Excel is probably the best spreadsheet software out there right now, but it is by no means perfect. We’ve all had moments when we looked at the sky and wondered
why the powers-that-be at Redmond didn’t think of including this, that or the other.

For example, many times I’ve wondered how difficult it would be to create a sheet that links to the other twenty sheets on the same file. You know, just creating an index sheet for the many other sheets that reside on that gargantuan budget file that finished at three in the morning yesterday. Wouldn’t it be truly wonderful if an index sheet just… well, created itself?

Well, ta-da! Meet the Superman of Excel add-ins: ASAP Utilities for Excel. It does that and more. ASAP Utilities is result of many hours of hard work put in by it’s creator, Bastien Mensink, and is a simple collection of many handy Excel utilities in one single place, including the miraculous ability to create an index sheet for all the sheets in a file – automatically.

Once installed, the utility looks something like this on both Excel 2007 and Excel 2010.

ASAP Utilities allows you to work with a set of commands in each of the areas that you see in the pic above. You can rename sheets, color alternate rows, work with hyperlinks, edit different text at one go – do lots of stuff that would otherwise have taken you hours together.

For example, there is a utility that allows you to deselect only certain cells in your selection. If you have groaned in frustration after selecting a thousand odd rows in Excel, only to have selected two that you didn’t really need, you’ll know what a boon this is. Or imagine being able to copy over print and page settings across multiple sheets, rather than format each individually. For a more comprehensive list, head on over to the ASAP page about the topic.

ASAP Utilities is free for individuals (what are you waiting for – download it!), and a nominal fee is charged for firms. Of course, if you think the product is coolness itself, and you wish to pay some money, they’re not going to object. For more information about pricing and other pecuniary details, click here.

But the best way to appreciate ASAP utilities is to download it yourself and give it a go. You’ll find it incredibly useful for a lot of different things.

Including (and I might have said this before) creating index sheets out of thin air.