font, say from Calibri over to Times New Roman, I'll highlight the text, click the new font, and then... nothing. The whole program just freezes up for a few seconds before finally updating the font. It’s like the software is taking a nap right when I need it to work! Same thing happens when I try to tweak the text size, like bumping it from 11 to 12, though the freeze isn't quite as long there.

Then there's Excel. It's just as bad. If I pop a value into a cell, let's say B3, and then move on to type something in the next one, B4, the whole app just hangs. It sits there frozen, and then suddenly—poof—the value I typed finally shows up. It's super clunky.

I'm running Office on Windows 7 Professional. Honestly, back when I was using the 2010 or 2007 versions, everything ran smooth as silk without any of these hiccups.

Thanks a ton in advance for sharing what you guys have been dealing with!

So, I've got this document open in Word, and I'm running into a bit of a headache. When I try to print a specific range—like, say, pages 100 through 200—it just won't cooperate. It keeps trying to print the current page or just dumps the whole thing at once instead of sticking to the range I actually want. I guess I'm wondering if this is some weird setting buried within the document itself, or maybe it's just my printer acting up?

Jamie Hill18 said:When I try to print a specific range—say, from page 100 to 200—it just won't work. It refuses to print.

Maybe you should take a closer look at the formatting; the document is likely split into different sections, which means pages 100 through 200 might not actually "exist" in the way you think they do.

Check which page and which section are on your starting page versus your ending page. For instance, if you’re trying to print from page 23 of section 2 through page 30 of section 4, you would need to enter the range as p23s2-p30s4.

So, how do I actually find those sections in Word? S
I haven't really run into that issue before, I guess
Edit: I think I might be totally overthinking this

Jamie Hill18 said:Alright, so how do I actually find sections?

A quick Google search usually does the trick.

- section in Word
- Example of a section in Word

Good day! So, I’ve run into a bit of a situation here... I was messing around in Microsoft Word, just tinkering with some settings, I guess, and now I think I’ve accidentally "locked" the whole thing. It’s driving me absolutely crazy! I can't type a single thing in the document—nothing! It just keeps throwing this message at me: "This modification is not allowed because the selection is locked." Does anyone actually know how to fix this? I mean, I was just trying to adjust things, and now I'm stuck. Any ideas?

Alex Young16 said:Good afternoon. I’ve run into an issue. I was messing around in Microsoft Word and somehow managed to "lock" it. Now, I can't type anything at all; it just keeps telling me: "This modification is not allowed because the selection is locked." How do I fix this?

Well, there you have it. The solution is sitting right beneath the question the user asked themselves and answered. 🙂

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/o...d-1a890b5d2d1e

How do I enter an ID number in Excel so that if it starts with a zero, it doesn't just strip it away? Like, if I type 012587895, it keeps changing it to 12587895.

thanks

Harold Hill49 said:How can I enter a Social Security number in Excel without the system messing with the value? For instance, if I type 012587895, it changes it to 12587895.

Thanks!

Just go to Format Cells > Number > Custom and type in the zeros you need (in your case, I think it would be 11 zeros).

Alright... figured out how to set the cell format to text...

Noah Miller6 said:Look, I mean, if you actually bother to look, the solution is right there beneath the question the guy originally posted himself. He basically answered his own thing. 🙂

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/o...d-1a890b5d2d1e

Well, I tried doing exactly that, but it’s still not working for me. It just won't work.
This keeps popping up on my screen—it’s happened before, and usually, I’d just hit cancel and everything would be fine, totally fine, but now... it’s just not letting me through anymore...

(image)[/IMG]

I honestly don't know if that's the actual problem here or if it even has anything to do with it? Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, who knows?

Look, I know this might be the wrong sub for this, but I’m asking the moderator to please, please read this carefully because it’s deeply tied to how Microsoft Excel functions.

Since I’m away from my desk most of the time, I end up relying on my phone for basically everything—office tasks, checking PDFs, messing around in Microsoft Word, you name it. But there’s a catch: I can only run programs built on Java code. And that brings me to my headache.
I downloaded Google Sheets to mimic some features of Microsoft Excel, but man, it is incredibly limited. All I have to work with are these specific functions: SUM, IF statements, AND, OR, NOT, ABS, SIN, COS, TAN, ASIN, ACOS, ATAN, POWER, LOG, LN, EXP, SQRT, INT, RAND, NOW, TODAY, DATE, TIME, DATEVALUE, TIMEVALUE, YEAR, MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE, PI, and E.
Using these tools, I'm trying to set up something in my Sheet. Here's the deal: I have five cells containing numbers within different ranges—let's say 18-25 (first), 25-31 (second), 32-36 (third), 36-40 (fourth), and finally 41-infinity (fifth). Note that some of these ranges overlap at the edges. I need to assign a label to each range. My goal is to create a rule where, if I manually enter a number anywhere from 18 to infinity in a cell, the adjacent cell automatically pulls the correct label based on those ranges.
For example: if I type in 23, the cell next to it should automatically display "first." Now, here is the tricky part—for numbers that fall into overlapping ranges, I need it to show both names. So, if I enter 36, the cell to the right should display both "third" and "fourth."
If you guys need more details, just ask. I really hope I haven't posted this in the wrong spot, but it's such a weirdly specific problem.🙂

Alright, here is the formula—let me know if this actually does the trick for you:
(toss this formula into cell B1)

=IF(AND(A1>=18,A125,A1
Look, this setup works if you want to dump all those numbers into one single cell (in my case, I’m using A1). It’ll spit out the labels—like "First," "First and Second," "Second," etc.—right there in B1. Now, if your goal is to distribute these intervals into separate cells instead, you’re probably going to only need a specific slice of this formula.
To break down what's happening under the hood: if A1 is 18 or higher AND less than 25, it says "First." If that isn't the case, we then ask if A1 equals 25, and if so, it writes "First and Second," and so on. Honestly, though, the way these intervals are set up feels a bit wonky to me. Having one group from 18-25 and another from 25-31? Statistically speaking, it would make way more sense for the second group to start at 26. But hey, you clearly have your reasons for setting it up this way.

Hey everyone! I could use some help with Excel... Basically, the task is to "Calculate the population density for each state in the table (header: 'Population Density per 1 sq mile')" and if there's an Excel pro out there who knows how to run that calculation, I'd really appreciate it. 😁

Here's the image:

Walter Jackson48 said:Here’s the formula, hopefully this clears things up for you:
(paste this formula into B1)

=IF(AND(A1>=18,A125,A1
This formula works if you want to dump everything into one single cell (in my case, cell A1). Then, cell B1 will spit out the labels—like "first," "first and second," "second," etc. If you actually wanted to split those ranges into separate individual cells, you’d only need a specific chunk of this logic.
Let me break down what this thing is actually doing: if A1 is 18 or higher AND less than 25, it writes "First." If not, we check if A1 equals 25, and if it does, it writes "First and Second," and so on. Honestly, though, having two overlapping intervals like 18-25 and 25-31 seems a bit weird to me—statistically speaking, wouldn't it make more sense for the second range to start at 26? But hey, you know why you need it your way.

That formula didn't work for me. I can't even copy the error message because the software isn't giving me much to go on.
Maybe I phrased my question poorly, so let me try this again:
Okay, look. I have a column of five cells, A1 through A5. Each cell defines a specific numerical range used for looking up values. This time, I'll use decimals to make it clearer.
Cell A1 holds the range from 1.60 to 1.94; A2 is 1.94 to 2.01; A3 is 2.01 to 2.05; A4 goes from 2.05 to 21.0; and finally, A5 covers 21.1 to infinity.
Column B1 through B5 will contain the actual numbers I'm inputting, which should fall within the ranges defined in Column A.
Column D1 through D5 contains the names assigned to these ranges in Column A. For example, the range in A1 is called "First," the range in A2 is "Second," and so on.

What I'm trying to do is: when I type numbers into Column B, I want Column C to automatically display the name of the range they belong to based on the rules in Column A. The headache comes from the numbers that sit right on the boundary of two adjacent ranges—I need Column C to show *both* names in those cases.
Anyway, I hope I haven't made this even more confusing. Hopefully, this explanation makes more sense this time. 🙂

Look, just try running these formulas—and don't forget you have to put an "=" in front of them if you want anything to actually happen:

http://i45.tinypic.com/2uqd34n.jpg

David Wilson11 said:Hopefully I didn't make things even more confusing. Fingers crossed this explanation actually makes sense this time.

Honestly? It might be easier on everyone if you just uploaded a sample file with the data already filled in—or at least cut down on all the extra text and explanations.

Just drop the raw data and show us what the end result should look like.
Check if this works for you:

Kyle Johnson2 said:Look, maybe things wouldn't be such a mess if you just uploaded a file ready for download with the elements already filled in, or at least kept the text and explanations to a minimum.

Just give us the raw data and tell us what the end goal is. Period.
See if this solution works for you:

That’s a real pretty way you've imagined it working, and I'm sure it makes sense in your head. But now? Now I'd ask you to actually go back and read my very first post. Just read it. Maybe then you'll grasp where the actual problem lies and realize whether a post like yours was even necessary in the first place.

David Wilson11 said:I have 5 cells containing numbers within different ranges—for example, 18-25 (First), 25-31 (Second), 32-36 (Third), 36-40 (Fourth), and the last one is 41-infinity (Fifth).

If the data is typed into a single cell exactly how you described it in your example (meaning, a single cell literally says "18-25 (First)"), I honestly don't see how you can accomplish anything using just the two and a half functions you mentioned.

Similarly, I don't see how you'd even attempt to write, say, "First Second" into the same cell.

The only real solution I can see is to organize things properly—put the lower bounds in Column A, the upper bounds in Column B, and the range names in Column C. Then, you could potentially use two absolutely gi-ga-ntic IF statements in two separate cells (one to check if it belongs to one range, and another to check for potential belonging to a second range).

Walter Jackson48 said:IF(A1=31;"First and Third";"").

😕😕😕😕😕

Nicholas King Asks:
Look, if you’ve actually dumped all that data into one single cell exactly like you showed in your example—meaning the cell literally just says "18-25 (First)"—then I'm completely lost. I mean, really. How on earth am I supposed to build anything useful with that? You're handing me two and a half functions and expecting a miracle, but there's just no way to make it work when everything is mashed together like that. It's impossible.

And honestly, I just don't see how you're even going to manage that... I'm just saying... it's exactly the same. Everything about it. No matter how you slice it, we're looking at the exact same thing. Honestly, it’s infuriating how people try to argue otherwise when the reality is staring them right in the face! It's identical. Period. So, you're looking to just type something directly into a cell—say, "first second." Simple enough, right? Just type it in and move on.

The only way I can see this working—and honestly, it's a headache—is to set up a system where you put your lower limits in Column A, your upper limits in Column B, and then give those ranges names in Column C. From there, you're stuck writing these absolutely massive, bloated IF statements in two separate cells. One cell handles whether it fits into the first range, and the other one tackles whether it lands in some other range. It’s messy, it's tedious, but it seems to be the only way out of this mess.

Finally, someone actually gets it! You're the first one to pinpoint the real nightmare here—the sheer, absolute chaos of stuffing massive, bloated functions into every single cell. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Honestly, I really thought I'd find some kind of brilliant, intelligent solution to this mess, but clearly, I was dreaming. Dammit. 🤷