Excel Annoyances

MACRO ANNOYANCES

RECORD A MACRO

The Annoyance:

I can’t believe how much of my day I spend doing the same few things over and over again. I could save myself a lot of time by automating those processes. How do I record my steps and play them back at a later time?

The Fix:

To record a series of actions as a macro, follow these steps:

1. Choose Tools → Macro → Record New Macro.

2. Type a name for the new macro in the “Macro name” field and click OK.

3. Perform all the steps you want to record, and when you’re done click the Stop Recording button on the Stop Recording toolbar (shown in Figure 8-16).

   

   Figure 8-16. The Stop Recording button looks like the Stop button on a remote control.

RUN A MACRO

The Annoyance:

I recorded a formatting sequence just as you outlined, but no matter what I try I can’t get Excel to replay it! This is very annoying!

The Fix:

To run a macro, choose Tools → Macro → Macros, highlight the macro you want to run, and click the Run button. Or you can put the macro on a button. To learn how, see "Place Your Macro on a Toolbar or Menu," later in this chapter.

RECORD A MACRO WITH RELATIVE REFERENCES

The Annoyance:

I use Excel to track the results of the games in my city’s soccer leagues. We use a system of promotion and relegation, which means that teams in one league can be promoted to a higher league, or relegated to a lower one, based on their performance. Here’s what’s ...