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

Hey everyone, I’ve run into a bit of a situation here. So, I spent well over an hour crafting a job application—I was being incredibly meticulous about every single little detail—but just as I went to reopen the file to give it one last look, this popped up.

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I live in Microsoft Office, so there is absolutely no way I saved it incorrectly. I followed the standard procedure, but I have honestly never encountered this error before in my life. Is there any way to recover the document before all that work goes down the drain?

wearyfalcon11 said:Can I actually get my document back without everything being totally trashed?

Scour your entire C: drive—basically wherever Windows dumps its temporary files
like: Word ~$filename.docx or ~filename.doc or ~filename.tmp (something along those lines)
If you’re using Total Commander, just type in ~* instead of a specific name and it'll hunt down everything hidden starting with a tilde. These are usually just hidden files (Hide)

- obviously this only works if you actually have auto-recover turned on,
so check the timestamp on that temp file to see if it's even worth your time.

Hey there.

Is there a way to export this?
I have a block of data sitting in several rows and columns on an Excel worksheet. My goal is to save this information as a text file where everything stays in the same order as it appears in Excel, but without any spaces or gaps between the individual data points. Currently, when I try using the standard export options—like Unicode text or tab-delimited—it keeps inserting those gaps between the values. Basically, I want to skip the spacing during the export process so that every piece of data sits right next to the next one.

Not like this:
123 / 456 / 789

But more like this:
123/456/789

restlessheron19 said:Not like this:
123 / 456 / 789

Like this instead:
123/456/789

Just save the file as a CSV (Comma Delimited)
Open it up in Notepad
You'll see what you're dealing with: 123;/;456;/;789
Hit CTRL+H
Type ; into the Find What field:
hit Replace All

If there's text in some cells with spaces like that, just kill those too.
Takes like two seconds.

Or just use the CONCATENATE function in Excel in one of the columns, or use a formula like =A1&B1&C1&D1&E1
If you still have weird spaces, try the formula =SUBSTITUTE(G1;" ";"") if G1 has your concatenate formula
So yeah, you can totally do it right inside Excel

Awesome! It works in Notepad too, plus you can use the concatenate thus
formula. Yeah, I realized it’s doable in Excel as well.
Thanks for the quick reply... appreciate it.
🙂

Inserting page numbers in Microsoft Word 2013.

I’m trying to set up my document so that the page numbering doesn't show up on the first page, and actually, I don't want it on the second page either. I want the numbering to kick in starting on the third page, where it would show "3," and so on...
What’s the easiest way to pull this off?

Thanks.

Is it actually possible to just copy Microsoft Office from one computer over to another? I’m looking for Word specifically. A buddy of mine recently reinstalled Windows XP on his machine and ended up with some OpenOffice.org setup instead. The catch is that I’m currently living in Germany, and I really don't want to risk downloading anything here given how strict their local regulations can be regarding software...

I’ll be the first to admit that computers aren't exactly my forte, so please bear with me if this sounds like a rookie question...

Does anyone happen to have a link where I could download Microsoft Office 2013? Maybe something quick and easy... I suppose an older version would work too.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 via Tapatalk

wiredgull80 said:Inserting page numbers in Microsoft Word 2013.

This has been answered a million times already, but here's this link for the umpteenth time. Just start the numbering from page 3.

- Numbering starting from the third page in Word
- Using sections for numbering in Word

slybadger3 said:Can you just copy Microsoft Office from one PC to another?

Nope. You need the actual Microsoft Office installer (and obviously, better have a legal version so you don't run into headaches later).

casualbadger92 said:Anyone got a link to download Microsoft Office 2013?

Here you go.
- Where to buy Microsoft Office 2013

Alright, here’s the situation: I have an Excel spreadsheet where I need to calculate the average age in years, months, and days. To be more specific—one column holds the start date and the other holds the end date—and I need to determine the exact duration in years, months, and days. I tried using the DATEDIF function, but it’s just not working—specifically, when I type =DATEDIF(A2,B2,"Y"), it refuses to recognize cell B2.

Now, I’m wondering if there’s any other way to handle this. I read somewhere that Microsoft actually ditched the DATEDIF function after Excel 2000—I'm curious how much truth there is to that claim. Is there an alternative solution, or perhaps some kind of add-on to get DATEDIF working again? Personally, I’m running Excel 2013.

electricmarlin18 said:So, here is the situation: I have an Excel spreadsheet where I need to calculate the average duration in years, months, and days. To be more specific, one column contains a start date and the second column contains an end date, and my goal is to determine exactly how much time has elapsed between them. I attempted to use the DATEDIF function, but it isn't cooperating. When I try entering something like =DATEDIF(A2,B2,"Y"), the formula fails to recognize cell B2 entirely.

I find myself wondering if there is any other viable workaround here. I recall reading somewhere that Microsoft actually abandoned support for the DATEDIF function starting with Excel 2000, and I am curious to know how much truth there is to that claim. Is there an alternative solution available, or perhaps some kind of add-on installation to bring the DATEDIF function back? Personally, I am still running Excel 2013.

How much does accuracy actually matter to you?
If you want the calculation to be absolutely, 100% precise?
If you prefer a more rudimentary approach, you could certainly handle it that way. You can calculate the exact number of days between two dates through simple subtraction, then derive the years and months by using division combined with the ROUND function.
Strictly from a mathematical standpoint, if you are looking to calculate averages from data like this, my advice would be to keep everything in raw days. By subtracting the dates directly, you ensure you get an absolutely precise number of days. Only once you have reached your final figure—the average—should you bother converting that value into a Years, Months, Days format.

electricdriver93 said:How much does precision actually matter here?
Are we talking about absolute, perfect accuracy?
If not, you can just go old-school—calculate the exact number of days by simply subtracting the dates, then handle the years and months using division and the ROUND function.
But honestly—purely from a mathematical standpoint when calculating averages from this kind of data—I’d stick to total days (subtraction gives you the exact count) and only convert that final average into Years, Months, and Days at the very end.

Precision is vital—specifically, I need those rows where each cell explicitly shows the combined total of years, months, and days elapsed.

I’m not totally sure if this is the right spot for this question, but I’m trying to convert a PDF over to PowerPoint and I’m hitting a wall. Every time I try, it either just grabs the first couple of slides or completely crashes with an error message. Does anyone happen to have a solid link for a converter or maybe a specific program that actually works?
thanks so much

Can someone please help me? This is urgent. When I enter =DATEDIF(H14,I14,"y"), Excel refuses to select cell I14 and keeps throwing an error message saying there's a problem with the formula. I'm losing my mind here—help needed ASAP. Feel free to PM me. Thanks.

electricmarlin18 said:Can someone please help me out? This is kind of urgent. When I type in =DATEDIF(H14,I14,"y"), Excel won't let me select cell I14 and just keeps popping up an error saying there's a problem with my formula. I'm honestly going crazy here and really need some help—feel free to shoot me a DM. Thanks!

Try using a semicolon instead of a comma!

electricmarlin18 said:.... so, look, I've got one column with a start date and another one with an end date, and I'm trying to figure out how to calculate the total duration in years, months, and days.

Alright, here's the deal. In cell C1, just type Years, then in D1 put Months, and in E1 write Days.

Now, assuming you have your starting date in A2 and your end date sitting in B2, here is what you do:
In C2, plug in this formula: =DATEDIF(A2;B2;"y"),
then in D2, use this one: =DATEDIF(A2;B2;"ym") and
finally, in E2, drop in this: =DATEDIF(A2;B2;"md").

The rest? You can figure that out yourself.

I’ve run into a bit of a headache here. I'm working with Excel 2010—which, let's face it, can be temperamental enough as it is—and I'm trying to merge several different sheets into a single Pivot Table. Now, in the American version of the software, you just hit ALT+D+P and the PivotTable Wizard pops right up. But since I'm stuck using this localized American version, that shortcut isn't working for me at all... instead, it just triggers the print command. How frustrating is that?

Does anyone happen to know the specific command sequence for this version, or perhaps a workaround to get the same result? It stands to reason that if the function exists in the American English version, there must be an equivalent way to trigger it here.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Paul Gomez90 said:I've run into an issue. I'm working in Excel 2010. I want to consolidate multiple sheets into a single Pivot Table. In the American version, you just hit ALT+D+P and the PIVOT WIZARD window pops up. However, I'm using the American version and that shortcut isn't working... it keeps triggering a print command instead.

Does anyone know the specific command for this version, or perhaps an alternative way to get it done? If it's possible in the American version, there has to be a way to do it here too.

Thanks in advance.

Just add a button for the Pivot Wizard.

Go to the main menu, then Excel options, and select Customization.
Then, under the "Choose commands from" dropdown, select Commands Not in the Ribbon. In the list below, find the one with the rather ridiculous name "PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard," click add, hit OK, and you'll have your wizard button right there on the ribbon.

electricdriver93 said:just add a button for the pivot wizard.

Go to the main menu—Options in Excel—then Customization
From there, under the "Choose commands from" dropdown, select Commands Not in the Ribbon, then in the lower window, pick what is quite frankly idioticially named "PivotTable and PivotChart Wizard," click add, hit OK, and voilà—you have your wizard button right there on the ribbon.

Ha ha ha. Honestly, I only figured that out about an hour ago myself. I was hunting for "PIVOT," realized it's actually called a PivotTable... started digging for that and stumbled upon the wizard by pure accident... and yeah, the naming convention is just plain ridiculous.

Anyway, thanks for the tip......

Though, now I’ve run into a bit of a snag because it isn't displaying all my column headers... it seems to be truncating them somehow....

Paul Gomez90 said:Anyone know the shortcut for the American version, or is there some other way to pull this off?

Try ALT+D+P+P. Works fine for me on Excel 2007