I’m thrilled to announce that Ian’s Excel Add-In v1.7.1.0 (released on 21 April 2025) now includes undo functionality for many of its features! This long-awaited enhancement allows you to revert changes easily if something doesn’t go as expected. It’s a big step forward in making tasks safer, faster, and more flexible. Several users have requested this feature, and I’m excited to deliver it finally.
Why This Is Great for You
Undo isn’t just a safety net, it helps you work with more confidence. Before making changes like adjusting numbers, changing text case, or formatting cells, the add-in saves your current data. If you don’t like the result, you can simply undo the change and return to how things were.
- Less Worry: Try new ideas without fear of making permanent mistakes.
- Saves Time: Easily fix errors without having to redo your work.
- More Flexibility: Experiment with different adjustments, knowing you can always revert any change.
How It Works
- Before an Action: When you use many functions (like changing number formats or text), the add-in automatically saves your current data.
- To Undo a Change: If a change isn’t what you expected, you can use the undo command. Your data will go back to the way it was before the change was made.
- Available in Many Areas: This undo option works in many parts of the add-in. However, it isn’t available for every function yet. I’m working on adding undo support to even more features over time.
What Functions Support Undo?
The add‑in saves your data before making changes in several functions. Here’s a list of the functions that include undo functionality:
- Round Off: Rounds numbers to a specified number of decimals.
- MRound: Rounds numbers to the nearest multiple.
- Ceiling: Rounds numbers up using the CEILING function.
- Markup by Value: Applies a percentage markup to cell values.
- Markup by Cell Reference: Uses a cell’s value to change other cell values.
- Auto Number: Automatically generates sequential numbers in a highlighted range with adjacent text.
- Uppercase: Converts text to uppercase.
- Lowercase: Converts text to lowercase.
- Proper Case: Converts text to proper case (each word capitalised).
- Capitalise: Changes text using a specific capitalisation routine.
- Hidden Format: Hides cell content by changing number format.
- Unhidden Format: Reverts cells back to the “General” number format.
- Repair TextAmount formula: Adjusts faulty formulas that use the “textamount” function.
Important Note About Undo and VBA Limitations
Due to a limitation in VBA, executing any code from the add-in invalidates Excel’s undo stack for all previous actions, including those unrelated to the add-in. This means that once code from the add-in runs, you won’t be able to undo work done prior to invoking the add-in. However, the new undo feature ensures that any of the actions performed within the add-in itself can still be reverted where supported.
Enjoy a Safer, More Flexible Workflow
This new Undo feature is designed to help you work confidently. Experiment with new ideas, make changes, and know that if you need to, you can quickly revert your data to its previous state. I’m always looking for ways to make Ian’s Excel Add-In better for you and plan to add even more useful features in the future.
As always, support is available via the helpdesk and our user forum if you have any questions or need assistance.
Thank you for using Ian’s Excel Add-In, and happy exploring!