The sneaky way to check files without opening them


Let's say you're waiting for colleagues to submit the latest data. You need to check if the files came in. And if the data is complete.

So you start opening files one by one.

It's tedious. And completely avoidable.

When Microsoft released the new IMPORTCSV function, I wasn't ready to throw Power Query out the window. It still handles far more sources and does things this new function simply can't.

But it got me thinking. What if you could peek at a CSV without fully loading it? Just enough to know: did the file arrive? Is the data complete?

So I built a simple tracker that does exactly that.

Give it your file paths (local or SharePoint) and it checks your files. No opening required.

At a glance you can see:

  • What's submitted
  • Which files are missing expected line items
  • A quick preview of any file's contents when you need it

In the video, I walk you through how the whole thing works.

video previewโ€‹

Download the template here and adapt it to your setup.

(For now, you need to be part of Office Insiders.)

๐Ÿ“ฒ Turn Your Commute into a Promotion

Did you know you can watch XelPlus courses on your phone? Even offline.

Download the Teachable app, log in, and your courses are right there.

You can download lessons and watch them completely offline. No wifi needed.

Waiting rooms. Flights. That 40-minute commute where you're just staring out the window.

How to get started:

  1. Search for "Teachable online courses" in your app store (iOS and Android)
  2. Log in with the email you used to enroll in the course
  3. Select XelPlus Academy by Leila Gharani and pick your course

Your progress syncs automatically. Start on your computer. Pick up on your phone. Right where you left off.

๐Ÿค“ Geeky News

๐Ÿ“Š Power BI reports just got a visual upgrade

Power BI Desktop is getting a modern makeover in preview.

New reports will look polished right out of the box. Wider canvas, cleaner charts, smoother lines, slicers that default to dropdown.

Basically, a lot of the formatting you used to do manually is now done for you, handled via the base theme or visual presets.

To try it: Options > Preview features > Modern visual defaults and customizing theme improvements.

๐Ÿ•ธ๏ธ Faster file search in Word, Excel and PowerPoint online

Microsoft is rolling out a small but useful update to the web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Start typing a filename in the search bar on the homepage and matching files pop up instantly in a dropdown.

No more scrolling through a sea of recent files trying to spot the right one.

Rolling out now to commercial Microsoft 365 users.

๐ŸŒˆ Google Calendar gets a smarter time zone picker

Scheduling across time zones just got a little less painful.

Google Calendar now lets you search by city or country when setting a time zone, instead of scrolling through that endless dropdown list.

Works everywhere you pick a time zone in Calendar.

Rolling out now to all Google accounts, starting with rapid release.

๐Ÿ™Œ Not sitting for hours anymore

Claudia is a financial accountant who was manually capturing invoices every single month.

After the Automate Excel course, that process runs itself.

Claudia Blake

Financial Accountant

Part of my tasks at work is that I need to capture invoices on a monthly basis from the same supplier, in the same format, etc.

By enrolling in this course, I was able to find ways to automate the process so that I don't spend hours manually capturing the information from the invoices.

I feel excited to explore Power Query and Power Automate more. I have already started using some of the lessons in my daily tasks to automate several monotonous functions.

I have more time to focus on other tasks and more important aspects as I am not sitting for hours sifting through the same information on a monthly basis. I am able to get Excel to work for me.

Think about your own work. What's the task you do on repeat, every week or every month, that you know shouldn't take that long? That's exactly what this course is for.

See you next week,

Leila

When you're ready, here are some ways we can help:

๐ŸŽ“ Join 400,000+ members in our coursesโ€‹

๐Ÿ“บ Get free tutorials on YouTubeโ€‹

๐Ÿ‘ฅ Train your whole team with our courses. Team pricing and progress tracking - reply for details.


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Leila Gharani - XelPlus

XelPlus is a leading online education company, providing training courses for Excel, Power BI, Finance, and Google Sheets. XelPlusโ€™ bestselling courses are popular among financial analysts, CFOโ€™s, and business owners. Technology is changing fast. We help our members turn confusion into confidence with every skill learnt.

Read more from Leila Gharani - XelPlus

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