Contextures Blog

It’s nice to have a new laptop, but it’s amazing how many options and settings need to be adjusted.

For example, on my other machines I’ve changed the settings so those annoying Paste Options and AutoFill Options buttons don’t appear.

Now it’s time to fix them on the new laptop. Does anyone actually use those buttons?

Video: Turn Off Paste Options

Here’s a video I created while changing the Paste/AutoFill options.

Note: I’m also testing the latest version of Camtasia Studio, and it has some video recording settings that I need to adjust too!

To turn off the buttons in Excel 2007:

1. Click the Office Button, then click Excel Options
2. Click Advanced, and in the Cut, Copy and Paste section, remove the check marks from ‘Show Paste Options buttons’ and ‘Show Insert Options buttons’.
3. Click OK

To turn off the buttons in Excel 2003 and earlier:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options
2. On the Edit tab, remove the check marks from ‘Show Paste Options buttons’ and ‘Show Insert Options buttons’.
3. Click OK

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In earlier versions of Excel you could insert a comment on the worksheet, and then use the Drawing toolbar commands to change the comment’s rectangle to a different shape.

It’s not a technique that you’d want to use too often, but it can add impact to a worksheet if used sparingly.

Change Shape Command not on Ribbon

In Excel 2007, the Drawing Tools Format tab doesn’t appear on the Ribbon when you select a comment, so the Change Shape command isn’t available.

It’s still possible to change the comment’s shape, but it takes a bit more effort.

There are written steps, and a short video, below

Add Change Shape Command

The first step is to add the Change Shape command to the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT):

• Right-click the QAT, and click Customize Quick Access Toolbar
• At the top, in the Choose commands from drop down list, click Drawing Tools | Format Tab
• Then, in the list of commands, click Change Shape, shown in the screen shot below
• Next, click the Add button, to put the command on the QAT
• Finally, click the OK button, to close the Excel Options window

Change the Comment Shape

After you’ve added the Change Shape command to the QAT, it’s easy to change a comment shape (or any other shape on the worksheet.

To change a comment’s shape, follow these steps:

• First, select the cell that contains the comment
• Next, on the Ribbon, click the Review tab, and click Edit Comment
• Click the border of the comment, to select the shape.
  • The selected shape should have a thick grey border, like the one in the screen shot below.
• Finally, on the QAT. click the Change Shape command, and click on the shape that you want to use.

Watch the Video

To see the steps for adding the Change Shape command, and changing the comment shape, you can watch this short Excel video tutorial.

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It seems simple enough, but sorting data in Excel can go horribly wrong, if you aren’t careful.

For example, you could sort a list of names, but miss the phone numbers in a nearby column. Then, when you’re finished sorting, all the names are associated with the wrong phone number.

Trouble Free Excel Sorting

Here are some tips for trouble free sorting in Excel:

• Make a backup copy of your file before you sort the list. If there are problems with the sorted list, you can use a copy of your backup file instead.
• Save the file before you sort the list. Then, if the list get scrambled, you can close the list without saving it again.
• Before you sort, select all the cells in the list. This is the safest approach to sorting. In most cases, you can select one cell and Excel will correctly detect the rest of the list — but not always. If there are blank rows or columns, some of the data may not be included in the sort, and the list will be scrambled.

Sort Excel Data by One Column

In some lists, you might want to sort by one column. For example, in a list of sales orders, you could sort by Order Number.

• Select all the cells in the list. Tip: Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A.
• On the Ribbon, click the Data tab, then click Sort.

• From the Sort by dropdown, select the column you want to sort.
  Note: If the dropdown is showing Column letters instead of headings, add a check mark to My data has headers.

• From the Sort On drop down, select Values.
• From the Order drop down, select A to Z, or Z to A.
• Click OK

Sort Excel Data by Two or More Columns

Sometimes you need to sort by multiple columns.

For example, in a list of sales orders, you could sort by Customer Name and then by Order Date.

The customers would be sorted alphabetically, and if there are multiple orders for a customer, those orders would be sorted by date.

• Follow steps 1 to 5 in the Sort Excel Data by One Column instructions above, to sort by Customer Name.
• Click Add Level

• From the Then By drop down, select the second column that you want to sort – Order Date in this example.

• Add other levels, if necessary.
• Click OK

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