The real article is being written and will appear in due course.

Part of a series:

  1. Introduction. About the series.
  2. Structure. The key to success.
  3. Navigation. Sheets and more.

What’s the problem?

In Excel it’s often hard to find things. This increases risk, but in simpler terms it means something more obvious: lots of wasted time. Let me explain, using worksheets.

You know the scenario. You have a workbook of 50-60 sheets, perhaps built by someone else. You’re looking for a particular sheets. Where is it? You start with the first sheet and “control page down”. No, it’s nowhere. You’re at the end and reverse: “control page up”. Nope.

You … slow down. One sheet at a time. Two further minutes. It’s in the middle: sheet 27.

In 2018 this scenario led me to develop my personal PXL addin.

Good structure is a partial solution

Unsurprisingly, good structure helps. It may stop you putting “objects” beyond column Z (or column XFC!) where they are unlikely to be found. But there are two scenarios to consider.

If you’re disorganized - or someone else has been - you still need to be able to find things. That elusive table or graph. Or the sheet or row that someone has helpfully hidden.

If you’re a structure guru you may still have many tens of sheets. In fact there are cases where that could be part of good structure. You’ve still got to be able to navigate then like a pro.

I’m here to help.