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

driftingpilot8 said:I'm copying columns over from Microsoft Word,
but I don't get it—is this supposed to work with VLOOKUP?

Just look up VLOOKUP (that Microsoft Excel function) on Google or check out some tutorials on YouTube.
The main thing is that your lookup data has to be sorted by that first column. It looks like yours is in the left column already, which is good. Just make sure there aren't any blank rows—that's what Nicholas King meant. Basically, once you type those codes into Column A, it should automatically pull both values for you.

- Once you spend a little time studying how VLOOKUP actually works, it'll all click. It's hard to explain just like that, right?

Timothy Lee29 said:whenever I print something, the margins aren't hitting that 1-inch or 0.75-inch mark like they’re supposed to—it’s all messed up

Are you absolutely certain the document is actually set to Letter size (and not accidentally stuck on A4)?

Benjamin Wilson7 said:- there's a prerequisite that the search data actually has to be sorted by the first column

It isn't.

Yeah, I've tested this out in the real world a hundred times over.

The values in the first column of the table array must be in ascending order; otherwise, VLOOKUP might not pull the right data. If you need to fix it, just head over to the Data menu, hit Sort, and pick Ascending. Check out the section on Default sort orders if you want to dive deeper.

Sorry for writing this in English—I just didn't feel like typing in my native language right now.

Benjamin Wilson7 said:Just look up VLOOKUP (that Excel function)—there are tons of great tutorials on YouTube or Google!
- Here’s the deal: those lookup values have to be sorted in ascending order in the very first column. It looks like your data is sitting in that left-hand column, right? But you can't have any empty rows messing things up—that's what Nicholas King was getting at when he mentioned it. Basically, once you start typing those codes into Column A, it should automatically pull both values for you.

- Honestly, once you spend a little time digging into how VLOOKUP actually works, everything will just click! Trying to explain it like this is tough, isn't it?

Thanks so much! I'm diving straight into the lessons now!😉

Benjamin Wilson7 said:Apologies for switching to English here—I just didn't feel like typing out the full thing in American English right now.

Same here:

"If range_lookup is FALSE, the values in the first column of the table array must be in ascending order; otherwise"

Jamie Barrett7 said:Is there a way to create a new indented paragraph after a heading without hitting enter repeatedly—just being efficient... using Microsoft Office 2010.

Just hit TAB 😬

Benjamin Wilson7 said:The rule is simple: the values in the first column of the table array must be in ascending order; otherwise, you're gonna have problems.

Nicholas King said:Nah.

You're both right, honestly—it just depends on which side of the fence you're sitting on. VLOOKUP. That's it. That's the whole post. The function has its own syntax.
Code:

The last "range_lookup" argument gives you two choices: TRUE or FALSE.
If you set that thing to TRUE, the values in the first column of the table array must be in ascending order; otherwise, it's gonna break.
If you set it to FALSE, you don't even need to worry about sorting the data.

driftingpilot8 said:I need to fix my rows—basically, I need to align two columns on the right with their matching rows on the left.

You should've just uploaded the file for download so I wouldn't be wasting my damn time. 😉

Alright, here’s a quick pic to make things easier to wrap your head around.



Just pop this formula into cell G1: =A1. Done. Copy. See below.
Just pop this formula into cell H1: =B1, then drag it down. Easy.
Populate cell I1 with this formula: =IFERROR(VLOOKUP(G1;$C$1:$D$5;1;FALSE);"")
Stick this formula in cell J1: =IFERROR(VLOOKUP(G1;$C$1:$D$5;2;FALSE);"")

You gotta use the "table_array" argument. No exceptions. Absolute addresses. or Named ranges..
By the way: Take a look. Excel 2003 basics. or Some examples for Excel 2007.

Jamie Barrett7 said:How do I set a new indent after a heading without just spamming the Enter key? Using Microsoft Office 2010.

That’s what styles are for, like Nicholas King said, or... Tabulators.

Benjamin Wilson7 said:1. This whole mess usually happens with those cheap budget printers that chew through paper like a lawnmower in a hay field.
2. It might be the drivers—double-check that you actually grabbed the specific ones for your exact model and aren't just using some "close enough" version from the manufacturer's site.
3. Or maybe it's something else entirely, like hitting some weird hardware limit or print restriction buried in the manual.

Look, you were spot on—it definitely is the printer itself, because whenever I let a buddy borrow it, he can print anything without a single hiccup. I’ve already gone through the whole song and dance of installing the latest drivers, switched the settings from Letter to A4, poked around every menu in the settings, and tried pretty much everything under the sun, but I'm still hitting a brick wall. Is there actually a fix for this, or am I just shouting into the void?🙂🙂

Timothy Lee29 said:You were right—it’s definitely an issue with the printer itself...

Look, I’ve dealt with plenty of printers in my time, but I honestly can’t recall ever seeing one pull paper this inaccurately—it’s just completely botched.

The only way to be absolutely certain is to send a document from your computer to a friend's printer; if that printout comes out fine, then—and only then—can you say for sure that your own machine is the culprit.

Timothy Lee29 said:Maybe it’s nothing, but if I may ask—it seems logical that when you’re working on a document, adding more images and text should increase the file size, right?
I'm currently grinding through my senior thesis, and the other day I had about 60 pages of text and images, and the file was sitting at roughly 10 MB. Well, today I added another 20 pages—so we're looking at 80 pages total—and even though I haven't changed anything else except adding more content, the file size dropped to 6 MB. Now, I'm starting to panic a little. I'm worried I might have accidentally deleted something, even though I did a quick scan through those eighty pages and everything looks to be in place. But honestly, I've never had a situation where the memory footprint actually shrank while I was expanding the page count. Is it possible I messed something up, or is this just some weird quirk of how software works? How can I verify if I broke something? :504::504::504::504:

I was doing a bit of digging online and stumbled upon this; maybe it helps you out:

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

Well, once you've finished your heading, you just need to hit Enter to start a fresh paragraph—simple enough! To get those indentation settings dialed in, the easiest way is to just right-click, select Paragraph... and then plug in whatever values you're looking for. And hey, if you have a whole bunch of paragraphs highlighted at once, you can apply that same trick to all of them in one go.

Now, if you're looking to keep a specific look "handy" so you don't have to redo it every single time, you'd actually want to define it as a dedicated Style—but honestly, that’s getting a bit into the weeds compared to the quick fix I mentioned above.

Thanks!👍

Nicholas King said:I’ve dealt with plenty of printers in my time, but I honestly can't remember ever seeing one take paper so inaccurately or incorrectly when it was loaded perfectly fine.

It’s pretty simple, really—you don't actually know if the issue is sitting right there in your own hardware until you send that same document to a buddy's printer, hit print, and see it come out flawless. That's your smoking gun right there.

So, what's the verdict now? You were convinced it was the printer before, but now you're thinking maybe it's the document itself? Honestly, I'm about to lose my mind here—does anyone actually have a way to fix this?🤷

EDIT: Also, how do I go about getting full control over this printer? Someone mentioned I might need to set myself up as a local administrator, so if anyone out there knows the drill, please walk me through it step by step.😉

Timothy Lee29 said:So, what's the verdict now—is the issue with the document itself, or was it the printer like you claimed earlier?

Either you've got me confused with someone else, or we simply weren't on the same page here.

The page size settings within Word and the printer driver configurations in Windows aren't actually "printer problems"—the hardware just prints whatever it receives from Word via the Windows OS. A genuine printer problem would be something like the machine feeding paper so incorrectly that the margins get physically skewed, or some other mechanical failure of that nature.

Which printer are we even talking about here? If it's an inkjet, is it possible the paper isn't properly centered in the tray—say, it's pushed too far to one side? That might explain why one side margin is shorter by X millimeters while the other is larger by that same amount. With a laser printer, though, it's practically impossible for the paper to feed that poorly.

Though, I suppose if that were the case, every single thing printed would be "shifted," not just documents coming out of Word (it’s just harder to notice when you're printing from other software, I guess).

Sorry, I totally mixed those up—the printer is actually a Canon Pixma MP 280. Honestly, I have no clue why it’s acting like this, but I desperately need those margins to be spot on because this is for my senior thesis.

I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out what on earth is going on with Microsoft Office... I mean, am I actually supposed to go out and buy a full license, or is this some kind of prompt to "upgrade" from an older version, or maybe something else entirely? This is honestly the first time I've ever run into a message like this...

Also, does anyone know if I can still actually use Microsoft Office once all those trial days run out? (I know you can technically keep using WinZip forever, even though it keeps throwing those similar little warnings at you)...

Timothy Lee29 said:I really need to get these margins exactly right—it’s for my senior thesis, after all.

What exactly is going on with the printing when you try to run it from other applications? I mean, have you actually attempted to convert the document into a PDF first and then just try printing directly out of Adobe Acrobat? It might be worth a shot—I guess. Also, do you happen to have any kind of drawing software installed? If so—and if you can manage it—maybe try sketching out a simple rectangular frame with the exact dimensions you need for that diploma—just to see if that ends up being offset too.

Once you finally have that final version of your thesis ready—and I mean the absolute, definitive version—you'll probably want to head over to a high-end print shop and run it through a serious laser printer.

Alex Barnes4 said:I suppose it really comes down to what you actually plan on doing with your computer—though, if I'm being honest, most people end up needing it sooner than they think. Are you just browsing the web and checking emails? If that’s the case, then honestly, don't bother wasting your money. There are plenty of free alternatives out there—LibreOffice is a solid choice, I guess—that can handle the basics without costing you a dime. But... if you're looking at actual work—I mean, real productivity where you need to crunch numbers in Excel or put together a serious presentation in PowerPoint—then yeah, you probably should just bite the bullet and buy Microsoft Office. It’s a bit of a headache dealing with compatibility issues when you're trying to open files from someone else, especially if they used professional tools, and frankly, I find that sticking to the industry standard saves a massive amount of frustration in the long run. It's a bit of an investment, sure, but maybe it's worth avoiding the inevitable technical glitches that come with the cheaper stuff. Just my two cents.

Well, you certainly need to—though, if I’m being honest, maybe you don't actually need to: quite a lot of things can be handled just fine using free LibreOffice.

As far as I can tell—and I could be wrong here, mind you—there isn't any actual usage permitted once that initial 30-day trial period expires.

Nicholas King said:What’s the deal when you try printing from other apps? Have you tried just saving the doc as a PDF first and then running it through Adobe Acrobat? Or, if you’ve got some kind of drawing software handy—just draw a quick rectangular box at the exact dimensions you need for your thesis and hit print to see if those margins get shifted too.

Once you're actually printing the final version of your thesis, you'll probably be using a heavy-duty professional laser printer anyway.

You definitely need it, though, I guess. Or maybe you don't; honestly, you can get most of this stuff done just fine using the free LibreOffice.

As far as I know, there aren't any restrictions once that 30-day trial period wraps up.

I'll give that Adobe Acrobat trick a shot today or tomorrow and let you know how it goes.😉
I'm just gonna use my own printer for now since it works perfectly fine, except for these margin issues, and I'm honestly worried they'll reject the whole thing because the university handbook is super specific about exactly how wide the margins have to be. They love making up all these strict rules.🙂🙂🙂

Nicholas King said:Well, you definitely need it if you want to, though honestly, you don't really have to... there are plenty of things you can get done just fine using the free LibreOffice...

From what I understand, there isn't any kind of restriction on usage once that initial 30-day trial period wraps up...

but then I guess I'm wondering why I was able to use Office 2003 and 2007 for free on my old desktop without any issues, yet now with this 2010 version, I'm being told I actually have to buy it... I mean, I picked up this new computer just a few months back, and it's only really recently that this message started popping up on my screen...