The repetitive parts
of Excel, automated.

No. There is no formula bar and nothing to memorize. Everything works the same way: pick a column, pick an action from a dropdown, type a value. If you can use a filter in Excel, you can use every feature in ExDesk.

No. Excel is where you look at data and build models. ExDesk is where you prepare data - cleaning, filtering, combining, summarizing - especially when you do it repeatedly. Your results save as normal Excel or CSV files and open in Excel like anything else. Most people use both, side by side.

Excel files (.xlsx and .xls), CSV files, TSV files, and plain text files with any separator. Plus ExDesk's own project files (.exd).

You choose. When you open a multi-sheet workbook, ExDesk asks which sheet you want.

Not at all. You just tell ExDesk which row contains your column headings - row 6, row 12, wherever it is - and it treats everything below as your data. You don't have to delete anything by hand first.

There's a "Delete duplicates" filter that keeps the first copy of each. There's also "Delete all if duplicates," which removes every copy of anything that appears more than once - useful when a duplicate means the record is untrustworthy and you want it all gone.

"Delete empty cells" removes rows where the column you chose is blank. There's also the reverse - "Delete non-empty cells" - for when you specifically want to look at only the incomplete records.

No. All text filters ignore capitalization. "APPLE," "Apple," and "apple" are treated as the same thing, always.

No. Use the "Is in" filter and give it your whole list at once. "Not in" does the opposite - drops everything on the list.

Yes, and you can do several at once. Enter pairs like 1:Jan, 2:Feb, 3:Mar and all three happen in one step. One note: if you replace a number with text, that column becomes a text column.

Yes. There's a Math filter where you type the operation: /79, *100, round(2), or something longer like +34*(4+19)-39. It applies to every row in that column.

Yes, that's the Char Extract filter. Type first:4 to keep the first four characters, or last:3 for the last three. Negative numbers throw characters away instead: first:-1 means "everything except the last character."

You can also chain them with a comma. On a date like 2025-05-12, typing last:-5, first:2 gives you 05 - the month. It first drops the leading five characters, then keeps the first two of what's left.

It works on every kind of column, including dates and numbers.

Yes, in five ways:

• A fixed value for every row, for example Status = Active
• A copy of an existing column
• Several columns joined together, with a separator you choose
• A calculation across numeric columns
• A conditional column - if this, then that

Pick the two columns, set the separator to a space, and name the result. John + Doe becomes John Doe. You can drag to control which comes first.

Choose the two numeric columns and the operation. If a row would divide by zero, you get a blank cell instead of an error spreading down the whole column.

Build temporary columns as stepping stones. Make one column with the first two characters of column A, another with the first two of column B, then join those two into your final column. There's a full walkthrough of this in the in-app manual under the New Column Guide.

Click on it. ExDesk shows you its type, how many different values it contains, and how many blanks. It's an instant quality check before you commit to a filter.

Yes, and it goes further than an Excel pivot in a few specific places. You choose what to group by, what to pivot across, and how to summarize - with totals rows and total columns as separate on/off switches.

Sum, Count, Distinct Count, Minimum, Maximum, Average, Median, First, Last, Concatenate, and Concatenate Distinct.

It counts unique values. "How many different customers ordered in each region?" Count would tell you how many orders; Distinct Count tells you how many customers. In Excel this normally requires building a data model. Here it's just an option in the list.

Yes - that's Concatenate. One row per region, listing every product name in a single cell. Concatenate Distinct does the same but drops repeats. Excel pivots won't do this at all.

Yes. There are two separate places to filter: Conditions, which filter the rows before summarizing, and Having, which filters on the totals afterwards. Your "over 10,000" example is a Having filter.

Yes. Multiple pivot columns produce stacked, multi-level headers, and you can control the sort direction on each one.

It's your whole setup saved under a name - which columns you kept, every filter you applied, and every new column you created. Save it as "Monthly Sales Report." When next month's file arrives, you open it, click that saved set, and everything is applied at once.

Correct. That's the entire point of the app. You build it once. After that it's one click, and it takes seconds.

Yes. They're ordinary files. Open the filters folder from inside the app and email one to whoever needs it. If someone sends you theirs, drop it into that same folder and it appears in your list, ready to use.

ExDesk tells you the columns don't match and leaves your data exactly as it was. It won't half-apply something or empty your screen.

Yes. Load it back into the panel, change what you need, and save it again. You can also rename or delete saved sets at any time.

Yes - Quick Apply & Save does both in a single action.

CSV, TSV, plain text, and Excel (.xlsx). Plus ExDesk's own project format, .exd.

Yes. They're written as real numbers and real dates, not flattened into text that the next person has to clean up again.

It's an ExDesk project. It holds your original data plus every filter and grouping setting in one file. Use it when you want to stop and pick up where you left off later. Use CSV or Excel when you just need to hand the finished table to someone else.

Never. Your source file is untouched. Nothing is written to disk until you deliberately save a result - and you save it wherever you choose. There's also a Reset button that returns you to the original data at any moment.

Yes. You can open multiple tabs from one source file - one filtered to a region, one showing a pivot by product, one showing only returns - each with its own columns, filters, and summaries. You name them yourself.

No. Everything happens on your own computer. There is no upload, no cloud processing, and no server holding your files.

Only your email address, and only to manage your licence. Nothing else, and nothing is shared with third parties.

That's a conversation for your IT or compliance team, but ExDesk is usually straightforward for them: it processes everything locally, sends no data anywhere, and requires no cloud account for your files. That's often the exact thing that blocks other modern data tools.

Yes. ExDesk has no macros and a filter file cannot run any code - it's simply a list of settings. Nobody can send you a harmful one.

In the app's data folder, and there's a button inside ExDesk that opens it directly. You own those files - you can back them up, copy them, or share them like any other file.

You activate ExDesk with a licence key, and the licence is tied to your device.

Yes - you can upgrade to a license covering multiple devices. Your license screen shows how many devices are activated and how many you're allowed.

Deactivate the license on the old machine, then use the same key to activate the new one. You do it yourself from the license screen.

No. Internet is needed only for license activation.

When an update is available, you will get a notification. In the Account page of the application you can check for updates and install it.

Check that the key was entered exactly and that you have an internet connection at that moment. If it still fails, contact support - the licence screen shows the details they'll ask for.

It's built to handle large files. When you view all your rows, they're loaded in as you scroll rather than all at once, so the app stays responsive.

Both. There are four preview modes: a fast sample, the first rows, the last rows, and the complete result. Use the full view to check every row before you export anything.

There's a complete manual built in, covering installation, every filter with worked examples, building new columns, filter sets, grouping, project files, and troubleshooting.