Microsoft Excel

Insert date and time To insert the current date in a cell, hold Ctrl, then press the colon/semicolon key. To insert the time, hold Ctrl and Shift, and hit the same key.

Colour coordination You can colour-code the tabs on your Excel spreadsheets for easier navigation. Click the tab you'd like to colour, then select Format > Sheet > Tab Color. Select the colour you want and click OK.

Hide your sheet You can hide Excel worksheets to reduce the number of sheets on your screen. Just select the sheets you'd like to hide and select Format > Sheet > Hide. To restore them, click Unhide.

Clear formatting To clear the formatting in an Excel spreadsheet, highlight the cells you want changed and select Edit > Clear > Formats.

Keep a close watch The Watch Window lets you monitor cells on other workbooks. To add a cell to the Watch Window, right-click it, then select Add Watch. You can then position the Watch Window above or below Excel's standard toolbar.

Instant quotes Excel can recognise stock symbols and fetch stock quotes using MSN MoneyCentral Investor. First, enable Smart Tags by selecting Tools > AutoCorrect Options > Smart Tags. Make sure "Label data with smart tags" is checked and hit OK. Log on to the Internet and enter a stock symbol (in all caps) into a cell. A small green triangle appears in the lower right corner of the cell. Hover your cursor over the cell, click the icon that pops up and choose "Insert refreshable stock price." Select "On a new sheet" to display the quote on another worksheet or "Starting at cell" to display the stock price in the current cell.

All together now To change the typeface or point size of all cells in a spreadsheet at once, click the box in the top left corner to select the entire spreadsheet, then make your changes.

Sort things out You can rearrange the data in a spreadsheet any way you like by clicking the box in the top left corner and selecting Data > Sort. In the Sort window, select the column you'd like to sort by and whether you want the data in ascending or descending order.