Excel is certainly packed with features, but I use a few free add-ins that make Excel even better.
Name Manager
by Jan Karel Pieterse of JKP Application Development Services
If you use names in Excel, you need this tool. You can quickly find names with errors and delete them, or track names that link to another workbook. There are many more features, so download Name Manager, and see what it can help you with.
Excel Utilities
by Rob Bovey of AppsPro
Rob's add-in has handy tools for working with named ranges, worksheets and selections. You can quickly protect and unprotect all the sheets in a workbook, remove unused styles, and my favourite – centre across a selection, without merging cells.
There are many more features, and you can read the full description on Rob's page for Excel Utilities.
Pivot Power
Since I work with pivot tables so often, I created my own pivot table add-in, that you can download.
The commands that I use most often are Clear Old Data, and Sum All Data.
Your Favourite Free Excel Add-Ins
What are your favourite free add-ins for Excel? Any of the ones that I've listed? Have you created some of your own?
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What No ASAP Utilities.....Without Doubt the best Free General purpose set of excel utilities ever...
Thanks for the pointers! I definitely have to look up the name manager add-in. Excel 2007 was a big improvement on that front, but anyone who has had to maintain an Excel 2003 workbook with numerous and long names knows this is a nightmare.
It's technically not an add-in, but I wrote a small free application, Akin, which opens 2 workbooks and helps track down where the differences are. You can check it out at http://www.clear-lines.com/akin.aspx. I would actually really welcome feedback!
From
http://peltiertech.com/WordPress/indispensable-excel-utilities/
The ones I use are:
Name Manager (of course, #1)
VBA Code Cleaner ( I use it all the time)
MZ Tools ( I use it daily)
FindLinks by Excel MVP Bill Manville
Plus:
AutoSafe
Chart Labeler
Steven Bullen's Smart Indenter, VBE Tools
John Walkenbach's J-Walk Chart Tools , Power Utility Pak (not free but almost)
ASAP Utilities
Inno Setup
FlexFind from Jan Karel Pieterse
Andy Pope's Button Editor
JMT Utilities from http://www.andrewsexceltips.net/JMT%20Full%20List.htm
NB NOT from http://jmt.puremis.net/jmtutils which Google warns 'may damage your computer'
Analysis Toolpak! #1.
Rob Bovey's Code Cleaner.
Rob Bovey's Chart Labeller (is there a common theme here?).
PopTools.
The only others I use are my own utilities, a DV Manager (similar to NameManager, just for DV), and a Form Manager (to facilitate form design without the designer).
Mathias, JKPs NameManger is streets ahead of the 2007 builtin Name Manager.
Dv manager and a Form Manager! I'm intrigued, worth a blog post Bob?!
Hi Ross,
Yeah, I guess they are worth something. Neither is a polished product yet, they are good enough for me, but not for the market.
I've written a few:
http://www.codeforexcelandoutlook.com/blog/add-ins/
The most popular one seems to be Random Data Generator.
I've written about my favorite Indispensable Excel Utilities, but here's a recap of my list.
My favorites for Excel:
Jan Karel Pieterse's Name Manager and AutoSafe
Rob Bovey's Chart Labeler
Ken Puls' XLG Favourites
My favorites for VBA:
Carlos Quintero's MZ Tools
Rob Bovey's Code Cleaner
Stephen Bullen's Smart Indenter and VBE Tools
Free add-ins I've written myself and posted:
Change Series Formula
Label Last Point for Excel 2007
LOESS Utility for Excel
I want to echo Bob's comparison of JKP's Name Manager vs. Excel 2007's lame version, which improved a lot on the classic dialog, but fell far short.
Those with XL2003 or earlier versions might want a thesaurus.
(it works on the later versions too)
Download "Thesaurus for Excel" from...
http://excelusergroup.org/media/
JP, your random data generator is great. I have used it a bit, currently updating for 2007 which I will send you.
Jon, I am impressed. You spelt favourites correctly
Patrick: describing Inno Setup as an Excel addin is pushing it a bit
Generally, Am I the only one who doesn't use Smart Indenter? I have never found a need for it personally.
Thanks Bob, there is a 2007 version on my site, but send away!
Oh is there? I thought I had read that you didn't have 2007 so invited others to update it for you.
Yes, Dick Kusleika tested it for me and it seems to work.
Debra – Re "and my favourite – centre across a selection, without merging cells" – Were you aware that you can do that using regular Excel? On Home tab in Alignment group, click drop down arrow on lower right. In the drop down box under the word Horizontal, select "Center across Selection".
Bob P – Notice I spelled it both ways. The normal way for my own words, and the longer way as the title of an add-in.
Bob R – Center Across Selection is great, but you need at least a macro if you want a simple button click to do it for you.
Thanks for all the suggestions and links!
Bob R, in the good old days (Excel 97?) there was a Centre Across Selection button on the Formatting toolbar. Suddenly, it disappeared, and was replaced by the evil Merge and Centre button.
Now, as you pointed out, the only way to get to that Centre Across Selection setting is to dig down into the Cell Formatting dialog box. Who has time for that? ;-)
I developed a small add-in that let's me unhide multiple worksheets at once. I use it all the time for big workbooks. Same GUI as Excel's unhide feature, but now I can select one or more hidden and/or veryhidden worksheets from a listbox. Currently using XL2000 on a company laptop by the way (don't ask).
Some other add-ins I use:
*Password remover from straxx.com
*Bill Manville's Find Links
Bob P. "Inno Setup as an Excel addin is pushing it a bit "
It's actually pushed over the edge, I had just pasted that in from J-W's list and hadn't bothered to edit it out :-~
P.
Here is my list in descending order.
ASAP Utilities
Name Manager
Flexible Find & Replace
JMT Excel Utilities
Ultimate Add-in
I use several of those utilities already mentioned, John Walkenbach's row delete, Excel utilities from http://www.appspro.com/ and findlinks.
One which I do not think has been mentioned is Navigator Utilities from http://www.navigatorutilities.com, the links part is wonderful as you can actually go to the linked cell.
[...] Center Across Selection In Favourite Free Excel Add-Ins, one of the commenters (and Debra) complains about the Center Across Selection being buried in the [...]
[...] mentioned Jan Karel Pieterse's Name Manager before, as one of my favourite Excel add-ins. If you're working with names, in any version of Excel, you should download and install it. [...]
I use workbook Navigation a lot having many useful list of sheet names, links, comments, etc. with hyperlink and more from http://shahshaileshs.web.officelive.com/Addins.aspx.
The active sheet name showing in the title is also useful alongwith row and column highlited (and undo is also worked).