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

Benjamin Wilson7 said:is exactly what I was hunting for. Dropped it into the VBA under VBE ThisWorkbook and it's running like a dream. Saved it as an xlsm.

Funny little question though:
Since I'm the one who built the thing, if I hardcode something like: deadline = DateSerial(2010, 5, 30) (an old date), how can I actually get back into the program to change that expiration date? Unless I just keep a master template

It won't work quite the way you're picturing it.
You clearly overlooked the SHIFT key.
If a user opens the Workbook while holding down SHIFT (which is super easy to do in your setup since they don't need admin rights), or if they just disable macros entirely, your whole plan goes out the window. You'd basically need to preventing access to Workbook by blocking that SHIFT key. Google a Macro that handles that, or check out the link and try whatever's there.

You also need to find a way to keep all the Sheets hidden by default, only unhiding them once the macro kicks in.

I'll dig into this a bit more and maybe add it to the tutorial later.

I’ve put together an Excel spreadsheet based on an EK-1 template I picked up at a local office supply store. My plan—which seems simple enough on paper—is to feed the pre-printed, blank form directly into the printer and have the computer fill in the blanks, like names and birth years. The problem? Every time I try to print, the whole damn table prints out instead of just the specific data points I added later. How can I print *only* the stuff I typed in (for instance, the names and dates) without wasting ink on the entire layout?

You can actually just select multiple sections of a Sheet and toss them into the "print area"—then it’ll only spit out exactly what you picked: http://www.downloadatoz.com/howto/ho...2010,5482.html

Look, Excel doesn't really grasp the concept of "later on"—it either prints the specific cells you've defined or it just prints everything.

I mean, I get what Benjamin Wilson7 is getting at, but what’s actually the point? If you already have a template set up in Microsoft Excel and you're just planning to fill it out on your computer anyway, why bother? I don't quite follow the logic there.

Is it just me, or does this workflow make absolutely zero sense? You print out these blank forms, then you go back to your computer to fill in all those empty fields in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, only to try and print everything right back onto those same physical sheets... why? Am I missing something here, or is this just a total waste of time?

Worried about someone messing up your template? Just password-protect the file! It’s actually pretty simple and elegant: lock all the fields that shouldn't be touched and leave only the specific entry boxes unlocked for them to fill out. Why deal with the headache of broken formulas? The best part is you end up with a perfect archive of data for every single employee right there in one Microsoft Excel file—you can just call the whole thing "Unknown Organization All Employees." Easy, right?
You could always color the input fields green or something, right? Then, if you just set the page setup to black and white before printing, you're all set!

Do you have that tutorial from Kyle Johnson on YouTube? Check out this link! So, looking at chapters 36 and 37... we're talking about protecting cells and entire files, right? Or is there more to it? Hey.

Kyle Johnson2 said:It’s not quite going to work the way you’re picturing it.
Looks like you totally overlooked the SHIFT key.
......
You'll need to find another way to keep all the sheets hidden until the macro kicks in and unhides them.

I'll dig into this a bit more and maybe I'll add it to the tutorial later.

How was I supposed to see this coming when I didn't even know it was possible? 🤷
Now you've gone and put me in a real bind!😢

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but it seems pretty obvious that as you write more, the file size should go up, right? You add more text, you drop in more images—logic says the memory usage climbs.
I'm currently grinding through my senior thesis, and just the other day I had about 60 pages of text and graphics sitting at roughly 10 MB. Fast forward to today, I’ve tacked on another 20 pages—so we're looking at 80 total—and even though I haven't touched the old stuff, just added more content and images, the file size has somehow dropped down to 6 MB. It sounds completely backwards. I did a quick scan of the whole eighty-odd pages to make sure nothing vanished, and everything looks like it's still there, but I've never dealt with a situation where adding volume actually shrinks the footprint. Is it possible I totally botched something in the settings, or is this some weird software quirk that's actually normal? How can I double-check to make sure I didn't accidentally corrupt the file or lose data somewhere in the shuffle?🙂🙂🙂🙂

Maybe it’s just the difference between those old .doc files and the newer .docx format? You know, the one where the file size is actually significantly smaller?

I mean, I honestly have no clue how I managed to mess up the file extension, because I don't even think I actually changed it 😁

Benjamin Wilson7 said:I didn't see this coming since I didn't even think it was possible. Now you've gone and left me hanging.😢

That's just how it goes—nothing's ever 100% secure.
Once I get a breather, I'll try to update my tutorial if I can track down a fix.

BTW: in the meantime, Google some macros that block the SHIFT key. They can expose hidden sheets right after you enter a password in a workbook. Not sure if the guy I'm looking at uses anything like that, but I remember there's stuff for ALT+F11 and ALT+F8.

Later

Timothy Lee29 said:but I've seriously never seen memory usage spike like that just by adding pages. Did I mess something up, or is this actually normal? How do I check if I broke something?

Look, if the text looks right and the doc is finished, who cares how many MBs it's pulling?

Timothy Lee29 said:Is it possible I messed something up, or is this just normal behavior? How can I check if I somehow scrambled the settings somewhere?

I suppose two possibilities come to mind—both of which rely on the assumption that you're working across multiple computers.

If you originally drafted the document in Microsoft Word 2003 on one machine and then saved it as a 2007 or 2010 version on another, it’s entirely possible the file size shrank because the .docx format is essentially just a zipped archive.

Alternatively, if you were working on a computer where Microsoft Word is configured to automatically downsample image resolution to 220 ppi without asking, then it makes perfect sense that the file size would drop (and, just as a side note—we should really say "file size" rather than "memory," as those aren't quite the same thing).

Then there's a third possibility, which wouldn't depend on how many different machines you use: it isn't impossible that Microsoft Word left some sort of unnecessary "junk" data within the file for some reason, and during the next save operation, it simply stripped that useless bloat away.

I haven't really jumped between different computers lately, and I’ve always just been saving everything in the 2007 format, so it feels pretty bizarre to me that the file size would suddenly drop by a full 4 MB out of nowhere.

Does anyone know how I can set up a new indented paragraph right after a heading without having to just mash the Enter key over and over? I'm working in Microsoft Office 2010.

Jamie Barrett7 said:Is there a way to create a new indented paragraph right after a heading without just smashing the Enter key and dealing with all that? I'm using Microsoft Office 2010.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by a "new indented paragraph."

Well, you still have to hit Enter to start a new paragraph after a heading—that’s just how it works. To handle the indentation, the easiest way is probably just to right-click, select Paragraph... and then manually set whatever values you need. You can also apply that same setting to a bunch of paragraphs at once if you highlight them first.

If you want a specific look to be permanently available, you'd really need to define it as its own custom Style, but that’s a bit more advanced than what I just described.

Benjamin Wilson7 said:Hey! You should try this little trick—go ahead and hit "Find & Select," then click on "Go To Special" and just check the box for "Objects." It works like a charm!
And then just hit delete! Boom! Done!

That’s it! That's the stuff! Thank you so much!!! 🙂

Kyle Johnson2 said:Hey, quick tip! Try doing a Copy => Paste Special => Unicode Text or just plain Text. Might work better!
Or just delete the extra stuff you don't need! Honestly, why bother keeping it? Just wipe it out!

Thanks, you too! Honestly, I think I'm just gonna stick to copying and pasting from now on. It's way easier, right? Why make things harder than they need to be?! 😉

Ugh, okay, so I’ve hit another snag! Seriously, what is it with this day? Just one thing after another, right?!
I can't see the image you linked! Seriously, I'm staring at my screen like it's a magic trick gone wrong here. Did the link break? Is it just me? Maybe my internet is acting up again—honestly, sometimes I think my router needs a vacation to Hawaii or something! Anyway, if you were trying to show me something, could you try uploading it again? I'm super eager to see what you've got!
So, get this—the left column is rocking two columns, and then the right side? It’s doing the exact same thing with two columns! Pretty wild, right?
Wait, hold on—I just noticed something! The left column actually has way more data than the right one. Why is that? Is it just me, or does the layout look totally lopsided now?
So, I need to clean up some data! Basically, I’m trying to align two columns on the right side so they actually match up with the rows on the left. Does that make sense? It's such a mess right now! How do I get everything to line up perfectly?
So, that’s how it all ends up looking in the end! Isn't it just wild?

Wait, hold on... I just took a look at that screenshot you posted! Is everyone seeing this? Seriously, look at those columns! It’s like someone decided to play a game of Tetris but with data instead of blocks. Honestly, though, can we talk about how chaotic this looks? Does anyone else feel a sudden urge to organize their entire life just by looking at this mess? I mean, really! How are you even supposed to find anything in there? It’s a total maze! You think you’ve found the right cell, and then—BAM—you're lost in a sea of numbers. It makes me want to grab a huge cup of coffee and just dive in, even if I end up more confused than when I started. Who even designs spreadsheets like this? Is there a secret club for people who love disorganized data? Because if there is, sign me up, I guess! Haha! But seriously, does anyone have a trick for making sense of this madness? Or am I just overthinking it? Help!

If you’re dealing with a situation where every single data point in the right-hand column is guaranteed to exist in the left—meaning it's physically impossible to have an empty cell in the final table on the left side—then the most straightforward approach would be to simply copy the left column over to a new sheet, and then... well, I guess you could just use VLOOKUP to pull in those right-side values.

Nicholas King said:Look, if every single bit of data from that right column is definitely sitting in the left one—basically, if you don't have to worry about any weird empty gaps in your main table—then the easiest way to handle this is just to grab that left column, paste it into a brand new sheet, and then pull in the right side using a VLOOKUP.

I'm just copying columns over from Microsoft Word,
Wait, I'm confused—you mean I should use VLOOKUP?

So, I’m running into this absolute headache with my page setup. I need all my margins set to exactly 1.2 inches, except for the right side, which needs to be about 0.8 inches. I go into the Page Layout settings, adjust everything manually, and when I’m actually typing away in the document, everything looks perfect—it shows my custom margins exactly how I want them. But then comes the kicker: the second I hit print, the whole thing falls apart. On the physical paper, nothing matches what I see on the screen. Like, the top might look okay at 1.2 inches, but then some other side jumps up to something like 1.5 inches, and that right margin that was supposed to be 0.8 inches ends up looking like it's only 0.6 inches from the edge. It’s completely wonky. Even when I take a ruler to the actual printed sheet, the math just doesn't add up; the software claims I have a 0.8-inch gap on the right, but my ruler is telling me it's clearly much smaller.

1. This usually happens with those budget printers that just gobble up paper like crazy like a cow in a pasture
2. Check your drivers—make sure you actually have the specific ones for your model, or maybe something close enough
3. Something else, I don't know... maybe look up the specs? See if there are any print limits or restrictions on that machine

So, I’ve got this Canon Pixma MP 280 sitting here, and I barely managed to get a single page out before it completely loses its mind, which tells me it isn't some sort of print volume limit issue. I’m using the original drivers that came right in the box, too. The thing is, everything looks perfectly fine in Microsoft Word—margins and all—but once it hits the paper, the layout is just totally trashed and nothing lines up where it should. :/