Put the Office Calculator Where It Belongs—On the Page You’re Working On

Q: When I’m working in an Excel spreadsheet, sometimes I need to do some quick calculations, and the Calculator that comes with Office would be the perfect tool—except it’s only accessible when I switch out of the Excel window. It should be right where I need it—on top of the spreadsheet—so I can tap in the numbers as needed and not have to bounce from one window to another.

A: You’re right. And the Calculator can do that. In fact, you can even evoke the Calculator to sit atop a Word document, or, for that matter, an Outlook e-mail or most any other application. It takes just a single click to snap it to attention.

First you have to open the Calculator and leave it minimized by clicking on the dash (-) in its upper right-hand corner. Then, any time you want it to open—wherever you happen to be on your computer—click its icon in the toolbar…

…and it will appear right on top of whatever is on your screen.

Of course, if all you’re doing in a spreadsheet is adding and subtracting, and the target numbers are formatted as either positive (36) or negative (−23), just press the Ctrl key as you click on each number in turn, and the answer will appear right above your taskbar (see screenshot below).