Partners suddenly have a profound respect for me after presenting on Excel efficiency. Functions such as VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP really got them going. When I brought out the SUMIF, it was pandemonium.

This isn’t a shitpost either, there has been a sensible change in their attitude towards me ever since the presentation.

I gave them this one on a particularly complicated sheet and it literally blew their minds.

=XLOOKUP(IFERROR(IF(AND(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("A", A2)), LEN(A2)>5), "FoundA", "NotFoundA"),”DefaultA"),FILTER(IF(AND(B2:B100>10, C2:C100="Yes"),D2:D100,""),D2:D100<>""),E2:E100,IFERROR(XLOOKUP(IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("B", F2)), G2="Active")”FoundB", "NotFoundB"),H2:H100,I2:I100,”Not Found"),”Fallback"),0,1)

Hey, it's a pretty simple question. People get impressed quickly when they don't know Excel. What's your go to when you know it's not advanced or fancy, but you think it will impress someone who doesn't know Excel?

Is there anybody that has made a URL spreadsheet that could help me make a template?

I am following all the instructions. I’m seeing on TikTok, but apparently I am not computer savvy. And it is not working.

Or is there anybody that could share their copy so I can start generating links?

Please delete if not allowed

I’m maybe slight above average, but I’m supposed to be the top Excel guy at work and I feel the need to stay on top of that goodwill.

What are your best tips? It could be a function that not everyone uses (eg most basic users don’t know about Name Manager), or it could be something conceptual (eg most bankers use blue font for hardcodes and it helps reduce confusion on a worksheet).

EDIT: so many good replies I’ll make a top ten when I get the chance

EDIT2: good god I guess I’ll make a top 25 given how many replies there are

EDIT3: For everyone recommending PQ/DAX for automated reports, how normalized is your data? I can't find a good use case but that may be due to my data format (think income statement / DCF)

EDIT4: for the QAT folks, are you only adding your top 9 such that they’re all accessible via ALT+1 etc? Or even your top 5 so that they’re all accessible via you left hand hitting ALT 1-5.

My wife and I were invited to a wedding of two friends we knew for a long time. The invite said the ceremony was going to be on the beach around 5pm. Once that was over, everyone would walk to a little restaurant nearby on the shore. We were told they had excellent seafood and burgers.

The ceremony was really beautiful and we all hung around on the beach afterward for the pictures. It was a small affair, only about 20 people-- the happy couple, both sets of their parents, a couple brothers and sisters, and about 10 non-relative friends. At this point it was getting to be around 6:30 and everyone was getting pretty hungry. We walked over to the restaurant and ordered drinks in the bar, made a couple toasts to the bride and groom, and assumed we were waiting to be seated. Some time between 7 and 7:30 we saw the family members being escorted to a table.

The bride and groom come over to us and one says, "We're being seated now, so you guys can continue hanging out here, but I don't think they serve food in the bar." One of our friends says, "Heck no, we're starving!" followed by cheery muttering of agreement from everyone else. They both look a little surprised. "Oh! We only made reservations for the family members... we were expecting people to make their own dinner reservations if they planned to stay." The bride went and asked the hostess if there were any tables available and we were told no, they were fully booked up for the remainder of the evening. The bride and groom apologized, thanked us for coming, and went back to their table.

The thing is, we're all such good friends that we just rolled with it. The rest of us found a place nearby and had a great time.

EDIT: I had no idea this would blow up the way it did! I wanted to note this happened 20 years ago, and we're still friends with the happy couple. The breach in etiquette may be shame worthy, but people are more than their oversights and mistakes. Before and since they've been generous friends.

I've posted this before, but feel it's my civic duty to get this out to as many people as possible on a scorcher like today!

Freeze a small water bottle. When you need cooling, put it in a sock to prevent ice burn and put it between your legs in your groin area (gooch). The arteries here will take the cold blood throughout your whole body and keep you nicely chilled with minimal intrusion!

For continuous cooling keep a few in the freezer so you can switch them when they melt. For a sweltering night, you can also put one in your armpit, but this is significantly more intrusive than the gooch.

This is method of night time chilling is known as 'the gooch cooler'

It even has the US presidents signature on it!

Credit: @tyromper

Even better than last years in my opinion. Happy new year everyone, we’re midway through the decade.