Excel: Flash Fill

Of all the new features in Excel 2013, the biggest time saver for me is Flash Fill. It’s like Text to Columns on steroids:

The example shows a list of Surname/Name pairs, separated by comma.

To change them to Name/Surname (without a comma), just type an example of the output you want in the top adjacent cell (B1 here). Select the whole adjacent range as above, click the Home Tab, Editing Group (far right of the ribbon), and Fill.

The last entry in this drop-down is Flash Fill. Click that, and this is the result:

It doesn’t get any easier than that!

Bio: This article was written by Jasper Cook, Excel guru and trombonist of note. Call or email us if KRS and Jasper can assist you with your Excel: enquiries@krs.co.za