Analyzing data is all about sums and percentages.

Hold on!

Sometimes you need a good old count.

For example:

1. Count transactions in Region X in August.
2. Count items in stock that fall below a threshold quantity and belong to category X.
3. Count the number of customers in Segment A & B.

You get the idea.

Well, there's a simple Excel function that can do all this.

🧮 COUNTIFS - Are You Doing it Right?

The COUNTIFS function counts the number of cells in a range that meet one or more conditions.

COUNTIFS has been around for a while.

But do you know all its secrets?

​

Watch the video to review the basics and learn:

• Why I prefer COUNTIFS to COUNTIF (or COUNTA and COUNTBLANK).
• How to count cells not equal to a value.
• How to count values greater or smaller than a number.
• How to use COUNTIFS to count blank or non-blank cells.
• How to count cells between two dates.
• How to use COUNTIFS to count different criteria in the same column.
• How to count cells that contain certain text (partial match).

You can follow along with me by downloading this file.

🎥 Pivot Table Masterclass: 64% videos recorded

For the past weeks, I've been busy recording videos for our new pivot table masterclass.

Pivot tables are amazing.

You don't need to worry about getting your formulas right. Or even about that dollar sign.

They're like pre-made tables that come with all the answers. Counts included. 😊

There's a lot more to them though than most realize.

And a lot that can go wrong.

That's why this course, which began as a mini course, became a master class.

We're aiming for a September release date.

So, if you haven't signed up to our interest list to be notified as soon as the course is live, you can do it 👉 here.

🤓 Geeky News

📄 Built-in document editor on Zoom

The video conferencing platform Zoom is launching a word processor.

Zoom Docs is built into Zoom Meetings to allow taking notes without switching apps.

It includes many meeting-related templates, like brainstorming, meeting agenda, project tracker, and more.

Zoom's AI Companion helps you get started. It brings access to AI-generated meeting summaries and transcripts.

Zoom Docs is seen as a rival to Word and Google Docs. But it has some spreadsheet-like features too. You can create data tables with filters, sorting, and grouping.

You can import .docx, .xlsx, .txt, and .csv files.

It's not a direct replacement for the familiar Office tools, though. For example, Zoom Docs are not really intended for printing.

The focus is on features that are useful in online collaboration. In that sense, it's more like Microsoft Loop.

It has similar formatting options and content blocks that you call up with the / key.

Enter / and start typing the command. It lets you embed images, video, and other media. You can also @ mention other users.

A free Zoom Workplace account lets you create up to 10 docs without charge. A paid account offers unlimited access.

📝 Draw straight shapes in Word

Meanwhile, Word is getting some features from OneNote. Namely, Draw and Hold, which allows you to draw neat shapes with your mouse or digital pen.

Draw the shape in a single stroke and wait for a second. Your uneven squiggles get converted into straight lines.

Word - and other Office apps - already have the Ink to Shape feature. But this new option doesn't require activating any buttons.

You just draw - and hold.

Draw and Hold is available from Version 2406 (Build 17726.20016).

🎞️ Noise suppression and background removal in Clipchamp

Microsoft's video editor, Clipchamp, has two new AI-enhanced features:

• Noise suppression reduces the background noise in your video or audio tracks.
• Image background removal removes the background of any image even without a greenscreen.

Both features are available in the free version for personal and work accounts.

👏 Power Stories

Congrats to Ora on completing Business Charts in Excel! 🙌

I'm glad we've helped to remove some of the frustration out of chart creation in Excel.

Wishing you many successful presentations to the top management. 😊

Got a success story about using your XelPlus skills? I’d love to hear it! Hit reply to share the details, and inspire other students 😇

See you next week,

Leila

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