⚠️ Ever seen Excel flash a circular reference error?

One second your formula looks fine, the next Excel warns you it’s referring back to itself.

That’s the nightmare of a circular reference. Excel stuck in an endless loop.

To make matters worse, Excel isn't kind enough to point you to the source of the problem.

👉 In this blog, I’ll show you how to track down those sneaky errors and fix them fast.

Sometimes though, you might want to use circular references. For example, to create automatic timestamps.

But if you do, proceed with caution. They can mess up your important calculations.

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💚 Excel turns 40!

Excel's hitting 40 this Tuesday September 30th!

Four decades of making our work lives easier (and occasionally driving us nuts).

To mark the occasion, Microsoft team's doing a Reddit AMA. Head over to r/excel on Sep 30, 10 AM Pacific, if you've got questions about where it's heading next.

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🤓 Geeky News

🍎 Mac gets clipboard history

Finally! With macOS 26 “Tahoe,” Mac users can now paste from clipboard history.

Windows has had Win + V for ages. Now Mac joins in with Cmd + Space + 4.

Turn it on first, then copy away. With multiple items copied, paste them where you need - no more back-and-forth.

🌈 Google Search lands on Windows

Google is launching an app for Windows.

Use the shortcut Alt + Space to open a discrete search bar wherever you are. It can search through your computer files and apps, Google Drive, and the web. No app switching or flow interruption.

It also supports AI Mode (like basically everything these days).

Currently just an experiment from Search Labs, available to US users with a personal Google account.

🤔 There's a lot of competition for the Alt + Space shortcut, though. It's also used to launch the Copilot app, as well as PowerToys Run, both of which serve a similar purpose. You'll have to choose your preferred solution and disable or change the shortcuts for the rest.

🎨 Paint grows up

Remember when Paint was just for simple doodles? Not anymore.

It now supports projects - you can save editable .paint files and come back later, instead of flattening everything to .jpg or .png.

Rolling out to Insiders, alongside updates to Snipping Tool and Notepad.

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👏 Less stress, more progress

Tie used to waste hours debugging Python code through trial and error. Then he learned the fundamentals properly.

So yeah. Sometimes you've got to slow down to speed up.

👉 What's your biggest time-waster right now? Usually it's the thing you're trying to hack your way through.

Have a great week and see you next Sunday,

Leila

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