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

Kyle Johnson2 said:.

Just download Adobe Acrobat here and get it installed.
If you already have it on your PC, there's a good chance your file associations have gotten messy, causing your system to default to opening PDF documents in Word. You'll need to go in and fix those settings.

Henry Morales6 said:Hey there! I'm trying to figure out how to open Office documents created on a Mac using my PC—specifically things like .docx or .pptx files...

Nicholas King said:What version of Office are you running on your PC? Honestly, it doesn't feel like a Mac vs. PC compatibility issue to me—it sounds more like you're just working with an outdated version on your computer.

If you're still rocking Office 2003, you should definitely grab and install this.

electricotter6 said:Why does Microsoft Word change my spelling—for example, if I type "middle"—to something else entirely just because I hit the spacebar?
And things like that.

Kyle Johnson2 said:I’m posting this for the sake of everyone else reading this thread—you explained things pretty well just now, so I don't see what's wrong with the formula @LordByron provided
=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A100)*(0+MOD(ROW(A2:A100)-1;7)=0))
Obviously, if you start from A3, you’ll need to adjust it to -2 in the formula

That version you shared here
=SUMPRODUCT(--(MOD(ROW(A3:A465)-ROW(A3);7)=0);A3:A465)
doesn't quite hit the mark in this specific case (at least based on my understanding of what you're trying to achieve)—so, for the benefit of anyone else lurking who might run into a similar headache, could you walk us through your logic? Maybe include a screenshot if it makes it easier

cipal;32380904 said:3. column summed using Nicholas King's formula =SUMPRODUCT((E3: E66)*(0+MOD(ROW(E3: E66)-4;7)=0))

But seriously—why the heck is there a -4 in there? 😕

And for the record, that isn't even "my" formula. 🙂

Nicholas King said:If you're looking to pull data from a specific range—let’s say, for instance, A2 : A100—here is how that formula actually looks:

If you’re looking to run a calculation like `=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A100)*(0+MOD(ROW(A2:A100)...`, you're essentially diving into the deep end of Excel gymnastics. It’s one of those formulas that looks like a cat walked across your keyboard, but there's actually a method to the madness—usually involving some kind of alternating pattern or row-based logic. I see people trying to pull off these "clever" little tricks all the time, thinking they've cracked a secret code, when really they're just making their spreadsheets a nightmare to audit six months later. Using `MOD` and `ROW` inside a `SUMPRODUCT` is basically the spreadsheet equivalent of building a house out of toothpicks—it might look cool while you're doing it, but don't be surprised when the whole thing collapses the moment someone else tries to touch it. If you're trying to sum every other row or apply a specific weight based on where the data sits, this works—but let's be honest, most of the time there's a much cleaner way to handle this without turning your workbook into a cryptic puzzle. Just a thought.-1;7)=0))

Look, this bolded unit is actually pretty critical—you’ve got to adjust it based on which row your data actually starts on. Basically, you're just taking the starting row number and subtracting one (for example... If your data starts sitting pretty on row ten, just go ahead and shift everything up by nine—set that offset to -9 and call it a day.).

Justin Torres77 said:So, if you take column 3 and run it through that formula Nicholas King was using—you know, the one where he’s basically playing wizard with the cells—it looks like this: =SUMPRODUCT((E3:E66)*(0+MOD(ROW(E3:E66)...-4;7)=0))

And why, exactly—why -4????😕

Look, I didn't exactly invent this formula—it's not like I'm some kind of mathematical genius or anything. 🙂

Dana Diaz8 said:Hey, I've run into a bit of a snag with Excel and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction!!!! The TRUNC function basically just "chops off" decimals, right? Like, if I have a number with 10 decimal places, I can tell it to just leave me with 6, which works fine. But—and here is the kicker—if I want that sixth decimal place to actually round up or down to the nearest value instead of just being cut off, how on earth do I do that???? Thanks!

P.S. Just to make this less of a headache, let me give you a quick example:
0.123456789 => using TRUNC to keep five decimal places => 0.12345, but I actually want that last digit to be a 6 because it really ought to be rounded up 🙂)