Get Free Help With Your Excel Problems

Do people email you, asking for Excel help? Co-workers? Family members? Strangers from the Internet?

Email Message

Here’s a favourite “Email Help” message from my mailbox this week:

Subject: help me in excel
Dear sir,
I have a problem in excel i requesting to you solve this. I am sending the data of excel sheet pls look in to that
If you have want any information on that please get back to me
I am waiting for your reply
Regards
Anonymous

Those “Dear Sir” emails make me feel like Peppermint Patty. At least the attached Excel file was small, unlike some of the multi-megabyte files I’ve been sent.

Sorry Anonymous, but I can’t help with your Excel problem today. My desk is piled high with work, and I won’t have any extra time to decipher your file.

Where to Get Help

Fortunately, there are places where Anonymous, or you, can get free help with your Excel problems, or ask questions about other Microsoft products.

  • You can post questions in the online Excel help forums, which provide free peer-to-peer support
  • You could even post a short cry for help in Twitter, and it’s likely that someone will respond. Use the hashtag #Excel in your tweet

Ask Questions in Public

These are much better options than emailing me, and asking for private help. Why?

  • There are people reading those messages 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – you have a much better chance of getting a quick reply.
  • Thousands of people are reading the messages, and probably some of them are experts in the area where you need help.
  • Responses are usually very quick, and you’ll sometimes get multiple replies, giving you a variety of solutions.
  • When you post a question and get a response, it might help someone else who has the same question later. They can find your question and answer by searching in Google.

Good luck, Anonymous! I hope you find someone who can help with that Excel question.
_______________________

14 thoughts on “Get Free Help With Your Excel Problems”

  1. Debrah,

    I am a friend of Roger Govier – met him in London a few years back. I’ve tried to contact him recently and get no response. Is he okay, or maybe ill?

    Regards,
    Phil

  4. My favorite is the follow-up email guy. You know, the one that writes:

    “Did you get a chance to look at my file? What’s the status on that file I sent.”

    I’ll try to help with quick fixes, but sorry, I can’t build the next PeopleSoft in Excel.

  5. Gee Mike, are you slipping? I was expecting that PeopleSoft Excel release last week :-)

    Maybe I’ll try it myself – should only take 4 or 5 hours. I’ll follow up with you if it doesn’t work. (Again with the :-) )

  6. You should have just sent a link to your book on Amazon. NEVER miss a sales opportunity.

  8. […] do you go when you’ve got an Excel question? A while ago, I recommended the Excel newsgroups as a great place to ask questions and get one (or several) solutions. Is that what you use, or […]

  9. i have problem using excel vba code for data entry in range to offset a row in 2 columns via userform (e.g)
    Receipt Payment
    Row1 1250 Leave this cell empty
    Row2 100 Leave this cell empty
    Roow3 leave empty cell 200

  11. […] the past, I highly recommended the Excel newsgroups as a place to go for help. Earlier this month, Microsoft shut down their newsgroup servers, where […]

  12. oops
    the question didnt come properly because of the format
    can any one provide your email address so that i can forward you the same question
    awaiting your reply
    Hanif Ahmed

  13. Case 1 Column E Column H Column I ColumnJ Column L

    fx102030 4-Jul-10 1-Jan-10 31-Jan-10 52
    bm405060 3-Mar-10 1-Feb-10 28-Feb-10 48
    1-Mar-10 31-Mar-10 51
    1-Apr-10 30-Apr-10 50
    1-May-10 31-May-10 46
    1-Jun-10 30-Jun-10 49
    1-Jul-10 31-Jul-10 55
    1-Aug-10 31-Aug-10 43
    1-Sep-10 30-Sep-10 42
    1-Oct-10 31-Oct-10 47
    1-Nov-10 30-Nov-10 54
    1-Dec-10 31-Dec-10 53

    If the dates in column “E” falls within the date range in column “H” and “I” then the rates in column “J” should come in Column “L”

  14. A B C D E
    1 20/01/2012 Sun11 18-04-12 22-05-12 Sun2
    2 19/02/2012 Sun12
    3 20/03/2012 Sun1
    4 19/04/2012 Sun2
    5 20/05/2012 Sun3
    6 20/06/2012 Sun4
    DATE BETWEEN C1 AND D1 MATCH FROM A COLUMN PICK UP VALUE FROM B COLUMN ,IN HEAR VALUE IS Sun2 (not 2nd match sun3), plz help which formula I use for E1

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