Where can you find help when something in Excel has you stymied? You can use the built-in Excel help system. This sometimes is frustrating, because it doesn’t always find relevant information. But never fear, because there are many sources of information on the internet.

Google
My number one source for Excel and VBA help is Google. Type in a few keywords, and you’ll get thousands of responses. With properly chosen keywords, you’ll be on your way quickly. Google finds helpful web pages and blog posts like those on PeltierTech.com and other people who write about everything they know.

If Google doesn’t get you what you need, there are resources where you can ask questions, and other users of all skill levels share their suggestions. There are many of these, but two of the best are listed below.

Microsoft Newsgroups
These newsgroups are followed by many Excel MVPs, many non-MVPs with strong Excel skills and experience, and many Excel users who may have already solved your problem. They are mirrored on dozens of web sites, usually wrongly presented as being part of these sites. Microsoft also hosts a web interface to these newsgroups, but it is mediocre at best. It’s generally better to go directly to the source:

In an NNTP newsreader (Outlook Express, Netscape, and others), create a new News account, using the news server msnews.microsoft.com. When the connection is made, subscribe to the appropriate newsgroups, including microsoft.public.excel.misc, microsoft.public.excel.programming, microsoft.public.excel.worksheet.functions, and microsoft.public.excel.charting.

Mr Excel
Mr Excel is a huge web-based forum dedicated to Excel, with a strong community of Excel experts and users.

Direct email
It’s often tempting to send an email directly to someone whose previous website or forum post has been helpful. I get a dozen or more unsolicited emails a week asking for general Excel help. I welcome questions and clarifications regarding things I’ve posted on my web site, but I don’t have the time (or motivation) to address many emails out of the blue. It’s more effective to post a question on a newsgroup or on Mr Excel, because (a) many more people will see the question, (b) several people will have a chance to respond to a public post before a single busy individual may get to a stray email. I’d rather answer a public question, because it becomes part of the body of public knowledge, and Google will have a chance to pick it up.

How to Ask a Question

• Take a couple minutes to try Google first. Many questions have been asked and answered a thousand times before.
• Use a descriptive subject line. I skip posts with subjects like “Help!!” or “Excel Question”.
• Write a concise and clear problem statement. State what you are trying to do, what steps you took, and what happened. If you get an error message, include the description in its entirety and not just the error number. Sure it’s an effort to retype it, but the error number may correspond to several different descriptions. Error number 1004 means a procedure halted during execution: very informative.
• Include the Excel version somewhere in your problem statement.
• Write clearly, DON’T TYPE IN ALL CAPITALS, don’t use text message shorthand LOL, proofread your post.
• Be courteous. We are unpaid volunteers, not Microsoft employees, and are doing this to help.

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