Do you have rows and rows of data to enter in MS Excel?

If so, do you find it tiresome to navigate through cell after cell to the right and then at the end, go back to the beginning of the next row?

It does seem like a lot of extra navigation work that I, for one, could live without!

So, the next natural thought is to ask if there's a way to streamline the data entry process. Is there a way to cut out all the extra cell navigation and focus mainly on the data entry itself?

The answer, of course, is yes. Your solution can be found in Excel's data entry form.

What's that, you ask?

Well, maybe it's best to hear it straight from the Office Assistant. generic cialis 10mg He says a "data form is a dialogue box that gives you a convenient way to enter or display one complete row of information, or record, in a list at one time."

In other words, let's get away from the cell navigation straight to the data entry and save some time when entering data in MS Excel.

Interested?

If so, read on to get the information you'll need to use a data entry form!

Okay, so we've all decided that data entry forms in Excel are worth a minute to investigate and I wouldn't want to waste any more time. So, let's get right to it!

To begin, you must have column headings for the table of data you're working with.

For example:

Now, select a cell in the first row of the table of data.

For people working with older versions of Excel, you should go to the Data menu, Form choice.

Excel 2007 users don't have it quite that easy. You need to first add the Form button to your Quick Access Toolbar. To do so, click the down arrow to the right of the toolbar and choose More Commands.

Set the "Choose commands from" field to All Commands.

Next, scroll down and select "Form…" and then click the Add button in the center. That will place a button for the Form command into the list on the right, which is a list of the items that will appear in your Quick Access Toolbar.

Click OK to return to Excel.

Now, you need to click the Form button in the Quick Access Toolbar.

No matter what version you're working with, click OK when the warning pops up.

The Data Entry Form will then open, allowing you to enter the data for an entire row.

You can move from field to field using the Tab key. When you've completed one set of data, use the Enter key to place the data into the worksheet and at the same time, create a new record.

When you've entered all your data, click the Close button.

You should then be returned to your worksheet where you'll find all your newly entered data in its proper place and you never had to spend time jumping from cell to cell or row to row!

Need to add new records to the list later?

No problem! The same procedure applies, but you do need to take notice that when you re-enter the data entry form, you are given the first record to start with.

You can use the vertical scroll in the middle of the window to move through the already entered data or if you just need a new record, click the New button.

From there, things will work the same as they did when you first created the table.

With data entry forms in the picture, I'm not sure we could make the job of hand entering data any easier. Yes!