Print Preview
        To see what your printout will look like before you print, choose PRINT PREVIEW from the FILE menu.

Printing Titles
        To make the column headings print as titles on each page – choose FILE – PAGE SETUP – and select the SHEET tab. To specify which row you want to use as a horizontal title, such as months of the year, at the top of your worksheet, click the COLLAPSE dialog button at the right end of the ROWS TO REPEAT AT TOP box. Drag over the row or rows, and then click the EXPAND button to redisplay the dialog box. Then click OK.

Print Margins and Column Width
        To quickly change the margins and column widths for a worksheet that you want to print -- use the PRINT PREVIEW. Choose FILE – PRINT PREVIEW and click MARGINS at the top of the window. Drag the right and left (or top and bottom) black handles to change the margins. Drag the other handles to quickly modify column width.

Printing the Date
        The best method to add the current date to the bottom of a printed page is to place the date in a footer. To do this, choose VIEW – HEADER AND FOOTER. Click the Custom Footer button to display the Footer dialog box, and then click within the area (such as Center) where you want to insert the date. Click the Date button and close all dialog boxes.

Where the Cursor Moves
        You can change the direction that the cell pointer moves when you press ENTER. By default, Excel moves the pointer down to the adjacent cell when you press ENTER. To change the direction, choose TOOLS – OPTIONS – select the EDIT tab, and choose the direction you want the pointer to move from the Direction dropdown list.

Adding and Moving Worksheets
        Excel starts with three worksheets, but you can add, delete or move worksheets. You can add a worksheet to the left of the active (displayed) worksheet by choosing INSERT – WORKSHEET. Move a worksheet by dragging its sheet tab until the triangle pointing down displays in the new location, then release the mouse. Delete a worksheet by right-clicking the sheet tab and then choosing DELETE from the shortcut menu. Always click OK to confirm your action.

Customized List
        If you are repeatedly typing the same information into a worksheet (maybe a list of customers) – you can create a custom list to store this information and easily place it in your new worksheet. To create the list, enter the names on a worksheet and select the range. Choose TOOLS – OPTIONS and select the CUSTOM LISTS tab. Make sure the selected range displays in the IMPORT LIST FROM CELLS box and then click IMPORT. Close the OPTIONS dialog box. To quickly recreate the list, type an entry in one cell, then use the cell’s fill handle and drag it through the range for the selected list.

Change Column Width Quickly
        To quickly change a column width to accommodate the widest entry – place your mouse pointer over the right border of the column heading so that a two-headed "plus" pointer displays and then double-click.

Rotating Text
        To create TEXT at a 45 degree angle for a heading – select the cell or cells and then choose FORMAT – CELLS. On the ALIGNMENT page, enter 45 in the DEGREES field and click OK.

Naming Cells
        To create a range name – select the cell or cells you want to include in the range, click in the NAME BOX at the left end of the FORMULA bar, type the name you want to use (without spaces) and press ENTER. After you create the range name, you can quickly access it by opening the NAME BOX’s drop-down list, and choosing the name from the list.

Filtering a List
        How can I display only information in a list that fits into my specified criteria? Your best move is to click the list and choose DATA from the top menu – then FILTER - AUTOFILTER. Next, click the arrow to open a drop-down list and choose a filtering option.

File Format of 97 and 2000
        Excel 97 and Excel 2000 use the same file format, so you can freely share files between people that use these two versions.

ESTIMATE YOUR NEST EGG
        Have you ever wondered how much your retirement portfolio or college investments will be worth in 10 or 20 years? If so, you can use Excel’s FV (Future Value of Money) function. To use the FV function, you need to know the average interest rate for the term, the number of regular contributions (payments) you make to the fund, and the amount of each payment. Pull down the INSERT menu and click FUNCTION. Select FINANCIAL from the Function Category and FV from the Function Name field and click OK. Enter the necessary information and click OK.
        You can manually set up the formula by entering the following information into the spreadsheet’s Formula field: =FV(interest rate, number_of_payments, payment_amount). For example, if you assume that your stocks will grow at an average rate of 10% per year, type .1 to represent 10%. If you make monthly (not yearly) payments, divide the interest by 12 (.1/12). Keep the period you use to calculate interest the same as what you used for the interest rate: to calculate montly payments to a 15-year college fund, type 12*15. Finally, type the payment amount, such as $100, as a negative number since you’re technically paying money to the fund (-100). Your finished formula is =FV(.1/12,12*15,-100), showing that at the end of 15 years you’ll have $41,447.03.