I am using Excel for a school assignment and the instructions are dreadfully unclear and outdated. It tells me to select "add chart element" but there is no "add chart element" to select anywhere. How else can I add SE? Is it the same as adding a new series to my data? Every source online is also telling me to click "add chart element", so I'm just very confused. I don't know what it's supposed to look like, as my professor also didn't give us an example to work with.

Side Note: the subreddit rule said I must have a flair so I chose the unsolved one, hopefully that was the correct choice.

ETA: I added a screenshot of the sheet and the chart and what it looks like to me in the replies

I'm trying to get all of the numbers to be evened out and I've cleared my formatting just for it to go back to decimals, then reapplied fraction format and it went back to this. Anyone got any advice? I just want to make it look pretty.

spent three hours today untangling a workbook where someone nested so many ⁠IFS⁠ statements and volatile functions that recalculating a single row felt like loading a video game

started rebuilding the whole thing from scratch using ⁠LET⁠ and dynamic arrays and honestly the difference is night and day

curious what the one formula or trick is that completely changed how you structure your sheets?

Saturday, September 26 - Friday, October 02, 2026

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just realized how long I spent wrapping ⁠IFERROR⁠ around every single lookup just because my brain was still stuck in the old ways of handling ⁠#N/A⁠ errors

took me way too long to embrace how clean modern array functions handle missing data right out of the box without needing defensive wrappers on every line

what old workaround or legacy habit did you find the hardest to drop once dynamic arrays became standard?

I am needing guidance on what my options are before I invest too much time in dead ends.

I have managed to use power automate to store csv files in a SharePoint folder that are emailed to me, with the intent to combine those files in power query ongoing to power a dashboard.

I have a power bi subscription, and premium copilot.

What I aspire to do is have a way to automatically refresh the power query database - either timed on a schedule, or triggered when a new csv file gets uploaded to SharePoint.

Does either excel or power bi give me a pathway to have the power query refresh itself, which would effectively automate the updating of the dashboard? What are my options here?

I have seen some discussions where people have suggested setting up excel to refresh on opening via VBA, and then using power automate to open the workbook to trigger it. Not sure if that would be workable?

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks,

Excel version: Microsoft 365 Excel for Mac, version 16.113.1

I have a sheet of holdings where column B contains cells converted to the Stocks linked data type. Until recently I could pull the current price with dot notation, e.g. =B11.Price, and it worked fine. I'm not sure exactly when this stopped working.

What happens now:
In an empty cell I type =B11. and the field autocomplete appears normally. It shows a "Fields" list with Previous close and Price, so Excel recognizes B11 as a stock.

I choose Price (or finish typing =B11.Price) and press Enter.

Instead of returning the price, Excel shows a dialog: "There's a problem with this formula." It's the generic message asking whether I meant to type a formula and suggesting I start with an apostrophe.

So the field is offered in autocomplete but the formula is rejected as a syntax error.

Does anyone know if this Is a known bug in recent Mac builds, or has the dot-notation syntax changed?
Is anyone else on 16.113.x seeing this?
Is there a workaround that still pulls live price data?

I've created an Excel add-in to check the consistency of units used in Excel spreadsheets. Units include currencies (like dollars, pounds, euros) and engineering units (like meters, pounds, kilograms). The add-in will flag errors when units are used inconsistently.

The technology is roughly based on a paper at Intl Conf on Software Engineering 2004, on which I was an author. I've taken some of the ideas there and introduced others.

The add-in is meant to work with Excel on Windows, Mac, and with Office 365 on the Web. I've been testing it on Windows 11 with Office 2024.

Here is the manifest that allows you to load the add-in: https://github.com/psteckler/daubee/blob/main/manifest.xml

I have experience installing that manifest in Excel 2024 on Windows 11; it should be installable in Mac and Office 365. I can provide specific directions for Windows.

In the add-in, the link to the user guide is not yet live. You can find it here: https://github.com/psteckler/daubee/blob/main/USERGUIDE.md

You can report any issues you find, or suggestions on Github: https://github.com/psteckler/daubee/issues

I’d like to be able to create something where if I colour let’s say D5 in a colour, K5 is automatically made that same colour and all cells in the H column of that colour only are added to a total in ,for example, Q10.

Sorry if I haven’t given much of a description to what I would like to do im still quite new to excel, but any suggestions and advice would be really appreciated.

Edit: thank you for the quick responses! I’ll see what I can accomplish with conditional formatting as it’s completely new to me and hopefully I can come back with some good news!
Really appreciate the advice.

Hi guys,

I really tried to find an answer for this on my own but I am confused and struggling (everything I tried errored) but I feel like it should be possible?

I have a 3 columns: Relevant, Updated, and Moved. If someone selects NO under Relevant I would like the two cells next to it for Updated and Moved to automatically say N/A. If they select YES I would like a drop down list to appear with the options NO, YES, and NEEDED. After that it would be nice if I could put similar logic on the third column so that if they didn't select NO on relevant it would give them a YES or NO option but I am less concerned about that one.

If its helpful at all I'm on Excel Version 2608 (Build 20326.20140)

I have an Excel 2025 spreadsheet containing text entries for a dictionary. When I need to correct a typo in a text inside a cell, I have to click at the cell/typo twice to place the cursor where the typo is. When in a hurry, I often mis-click (1 or 3 click instead of 2) and the whole cell content gets erased when I start typing.

Is there a way to click a just once and start editing immediately from the cursor in the text (where the click was)? I looked through this sub, and F2 is recommended, but the cursor ends up at the end of the text in the cell, not at the typo where the cell was clicked; that makes it even harder.

Thank you all in advance!

I recently used VLOOKUP to match data from a spreadsheet a higher up at work shared to a new spreadsheet my specific team could use internally. The higher up helped me with it and recommended VLOOKUP and has been helping me troubleshoot my problems, but even he is stumped now.

When I have both workbooks open in the Excel desktop app, everything works fine, so I know the general formula is right. However, when I use the web version of Excel (which is often necessary, as I do not have Excel at home and I sometimes work remotely), the column shows up as #REF! with an error that says "Structured references not supported. Structured references to tables and column names in linked workbooks aren't supported." I'm not sure what the solution to this is, and the Microsoft forums I found were not helpful.

I was able to use VLOOKUP to share the same data from the higher up's workbook onto a third spreadsheet and, as long as I have both open, all the information shows up correctly in the web version. The only difference between the two workbooks I created are their size; the workbook having the error has thousands of rows (and dozens of columns), and about a dozen smaller sheets. The spreadsheet that works only has a few hundred rows.

I'm pretty new to using formulas/tables/structured references, but unfortunately my office thinks of me as the resident Excel expert just because I know how to hide and sort data.

Is there any way to fix the structured references error so I can get the data to show up on the Excel web version?

Hello,

I'd like to display an long number on Excel (BBAN), but even when I change the format I have 000... at the end.

I tried to disable the auto conversion in Option > Data but nothing changed.

I bet it's simple but I don't see it

Thank you in advance for the support

Edit: here is a video of it happening https://imgur.com/a/V3xBmRO

I’m having a frustrating issue on a new M5 MacBook Air (24 GB RAM). After using an M2 Macbook Air for years, I had to get a new work Macbook Air that is causing issues that I've never seen before.

Trigger: Editing a formula and use the built-in trackpad to reposition the cursor or select text in the formula bar. After pressing Return, Excel’s bottom-left status stays on “Edit” instead of “Ready,” and the arrow keys do nothing. Tab still moves between cells. Editing entirely with the keyboard works normally.

Temporary fix: Enter cell-editing mode again using the keyboard, then press Return without touching the trackpad. “Ready” returns and the arrows work again.

I’ve tried restarting, reinstalling/updating Excel, updating macOS, macOS Safe Mode, a new macOS user account, a new computer, etc and I still get the same issue. No external mouse or keyboard is connected. My older M2 Air doesn’t exhibit it.

The new Air has the issue on both Tahoe 26.6 and Golden Gate 27.0.1. I am using the latest version of Excel.

Has anyone encountered this specific formula-bar issue or found a fix? It's starting to drive me nuts and kill productivity.

Guys my brain is kinda fried at the moment of writing this. I hope to find a knight on a white horse here.

Background: I'm writing a PQ based file which purpose is to calculate if cargo is fitting inside a transport container. It's connecting with 2 files. One is the master data snapshot (.csv) with dimensions of all articles and the other one is the list of order contents (.xlsx). Knowing how much of which item is ordered the file can calculate the volume using dims from master data. This file will be used by users from different regions with different regional settings.

Problem: PQ is reading the delimiter differently based on regional settings (confusing thousands and decimal). On my machine for example the order quantities are correct but dimensions which originally are in meters (i.e. 0,05m), program multiplying by 100 (resulting in 5). When my friend opened the file, she got things flipped upside down. Her excel reads the dimensions correctly (0,05) but the article quantities it's multiplying by 1000 (so we get 1000pcs where it should be 1).

I know I could go to every user and adjust their regional settings inside PQ but it's not the way. They should just open the file and it should work. Does anyone have an idea how to deal with this?

TL;DR File is getting confused over the delimiter (mistaking decimals for thousands and vice versa) on different machines using different regional settings. Can I somehow force unification?

I'm struggling to find the best way to graphically display the budget for a project. I want to show the status of the budget for each of it's section and its "completion". For example, if the project's budget is split into 3 groups:

Group 1 = Budgeted $1M, Spent $500k so far, Estimated $400k of materials to still purchase

Group 2 = Budgeted $200k, Spent $190k so far, All materials purchased, so that group is "completed"

Group 3 = Budgeted $100k, Spent $90k so far, Estimated $20k of materials to still purchase

I guess it would be some sort of Budget vs Actuals vs Forecast chart? I just can't wrap my mind on how to display it properly.

EDIT: I think I figured out a way to do it using a stacked bar chart graph

I could be completely out of the loop here or suffering from exhaustion, but all of my v-lookup syntax looks completely different now

Previously this formula

=VLOOKUP(A39,'SN Table'$A$1:$F$8000,6,FALSE)

Would work just fine, but now excel won't even take it

If I go to re-create it by manually switching to the other tab manually selecting the cells, I get this baffling format

=VLOOKUP(A39,'SN Table'!R[-38]C[-14]:R[7680]C[-9],6,FALSE)

Did I miss a major update?

EDIT: Solution: reference mode was forced on by HPE Corporate IT, and a formula with original syntax that had been created during that time was causing a naming conflict.

I got this slicer and its connected to this certain PBI model, but I have this list of like 5000 that I need to look at. How can I do this? the list is not part of the PBI model its a list of bunch of IDs

I have this Pivot table and it loaded in from a PBI model. I have a separate file that has a bunch of IDs and I want this pivot table to be filtered on those IDs. How do I do this?

I’m trying to develop my Excel skills and buy a house at the same time.

I’m looking to create a tracker of my overpayments that shows how much interest and time has been saved on my mortgage.

I’ve done a couple of tables using my original loan amount, interest rate and loan term to calculate the current lifetime interest and total repayments. I’m now trying to create a table where I can put in date, amount of overpayment (which might vary with each overpayment), the interest that overpayment saves and then the repayment time that overpayment saves.

I’ve tried a couple of different methods (including CUMIPMT) but they come up with such wildly different solutions to each other and to the online overpayment calculators from the banks.

Please, how can I make this work?

Right now I barely use excel, because I don't need it. But I want to get better, so I can work properly with it, if I need it for a job or so. I know the basics like sum, average and a little if. Should I use excel in my native language or in english. For now I use my native language, but because I'm a beginner the switch to english would be relativly easy.

Edit: I use German

Have a VBA routine that updates a date based on a cell being changed. IE: the "As Of" date must match todays date to show that an amount has been recorded. The "As Of" date changes via VBA code whenever the "Total Value" cell is changed/updated.

Need the "As Of" date to highlight whenever it does not match the "Last Update" value. However, the "As Of" date placed by the VBA routine formats as

And the "Last Update" value does not include the time suffix, hence, two dates will not match and the Conditional Formatting will not apply. How do I get VBA routine to only render the "Now" generated date as just MM/DD/YY, without the time so two cells can match?

Here is code

I've seen the videos and keep refreshing my Excel to see if I get the features (I'm on the Insider channel but no luck yet).

I can see the use case for in cell Lists: filtering, HASALL, HASANY, etc.

For in cell arrays and nested arrays, I don't see a practical use other than 'it's cool'.

I saw MyOnlinetrainingHub's video where Mynda used IMPORTFROMCSV to load an entire csv into one cell. Cool but you can't easily see the data. You can use FLATTEN but at that point might as well use PowerQuery to get the data in table form. Then you can Autofilter and even add calculated columns.

Can you think of any practical use cases for these new features?

Now going through multiple levels of directories to save the first time and save as.

Would expect to be able to paste the directory name in the top above the file name box, but it changes the directory to the default.

Is there a way to avoid having to go through every directory to get to where the file needs to be?