Microsoft Office Q&A: General Discussion (Word, Excel, PowerPoint...)

mellowskipper26 said:Can someone walk me through making a table in Word that actually has dropdown menus and checkboxes?

Check HERE, HERE, and HERE

Hey there!

I'm having some trouble with Word 2010. It seems to be stuck using an American language setting, and it keeps messing up my spelling. For example, if I type a name like Martina and hit enter, it changes it to Marina. Or if I type "tukan," it corrects it to "tukan." I already tried reinstalling Microsoft Office, but the problem is still happening.

Bryan Hughes96 said:Hey there!

I'm having this annoying issue with Word 2010—it seems to be stuck with an American English setting or something, because whenever I type a specific word, say "martina," it automatically changes it to "marina" the second I hit enter. Same thing with other words too... I even tried reinstalling the whole Microsoft Office suite, but the problem just keeps coming back.

It sounds like you probably have the "Replace as you type" feature enabled within Grammarly settings.

http://www.gilsmethod.com/disable-au...ures-word-2010

This link should walk you through how to turn off Autocorrect.

All set!

thanks so much!

🙂🙂👍

Nicholas King said:Here’s how you kill Autocorrect.

Might work as a quick fix, but it doesn't actually solve the root cause. The real issue is probably buried somewhere else.😉

Turning off Autocorrect isn't always a smart move either.

What happens if someone typos words like:
- inperator (when they meant emperor)
- inaće (when they meant otherwise)
and stuff like that...

Can you copy text without using a mouse? And if so, how? 🙂)))

Carol Reed65 said:Is it actually possible to copy text without ever touching a mouse? I mean, if you're trying to be efficient—or perhaps just trying to save your desk space from all that clutter—it certainly can be done, though it requires a bit of a learning curve. I guess the most straightforward way to handle this is through keyboard shortcuts. If you aren't already using them, you're essentially working with one hand tied behind your back. To select text, you’d typically hold down the Shift key and use your arrow keys to highlight exactly what you need. Once it's highlighted, the classic Command + C (on a Mac) or Control + C (on a PC) will do the trick to copy it. Then, you just move your cursor to where you want it to go and hit Control + V (or Command + V) to paste. There are also some more advanced ways to navigate—like holding down the Shift key while pressing Ctrl + End or Ctrl + Home if you're trying to grab massive chunks of data in something like Excel—but honestly, once you get the hang of the basic shortcuts, you'll probably find you don't even miss the mouse at all. It might feel a little clunky at first, maybe, but it's definitely doable. 🙂)))

Place your cursor at the very beginning of the text you intend to copy.

Keep it pressed. I suppose I should probably address this... if there's even any point in doing so. It feels like we’re constantly being asked to pivot—to "shift"—without any real sense of direction or, frankly, any coherent strategy from the top. It’s exhausting. One day we’re told to focus entirely on one metric, and then, seemingly out of nowhere, the goalposts are moved, and we're expected to just... adjust? As if humans aren't actually affected by these constant, jarring transitions. It’s a bit ridiculous, really. We spend weeks—sometimes months—perfecting a workflow or getting comfortable with a specific set of tools, only to have some executive decision come down that renders all that effort practically obsolete. I guess that's just how things work in modern corporate America, isn't it? Everything is fluid, everything is "agile," which often feels like nothing more than a polite way of saying "we don't know what we're doing, so prepare for chaos." Maybe I'm being too cynical—perhaps I am—but there has to be a middle ground between rigid stagnation and this relentless, dizzying movement. You can't build anything lasting if the foundation is constantly being swapped out for something else. It’s difficult to maintain any sense of professional momentum when you’re always stuck in a state of perpetual recalibration. Just my two cents, I suppose. Just use the arrow keys to navigate through the text you're trying to copy—it’s really that simple.

Ctrl/C

Just position it exactly where you want the copy to land.

Ctrl/V... I suppose that's all there is to say, really. It’s the ultimate shortcut—the digital bread and butter of everything we do—yet somehow, people still seem to stumble over the basics. I guess it's just one of those things you either get or you don't.

hey, thanks a ton🙂🙂

Quick Excel Question

I’ve got this spreadsheet sitting here with a few hundred rows...

It involves various product categories spread across different locations—not that the specifics actually matter right now. 😁

What I need to do is sum up every 7th row within a single column at the bottom.

Any ideas on how to pull that off?

Hey,
quick question—Access won't let me build a database if I'm just logged in as a standard user.
It keeps throwing an error saying it "can't find the system.mdw file..."

Everything works perfectly fine when I'm logged in as an admin.
P.S. Access is installed on the server.
Thanks...

Justin Torres77 said:I need to sum up every 7th row within a specific column at the bottom of my sheet.

If you're looking at data in, say, the range A2 : A100, you can use this formula:

=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A100)*(0+MOD(ROW(A2:A100)-1;7)=0))

That bolded part is actually quite critical—you'll have to adjust it depending on which row your data set actually starts on. Basically, you take the starting row number and subtract one (so, if your data begins on row ten, you would change that value to -9).

@Justin Torres77/">@@Justin Torres77

Before we get into that, why don't you try using a SUMIF formula? It lets you pick specific criteria for your totals, and honestly, it’s way easier than what you've got going on above. First, you just grab the range in the column where your data lives (from the first row down to the last), then you set your selection criteria, and finally, you point to the sum range.
Basically, if you have 100 different product codes in Column A, it’ll only add up the numbers for the specific code you actually want.

For example:
=SUMIF($A$2:$A$133;"product code";$J$2:$J133)
- So, Column A holds all those product codes, you type in the specific code you're looking for, and Column J is where the actual values you need to total are located.

Now, if you're using Excel 2007, SUMIFS is even better! It’s more powerful because you can set multiple criteria instead of just one like with SUMIF. Just remember the order changes slightly: first you define the sum range (Column J), then the criteria range (Column A), and lastly the selection criteria (the "product code")

Like this:
=SUMIF($J$2:$J$133;$J$2:$J$133;"product code") + as many extra criteria as you need

Benjamin Wilson7 said:=SUMIF($A$2:$A$133,"product code",$J$2:$J133)

I finally realized—and this was a bit of an epiphany, I guess—that every single column is just representing one specific product, which means manually adding up every seventh data point is enough to drive anyone absolutely insane.

Justin Torres77 said:Excel question

I've got this spreadsheet with a few hundred rows...

It involves some different product categories spread across various locations (honestly, that part doesn't even matter) 😁

I need to sum up every 7th row in a specific column at the bottom.

Any ideas how?

That’s actually a huge deal, isn't it? Now we're both just sitting here guessing what he's actually looking for. That's why I suggested seeing if there was a workaround... because honestly, I'm stumped too.
- I mean, if he really needs every 7th row, shouldn't there be some kind of criteria tied to those rows?

Benjamin Wilson7 said:- because if he wants every 7th row, then there actually needs to be some specific criterion tied to that individual row

Honestly, the fact that it's every seventh row is the criteria—that should be enough for him to grab it. He doesn't need anything else, really. 🙂

Exactly.🙂
p.s. I just realized I missed an "s" in that last formula... it should be sumifs

Nicholas King said:If you're looking at data sitting in, say, the range A2 : A100, here’s how you’d write that formula:

=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A100)*(0+MOD(ROW(A2:A100)-1;7)=0))

That little bolded number there is the key—you'll need to tweak it depending on where your actual data starts. Basically, take your starting row number and subtract one (so, if your data kicks off on row 10, you'd swap that out for -9).

I just gave this a shot and I'm getting a totally wrong total 🤷

Nicholas King said:I mean, if it shows up every seventh time, he can grab it—that’s enough for him. He doesn't need anything else. 🙂

Here I have 6 products and the total for every single retail location.

Basically, each location has 7 identical rows (same product names, just at different spots).

What I actually need is a sum at the bottom for all the 1st items, all the 2nd items, and so on...

So, I did a little digging online—mostly trying to follow Lord Byron's logic—to see how our version should look, and according to my math, it should give me the exact result I'm looking for.

=SUMPRODUCT(--(MOD(ROW(A3:A465)-ROW(A3);7)=0);A3:A465)

But it’s still coming up slightly different from this...

Nicholas King said:For data sitting in, say, range A2 : A100, you'd use this:

=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A100)*(0+MOD(ROW(A2:A100)-1;7)=0))

Thanks for the help, 👍

Justin Torres77 said:I've got 6 products here and a total for every single retail location.
Basically, every store has 7 identical rows (same product names, just different spots). I need a sum at the bottom for all the 1st rows, all the 2nd rows, etc...

Posting this for everyone else reading the thread. You explained it pretty well, but I'm still stuck on why @LordByron's formula isn't working
=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A100)*(0+MOD(ROW(A2:A100)-1;7)=0))
Obviously, if you start at A3, you'd need to change it to -2 in the formula

That formula you shared
=SUMPRODUCT(--(MOD(ROW(A3:A465)-ROW(A3);7)=0);A3:A465)
doesn't quite hit the mark here (at least based on what I think you're trying to do). For the sake of anyone else hitting this same wall later, could you break down how yours works? Maybe grab a screenshot if you can.