XelPlus is a leading online education company, providing training courses for Excel, Power BI, Finance, and Google Sheets. XelPlus’ bestselling courses are popular among financial analysts, CFO’s, and business owners. Technology is changing fast. We help our members turn confusion into confidence with every skill learnt.
Have you been sleeping on GROUPBY?
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Look, I don't think pivot tables are going away anytime soon. But the GROUPBY function has a major advantage - it updates dynamically. No need to click Refresh. The data is always up to date. Plus, it's much more powerful than you think. I was playing around with the GROUPBY function recently, and I prepared 7 tricks that take GROUPBY reports from okay to AWESOME. And in the Geeky News, catch up on:
🎬 7 GROUPBY TricksThinking GROUPBY function is for simple data grouping? Or that: ❌ GROUPBY can't do a distinct count ❌ GROUPBY can't show multiple calculations ❌ GROUPBY won't let you sort months properly Wrong! It might need a little assist from other functions, but it's actually really flexible. Check out the tricks to get the most out of GROUPBY. So, which one was your favorite? 😁 And are there any tricks I've missed? 🤔 For a refresher on GROUPBY basics, check out this video. To brush up on HSTACK, CHOOSECOLS, DROP, watch this. That's the beauty of Excel functions - you can combine them as you need. And you get fully dynamic results. It's like an Excel superpower. Want to follow along? Grab the file. A note on availability: The GROUPBY function is now generally available to all Microsoft 365 users in the current channel. If your company gets regular Office updates, you should already have it. But many companies are conservative with updates. You might not get this function until July 2025 or later. But it is coming! 🥋 Become an Excel Black BeltThings are changing fast, and if you're still manually fixing spreadsheets, or dreading last-minute reports, you’re playing on hard mode. The Black Belt Excel Bundle gives you the exact skills to automate the boring stuff, master data like a pro, and make yourself indispensable - without overwhelm.
🤓 Geeky News💻 Microsoft testing a free version of Office DesktopReportedly, Microsoft is testing an ad-supported version of Office. Yes. I'm referring to Office desktop apps: Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. A free web version has been around for a while, which I covered in this video. It comes with some limitations. How does the free desktop version compare? Well, it seems the free app-version is even more limited than web, if you can believe it. The free version of Excel is missing features like pivot tables (GROUPBY will come in handy, then), conditional formatting, slicers, defined names, macros, and all data tools, among others. Some basic (and most advanced) features are also missing from Word and PowerPoint. Plus, you can only save the files to OneDrive, so you still need an Internet connection to use it. The ads include a permanent banner and a short video that plays every few hours. Microsoft has denied any plans of launching a free, ad-supported version of Office. But the tests (which seem to be limited to selected regions) have stirred a lot of speculation. ✈️ Copilot in Excel with Python now availableCopilot in Excel with Python is getting out of preview. If your Excel version supports Python, Copilot can conduct advanced analysis of your data. This means you don't have to be a proficient coder to get deep insights. But as with any AI tool, I advise having some ground understanding of Python if you're going to use it. That way, you know what you can ask for. And you can steer Copilot in the right direction when it goes astray. In the official blog post, Microsoft's also touting the floating Copilot icon that everybody hates. But at least they also promised a way to disable it (in the near future). Copilot in Excel now also gets to peek outside the workbook. The ability to access information from the web or files on your OneDrive is currently rolling out to Office Insiders. And finally, there're whispers that Python in Excel and Copilot in Excel with Python are coming to Mac (Beta to start with). 🧰 Easier app installation on Windows with PowerToysPowerToys is a set of super useful utilities for Windows that help users be more productive. They include Run, a tool for quickly finding apps and files. Microsoft is testing a new feature that connects PowerToys Run with Winget, a package manager for Windows. This would let you download new apps directly. Just press Alt + Space, type an app’s name, and install it without opening the Microsoft Store or a website. No need to use the command line or go through installation wizards. Another reason to check out PowerToys. 👏 Power StoriesCongratulations to Anna on completing Fundamentals of Financial Analysis! 🎉 Fluency in the language of finance lets you make informed financial decisions. Wishing Anna successful investments - may her financial journey be prosperous and rewarding. 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 Want more?▶️ Subscribe on YouTube 🖇️ Follow us on LinkedIn 🥇 Join 400,000+ students in our courses 📣 Want to sponsor Between the Sheets? Get in touch here. 📨 If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free weekly email here. This newsletter contains affiliate links, which give us a small commission on any purchase made at no cost to you. This helps us run Between the Sheets and bring you updates like this. Thank you for your support! |
Leila Gharani - XelPlus
XelPlus is a leading online education company, providing training courses for Excel, Power BI, Finance, and Google Sheets. XelPlus’ bestselling courses are popular among financial analysts, CFO’s, and business owners. Technology is changing fast. We help our members turn confusion into confidence with every skill learnt.
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