What is on this site
This site is a guide to spreadsheets, productivity tools, and the tech that powers them. You’ll find step-by-step tutorials for mastering formulas, troubleshooting software glitches, and optimizing workflows in apps like Excel, Google Sheets, and Outlook. Every guide is built for real-world use—no jargon, no assumptions about prior knowledge.
The site is organized by what you need to do, not just what you’re using. Need to clean up a messy dataset? There’s a section for that. Struggling with a macro that won’t run? We’ve covered it. Want to compare two productivity tools side by side? That’s here too.
The navigation follows the task, not the software manual.
| Where | What is there | Go here if |
|---|---|---|
| The Tutorials Hub | Formulas, functions, and spreadsheet basics | you’re starting from scratch or need a refresher |
| The Fixes Library | Common errors and troubleshooting steps | your software is acting up |
| The Tool Comparisons | Side-by-side breakdowns of apps like Excel vs. Google Sheets | you’re choosing between programs |
| The How-To Guides | Step-by-step walkthroughs for specific tasks | you know what you want to do but not how |
How to read a page here
Every page here starts with a clear headline and a short intro that tells you exactly what you’ll learn. The first section breaks the topic into smaller steps, with numbered lists or tables where it helps.
If a guide references other pages—like a formula that needs a helper function—those links appear in bold so you can skip ahead or circle back.
Timings and units are always spelled out. A guide might say ‘This takes 10 minutes if you’re familiar with VLOOKUP’ or ‘Use a 12-point font for readability.’ Numbers in parentheses—like (2021 version)—note which software version the steps apply to.
Ignore the ‘Also see’ section on a first read; it’s for when you’re ready to dig deeper.
The most important part of any page is the ‘Key Takeaways’ box near the end. It lists the one or two things you *must* remember, even if you skip the rest. If you’re in a hurry, read that first—then come back to the steps if you need them.
When it does not work
If a guide isn’t solving your problem, it might be because the steps assume a newer version of the software than you’re using. Check the ‘(Version)’ note at the top of the page—some features (like dynamic arrays in Excel) only work in updates from 2021 or later.
Also, some tools behave differently on Mac vs. Windows; we note those differences when they matter.
Before you give up
- Check the ‘Version’ note at the top of the page—your software might be outdated.
- Try the steps in a *new* spreadsheet file (copy-paste your data into it). Old files sometimes carry hidden formatting errors.
- If using a formula, verify your cell references aren’t locked (e.g., $A$1 vs. A1). A misplaced dollar sign can break everything.
- Search the site for ‘[Your Error Message]’—we’ve likely written about it before.
Who we are
This site is made by someone who still gets frustrated when a spreadsheet refuses to calculate properly—even after years of writing about them.
| The colophon | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Nadia Janowski, who runs the site and writes most of the guides, testing them in a home office with a second monitor, a mechanical keyboard, and a printer that jams at least once a week. |
| Tested in | A mid-2010s MacBook Pro (because older hardware reveals hidden slowdowns), Windows 11 in a virtual machine, and the latest versions of Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice. |
| Written with | A text editor that highlights matching parentheses, a browser with dark mode, and a notebook for scribbling out formulas before typing them in. |
| Learned from | A high school math teacher who made spreadsheets ‘fun’ by turning grades into a race, and a coworker who once spent three hours debugging a formula that just needed a semicolon instead of a comma. |
| Still getting wrong | Why some people insist on using ‘Ctrl+C’ instead of ‘Copy’—it’s not shorter, it’s just louder. |
The goal here isn’t to make you an expert overnight, but to give you the confidence to fix what’s broken, automate what’s tedious, and stop treating spreadsheets like a black box. If you leave knowing one thing you didn’t before, that’s a win.
If you need something that is not here
If the guide you’re looking for doesn’t exist—maybe it’s about a niche tool like Airtable or a very specific Excel function—let us know. We prioritize requests for gaps in coverage, especially if the topic stumps multiple people.
You can suggest it on the contact page, where you’ll also find a form for reporting errors in existing guides.
The guides are grouped by category: App, Coding, Hardware, Operating System, Outlook and PowerPoint.