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PLAY YOUR SPREADSHEET LIKE BATTLESHIP--PART 1
As we mentioned in at least one earlier tip, you can use the Name box--that drop-down list to the left of the Formula bar--to quickly jump to any named range in your workbook. But the Name box has other uses. For example, suppose you're working in the top-left corner of a large, large worksheet, and for some reason, you suddenly need to go to a faraway cell--say, AZ58. You COULD scroll all the way to the cell. Or you could do this:

1. Type the address of the cell you want to go to in the Name box.
2. Press Enter.
There you are.

PLAY YOUR SPREADSHEET LIKE A BATTLESHIP--THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL
Last time, we showed you how to use the Name box to quickly jump to any specific cell in your worksheet. But no sooner did that tip hit the cyber-waves than did we hear voices raised from every corner of Dummies Daily Land, crying, "What about the Go To command? Can't you use the Go To command the same way?" (So, heh heh, you're as captivated by the Go To command as we are. Our brainwashing has worked.) Well, if you're committed to using the keyboard, the Go To command can get you to a specific cell as quickly as the Name box:

1. Press Ctrl + G.
2. Type the address of the cell you want to go to (OR, if you've visited this cell previously via Go To or the Name box, press Alt + G and then use the arrow keys to select the address from the list).
3. Press Enter.
There you are again.

INSTANT AUTOFORMAT
You already know about AutoFormat, the Excel 97 feature that lets you apply predesigned formats to any worksheet table. But you may not know about the AutoFormat button--probably because the AutoFormat button doesn't appear by default on any of Excel's toolbars. The AutoFormat button instantly applies the last AutoFormat you used, without forcing you to pick the range again in the AutoFormat dialog box. Sounds like something you could use, right?

1. Right-click any toolbar and choose Customize from the shortcut menu.
2. In the Customize dialog box, click the Commands tab.
3. Under Categories, select Format.
4. Under Commands, scroll to the bottom of the list, select the AutoFormat button, and drag it to your Formatting toolbar.
5. Click Close.

To use the icon:

1. Select the range you want to format (you can do so by selecting ANY cell in the range).
2. Click the AutoFormat button.

Excel instantly applies the last AutoFormat used to the range. Want to know how to get the AutoFormat button to apply a different AutoFormat?

AUTOFORMAT: THE MAGIC NEVER ENDS
Suppose that you've created a table and applied some formatting to it yourself. Say, for example, that you used a font you like and adjusted the column and row sizes just the way you want them. Now you want to apply one of the AutoFormats WITHOUT changing the things you've already formatted. What to do?

This:
1. Select the table.
2. Choose Format + AutoFormat.
3. Under Table Format, choose the format you want.
4. Click the Options button.
5. Under Formats to Apply, deselect the formats that you don't want AutoFormat to change.
6. Click OK.
Gives you a real feeling of control, no?

AWESOME AUTOSUM
We're sure you're all familiar with AutoSum, that little button on the Standard toolbar you can use to instantly calculate the total of any column or row. Well, today we're here to tell you that you can get the same eye-popping, timesaving benefits of AutoSum WITHOUT TOUCHING THE MOUSE. Read along, please.

To AutoSum a single column or row of numbers:

1. Select the cell immediately below the column of numbers or immediately to the right of the row of numbers.
2. Press Alt + =.
3. Press Enter.

To AutoSum several columns or rows of numbers:

1. Select the cells immediately below each column or immediately to the right of each row.
2. Press Alt + =. (You're finished. When you total several columns or rows, Excel assumes that you know what you're doing and doesn't wait for a confirmation.)

A PRIVACY TIP FROM A READER
Imagine that your boss has sent you and other members of your team an Excel worksheet and asked for your comments in the form of Comment Notes. You browse through the worksheet and within seconds find a mistake so stupid that to point it out, no matter how tactfully you do it, will expose your boss as the total buffoon that he or she is and probably lead to your being fired for insubordination. Still, you must make some kind of comment because the mistake could cost your company millions, and you'll probably be laid off in the resulting downsizing.

What can you do? Well, Dummies Daily subscriber Mary Jane Stigliano suggests you remove your name from your Comment Notes, as follows:

1. Choose Tools + Options.
2. In the Options dialog box, click the General tab.
3. In the User Name text box, replace your name with a space.
4. Click OK.

Now you can comment on your boss' stupidity with complete anonymity. Who said dreams don't come true?

AWW, LOOK--CLIPPIT IS TRYING TO TELL US SOMETHING
Judging by the mail we get, most of you Excel users (and in fact most Office users) would rather bend Clippit, Microsoft's Office Assistant, back and forth until it breaks than actually use it for help. But if you're part of the apparent minority that bothers to pay attention to this pesky paper clip, you may have noticed that sometimes--not all the time, just sometimes--a little yellow light bulb appears over Clippit's, er, head. When this happens, it means Clippit has some advice to offer about whatever it thinks you're doing. To read the advice:

1. Right-click the little yellow light bulb.
2. Choose See Tips from the shortcut menu.

More often than not, Clippit has at least one idea that applies to the task at hand (sometimes the idea isn't relevant to what you're doing; Clippit can make mistakes). If Clippit has another tip to offer, you can see that one by clicking Next.

EXCUSE ME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WHILE I RAM MY FINGER THROUGH THE SCREEN
Dummies Daily subscriber (and master presenter) James Clark writes, "I have a laptop computer with a snap-on mouse, but when I give lectures, I rarely bring the mouse due to the sheer inconvenience. During these lectures, there are times when I wish to move or close the Office Assistant but can't find a way to do this with the keyboard. Do you know of a way?"

Sorry, James--we don't. If any of you out there has discovered the answer, we encourage you to write. In the meantime, save yourself some trouble by dismissing the Assistant before you begin your lecture, as follows:

1. On the Standard toolbar, click the Office Assistant button.
2. When the Help balloon appears, click Options.
3. In the Office Assistant dialog box, click the Options tab.
4. Under Assistant Capabilities, deselect Respond to F1 Key, Help with Wizards, Display Alerts, and Guess Help Topics.
5. Click OK; then click the X button in the top right corner of the Assistant to make it disappear.

These settings keep the Assistant from appearing on its own.

DO YOUR PART WHILE FORMATTING
That OTHER spreadsheet--we think you all know the one we're talking about--forces you to apply a single format to EVERYTHING in the cell; you can't, say, format some of the characters in a cell as bold and others as italic. But Excel 97 isn't so limiting: It lets you format individually any character within any cell that doesn't contain numbers or formulas:

1. Double-click the cell containing the character(s) you want to format.
2. Select the character(s) you want to format.
3. Apply whatever format you want--bold, italic, underlining--in the same way you would apply it to an entire cell.
4. Press Enter.

Look at that. Just try doing it in that OTHER spreadsheet.

THEY'RE NOT JUST FOR DRAWING ANY MORE
Imagine for a moment that you've completely lost your senses (hope this isn't as easy for you as it is for us) and have hidden Excel 97's all-important Formatting toolbar. You type some data into a cell and decide that you want to change its color. Although it looks perfectly fine in black, you think to yourself that it would look so much better in a jewel tone, such as teal or purple.

Without the Formatting toolbar displayed, your only choice is to go to the Format + Cells command, right?

Wrong--if your Draw toolbar is displayed, you can use the Font Color button, which can work its special magic not only on drawing text but also on document text. Try it:

1. Select the text you want to color.
2. On the Draw toolbar, click the arrow next to the Font Color button.
3. Select the color you want from the palette.

Not bad, eh? It's just another way those Draw tools can save your neck.

QUICK DRAW
Last time, we told you that if your Draw toolbar is displayed, you can use its Font Color button to color document text as well as draw text. Well, we're sure many of you immediately asked the question, "What if the Draw toolbar ISN'T displayed? Huh? What good is your cute little tip THEN?"

Well, since we began offering these tips, we've probably given the method for displaying the Draw toolbar--or any other toolbar--about 100 times, so we figure 101 times won't hurt:

1. Right-click any toolbar--OR right-click the menu bar.
2. Choose Drawing from the Shortcut menu.

However, it just so happens that Excel's toolbar contains a button--the Drawing button--that you can click to display the Draw toolbar. This takes less time, so the next time you want to display the Draw toolbar, click the Drawing button on the Standard toolbar.

That's about as short a shortcut as we can make.

HOME AND AWAY
We received this interesting question from a Dummies Daily subscriber who identified himself only as Jean Pierre:
"On my work PC, when I enter data in cells A1 through A5 and press Enter, I jump to cell B1. At home, when I do the same, I jump to cell B5. I have looked everywhere to change this feature so that my home system will jump to B1, but I cannot find the answer. How do I do it?"

Our guess, Jean Pierre, is that at work you're pressing Tab to move from one cell to the next cell on the right, then pressing Enter to indicate the last entry in a row. When you do so, Excel understands Enter to mean "new row, please" and moves you to the beginning of the next row (in your example, B1).

We bet that at home you're pressing the right-arrow key or using the mouse to move from one cell to the next, then pressing Enter. In this scenario, when you press Enter, Excel thinks you mean: "Move me down one cell."

Of course, we could be wrong, but this is the most likely explanation. (Let us know if we're wrong.)

GUIDED SCROLLING
Sure, the vertical and horizontal scroll bars are a great way to zip around your Excel worksheets--but you may not have noticed that they're even better than you think. If you take the time to scroll just a tad more slowly--and pay close attention to the scroll bar-you'll see that the bars provide a little extra help, letting you scroll to the precise location you want:

YOU DON'T NEED GLASSES TO ENJOY 3D
You've used Excel's Drawing Tools to create a fabulous AutoShape, and you're feeling pretty good about yourself until you look at someone else's worksheet and see the same AutoShape--in 3D, so that it fairly leaps from the page! How can you prevent this one-upmanship? Make YOUR AutoShape 3D, as follows:

1. Select your AutoShape.
2. On the Draw toolbar, click the 3D button.
3. From the palette, pick a 3D look and click it. Your little shape springs to life.

3D AS A WEAPON
Last time, we showed you how to convert a flat, ho-hum AutoShape quickly into 3D, thereby preventing your coworker's shapes from stealing your thunder. Today, as promised, we show you how to add even more pizzazz to an AutoShape and establish yourself as Almighty Office ShapeMaster (this is NOT some Suzanne Somers exercise-while-you-work device):

1. Select your AutoShape.
2. On the Draw toolbar, click the 3D button.
3. On the palette, click 3D Settings; the 3D Settings toolbar appears.
4. Start clicking around. The toolbar lets you tilt your shape and change its perspective and depth--even its surface appearance.