How to Work With Non-Adjacent Data

Sometimes when working in Excel, you end up with your data not all in one region on the worksheet. Fortunately you can still work with it. When you want to format a series of cells that don't appear side by side, start by selecting the first block of cells and then hold the Ctrl key as you select the second and subsequent blocks of cells. This allows you to select all of them, and you can then apply a format, such as a font change or fill color, to all of the cells.

You can use the same technique to chart cells that don’t appear side by side, as well. For example, if you need to create a chart from a table of data using the headings in the first column and the data from the fourth column, first select the headings in the first column. Then hold Ctrl as you select the matching data in the cells in the fourth column. Afterward, create a chart, just as you would any regular chart.