The Inquire feature in Microsoft Excel is an advanced tool used to analyze and compare workbooks. It helps users identify relationships between worksheets, detect errors or inconsistencies, track changes, and generate reports for better understanding of complex Excel files.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
.jpg)
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.
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.
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