In today’s business world, Microsoft Excel is one of the most powerful and versatile computer programs available. Unfortunately, most people don’t fully know how to use it successfully to help increase their productivity way beyond what they think is possible. Many of us use Excel for work daily, but miss the many resources available to improve our productivity right before our eyes. The good news is that it doesn’t take long to improve your Excel spreadsheet skills.

There are several little efficiency-boosting tips and tricks that can make a world of difference to the way in which you work with data and the effort required. For example, do you know that Excel comes with a camera tool that allows you to take pictures of any range of cells in your worksheet and paste it elsewhere?

Here are 10 productivity boosting tips you can use to improve the way you use Excel:

Tip #1: The Format Painter

Use Format Painter to transfer formatting from one cell to another.

Tip #2:  Sorting

Sorting data from top to bottom or left to right.

Tip #3: The Camera  Tool

Allows you to take pictures of your spreadsheet data.

Tip #4: Print Titles

Learn how to print titles on every page of your report with only one entry.

Tip #5: Paste Special Multiplication

Learn how to ripple increases in your column data with no additional work.

Tip #6: Empty Chart Gaps

Enhance the appearance of your charts when there is no data is available.

Tip #7: Copy Chart Formatting

Copy formatting from one chart to another without the need for additional work.

Tip #8: Chart Line Smoothing

A little trick to produce a smoothed chart line instead of the normal type.

Tip #9:  Freeze Panes

This shows you how to freeze parts of your screen so that navigating large spreadsheets becomes easier.

Tip #10:  Text to Speech

Use Windows TTS to talk data into Excel spreadsheets.

Tip #11:  Autofill

Learn how to save time entering repetitive data by allowing Excel to detect patterns.