I am not a numbers whiz, so when I use Excel, I always have a calculator standing by just in case. My formulas have an unhappy habit of coming up with "unexpected" results. Recently, I discovered that you can add a button that lets you access a calculator right from the Excel toolbar. This happy news means my ancient solar calculator can rest in a drawer while I'm fussing with formulas.
To add the calculator button:
1. Choose View|Toolbars and click Customize.
2. Click the Commands tab.
3. In the Categories list, click Tools
4. On the right hand side, under Commands, click Custom. (There are actually two icons that say Custom; you want the one that looks like a tiny gray calculator. )
5. Drag the little gray calculator button from the Commands list to a toolbar.
6. Click the Close button.
Now when you click the button, the Windows calculator runs. How convenient!
The curious among you may wonder what the other Custom button does. If you clicked the Description button in the Customize dialog box, you know that yes, the answer is Solitaire. So if you really, really dislike Excel, you can add that button too and just go ahead and play Solitaire instead. (I did!) |
