MS Office

Disable conversion of two numbers with dash as date in Excel

March 10, 2023 by Admin 3 Comments

Microsoft Excel has a feature that automatically coverts two numbers separated by dash in to a date formatted value. For example if you type 6-7 in a cell, Excel would reformat this in to a date value as 7-Jun. But if you do not want to reformat then you can use any of the below mentioned solutions to disable this feature.

Solution 1: Prefixing the values with apostrophe

The simplest solution is to add apostrophe before 6-7. This would display the typed value without reformatting it.

Solution 2: Change format to Text Format

Another alternate solution is to change the formatting of the cell to Text format. Select the cell (or columns), right click and pick Format Cells from the menu list.

In the Format Cells window, select Text Format under Number tab and click OK button to apply the changes.

Also See: How to add country code to phone numbers in Excel

A trick to flip a column upside down in Excel

February 17, 2016 by Admin Leave a Comment

Excel users can sort a column using the Sort feature available as part of Sort & Filter menu. But what if you want to flip a column upside down. Let us see this with an example column having some text values as shown below.

We will not be able to apply sort feature directly on this column to flip the data instead we can add a dummy column and use that for sorting the text values.

Step 1: Insert a new column before the existing column.
Step 2: Now use Auto Fill feature to fill the temp with numbers as shown below

Step 3: Now you can use the Sort feature on column1 and make sure to sort by descending order. Also include the column2 in Sort sleection list.

Step 4: Once the columns are sorted, delete the temp column with numbers.

Prevent users from adding new worksheet in Excel

January 25, 2016 by Admin 2 Comments

Excel 2016, 2013 and 2010 provides an option to prevent users from adding new worksheet to existing Workbook structure. So if you are the owner of Excel file and you do not want to allow other users to add any new worksheet, rename or move worksheet then you can use Protect Workbook Structure option to change the permission. You can access Protect Workbook Structure from the Info menu.

Click the File menu and then navigate to Info menu and click the drop down arrow under Protect Workbook option. From the list of available option select Protect Workbook Structure. This would display the following Protect Structure and Windows. Mark the check box with label as Structure. If you want to password protect it then enter a password in the Password field. Click Ok button to save and confirm the changes.

How to include original message in Outlook

December 8, 2015 by Admin Leave a Comment

Microsoft Outlook users can include the original message while forwarding or replying to an email. The users can choose any one of the following options for original message

Do not include original message
Attach original message
Include original message text
Include and indent original message text
Prefix each line of the original message

Listed below are the steps to access the message handling option in Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007

Include original message in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010
Click File menu, select Options from the list.

In the Outlook Options window, click Mail tab then scroll down Replies and and forwards section.

Use the option “When replying to a message” and “When forward a message” to specify the option for original message.

Include original message in Outlook 2007

Tools -> Options -> Email Options -> On replies and forwards section

Using the drop down available under when replying to a message and When forwarding a message, you can choose any of the following values from drop down.

Also See: Close original message on reply or forward in Microsoft Outlook

Disable permanently delete items warning message in Outlook

November 22, 2015 by Admin 18 Comments

Outlook displays a warning message when deleting outlook emails. It displays a dialog box with message “Are you sure that you want permanently delete the selected items” as shown below

This is very useful warning option for the users before deleting the mail items permanently. But If you do not want to see the permanently deleted warning message then turn off or disable this warning message.

Disable warning message in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Click on the File menu –> Options and navigate to Advanced tab.

Scroll down to Other section and clear the checkbox with label as Prompt for confirmation before permanently deleting items. Click OK to save the changes.

Turn off permanently delete warning message in Outlook 2007

This warning message can be disabled in Outlook 2007 by using Tools –> Options.

Go to Tools –> Options and select Other tab.

Click on the Advanced Options button. The following Advanced Options window would be displayed.

Uncheck the “Warn before permanently deleting items” to disable the warning message.

Also See: How to turn off send without attachments warning message in Outlook

Turn off display search as you type in Microsoft Outlook

November 22, 2015 by Admin 3 Comments

Microsoft Outlook provides option to display search results as we type the text in search box. This is a useful feature but if you think the real-time search result is a distraction then you can disable “display search as you type” feature using Search options. Listed below are steps to turn off this feature in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007

Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Click File menu, select Options from the list.

In the Options window, click Search Options and navigate to Results section.

Un mark the check box with caption as “When possible, display results as the query is typed”

Outlook 2007

And to disable this feature, click on the drop down arrow available in the search box. This would display the following menus

Navigate to Search Options and click it open the Search Option dialog box.

The search section has an option for enabling or disabling the display search results as I type. By un ticking the checkbox this feature can be disabled.

Also See: 15 tips to use Google search effectively