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Inquire Feature in Excel

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Excel’s “Inquire” feature is a powerful tool that allows users to compare and analyze multiple workbooks and worksheets within a single Excel file. With Inquire, users can easily identify changes, inconsistencies, and potential errors in their data and track and document changes made by other users. To track changes using Inquire, simply click the “Inquire” tab in the ribbon and select the “Track Changes” option. From here, you can choose to track changes made to specific cells, worksheets, or the entire workbook. Another advanced use of Excel’s Inquire feature is the ability to analyze data for inconsistencies and potential errors.  In this article, we’ll explore some advanced tips and tricks for using Excel’s Inquire feature to its full potential.

Overall, Excel’s Inquire feature is a powerful tool that allows users to compare, track, and analyze data in a variety of ways. Whether you’re working on a collaborative project with multiple users or simply looking to analyze and improve the accuracy of your data, Inquire is an essential tool for anyone looking to take their Excel skills to the next level.

How to use Inquire feature in Excel

Using Excel’s Inquire feature is relatively simple and straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use it:

Step 1: Open the Excel workbook on which you want to use the Inquire feature.

Create a dataset

 

Step 2: Click on the “Review” tab in the ribbon at the top of the screen or if you have an updated version of excel you can see inquire tab at the top ribbon. In the “Inquire” group, click on the “Inquire” button.

Click on the Inquire tab.

 

Step 3: A new window will pop up with several options for using the Inquire feature. You can choose to compare workbooks, compare sheets, track changes, or analyze data. In the below image, you can see I have generated the workbook analysis report for my current sheet of the workbook.

Workbook analysis report window pop up

 

Step 4: If you choose to compare workbooks or sheets, you’ll need to select the workbooks or sheets that you want to compare. To do this, click on the “Add Workbook” or “Add Sheet” button and select the workbook or sheet you want to add. You can add multiple workbooks or sheets to compare.

Click on spreadsheet compare option

 

Step 5: Once you’ve added all the workbooks or sheets you want to compare, click on the “Compare” button to begin the comparison process. If you choose to track changes, you’ll need to select the cells, worksheets, or workbooks that you want to track. To do this, click on the “Add Range” or “Add Sheet” buttons and select the cells or sheets you want to track.

Now click on compare files

 

Step 6: If you want to track changes that are being made on your sheet you can, click on the “Show Changes” button to begin tracking changes.

Click on Show changes

 

Step 7: If you choose to analyze data, you’ll need to select the cells or worksheet that you want to analyze. To do this, click on workbook analysis and then you can add ranges and manage different parameters you want to filter on your report/analysis as shown in the image below.

select the worksheet or cell relationship to see the workbook analysis report.

 

Step 8: If you want to see the relation between worksheets you can see it just by choosing the option worksheet relationship from the options above in the inquire tab.

Worksheet relationship diagram

 

Step 9: Once you’ve added the range or sheet you want to analyze, click on the “Analyze Data” button to begin the analysis process.

Regardless of which option you choose, the Inquire feature will provide you with a detailed analysis of the workbooks, sheets, or data that you selected. You can use this analysis to identify changes, inconsistencies, or potential errors, and take the appropriate action to fix them

Conclusion

The Inquire add-on is a powerful and useful tool for advanced Excel users who need to investigate and analyze data relationships within and between workbooks. It allows users to create a graphical representation of data relationships, identify errors and inconsistencies in the data, and compare different versions of a workbook. Overall, the Inquire add-on is a valuable tool for users who need to work with large, complex data sets and need to understand and analyze the relationships between different elements of the data.



Last Updated : 21 Feb, 2023
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