🎯Introduction: Excel Just Leveled Up
2. Meet the Power Players: New Excel Functions You’ll Actually Use
Quick bullets introducing:
TEXTSPLITVSTACKHSTACKWRAPROWSTEXTBEFORE,TEXTAFTERTOROW,TOCOL
💡Visual idea: Insert a simple graphic showing a messy dataset turning into a neat stack/table using these functions.
3. Real-Life Scenarios, Real Magic
Break it down function by function, each with:
Headings
A relatable scenario
Step-by-step formulas
A before-and-after Excel screenshot
Bonus tip or gotcha (e.g., “TEXTSPLIT is case-sensitive—watch out!”)
🔍 Deep Dive Sections (Here’s How Each One Could Look)
TEXTSPLIT: Tidy Up Text in a Snap
Use Case: Splitting full names into First and Last Names in your project tracker.
Dataset:
| Full Name |
|---|
| Maria Lopez |
| John Carter |
| Angela Kim |
Formula:
=TEXTSPLIT(A2, " ")
Why it works: TEXTSPLIT looks for a delimiter (a space here) and splits it across columns.
📸 Screenshot Suggestion: Before (one column), After (two columns with First and Last Names).
Bonus Tip: You can split on line breaks with CHAR(10)—super useful for addresses.
VSTACK: Stack Like a Pro
Use Case: Monthly sales reports from different sheets into one big dashboard.
Sheets: Jan, Feb, Mar
Each with:
| Product | Sales |
|---|---|
| Apple | 120 |
| Banana | 90 |
Formula:
=VSTACK(Jan!A2:B4, Feb!A2:B4, Mar!A2:B4)
Why it rocks: You don’t need to manually copy/paste anymore—it pulls and stacks for you.
📸 Screenshot Suggestion: Show the three separate tables, then one stacked table.
HSTACK: When You Want to Combine Side-by-Side
Use Case: Combining “Actual” vs. “Forecasted” data.
Formula:
=HSTACK(Actual!A2:A5, Forecast!A2:A5)
Tip: Add headers manually or with VSTACK({"Product", "Actual", "Forecast"}, ...) for clean visuals.
TEXTBEFORE and TEXTAFTER: Slice with Precision
Use Case: Pulling usernames from email addresses.
=TEXTBEFORE(A2, "@")
=TEXTAFTER(A2, "@")
Why it’s better than LEFT/FIND: Cleaner syntax, no need to calculate character positions.
📸 Screenshot Suggestion: Email → Username and Domain columns.
WRAPROWS: Beautify Output
Use Case: Formatting a flat list of items into printable rows.
Formula:
=WRAPROWS(A1:A12, 4)
Result: Converts 12 grocery items into a 3×4 grid—hello printable shopping list!
TOROW / TOCOL: Flattening Made Easy
Use Case: Convert matrix-style tables into one clean row or column for form uploads.
=TOCOL(A1:C3)
Perfect for: Survey responses, bulk data import formats.
🧠 Mini Project: Clean, Split, and Stack a Sales Dataset
Scenario: You’ve got this dumped report:
| Entry |
|---|
| 01/01/25 – Apple – $120 |
| 01/02/25 – Banana – $90 |
| 01/03/25 – Mango – $110 |
Goal: Turn it into:
| Date | Product | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 01/01/25 | Apple | 120 |
Step-by-step:
=TEXTSPLIT(A2, " - ")
Then convert “$” to number:
=VALUE(TEXTAFTER(A2, "$"))
Combine with VSTACK:
=VSTACK({"Date", "Product", "Sales"}, TEXTSPLIT(A2:A4, " - "))
📸 Visual: Show original dump, then polished table. Add a line chart of sales over time.
💬 Tips and Aha Moments Section
A quick, friendly list of:
“TEXTSPLIT handles multiple delimiters with arrays like
{" ", "-"}.”“VSTACK ignores blank rows, so you don’t have to.”
“WRAPROWS + TOROW can help build beautiful email templates.”
💡 Interactivity Enhancements
Clickable TOC
Hover tips for formulas
Collapsible step-by-steps
GIF demos for TEXTSPLIT and VSTACK in action
✨ Closing: Excel Isn’t Just a Tool—It’s a Superpower (When You Know Where to Click)
Hope this helped you tame your wild data jungle. Got a function you’re stuck with? Drop a comment—I’ve probably battled it too!”