---
title: Daniel's XL Toolbox
date: 2026-08-08T11:47:23+0200
draft: false
---
{{< img src="banner-2013.png" alt="Daniel's XL Toolbox" class="img-fluid mx-auto d-block mb-5" >}}

This is the home of **Daniel's XL Toolbox**, an add-in for a popular
spreadsheet program that is aimed at scientists and other people who
work with data and visualizations. The add-in has been
[downloaded well over 200,000 times][stats], and it has been cited
several hundred times in the life science literature.

This add-in was actively developed between 2008 and 2018, but is no longer
actively maintained. It is still useful though and does work with even with
current, up-to-date versions of the spreadsheet software.

However, because this is no longer an active project, I have decided to retire
the old homepage which had not been updated for several years.

You can still [download][] and install the add-in -- in fact, I still use it
whenever I use spreadsheet software. Which, admittedly, does not happen that
often anymore nowadays. But everybody should use the tool that serves them
best to accomplish a task.

## What this add-in can do

This add-in provides a number of functions that assist with data analysis
and visualization and with repetitive everyday tasks.

**Data analysis:** Compute 1-way and 1-way ANOVAs, perform correlation and
regression analyses, build spreadsheet formulas automatically, allocate
subjects to treatment groups ("randomization"), produce complex histograms,
and transpose data such as multiwell plate reader data.

**Data visualization:** Produce high-quality graphic files from your scientific
charts, export charts in batches, add error bars to charts, assist with uniform
chart design, add watermarks to your charts, add multiple new data series at
once, change and normalize chart sizes, copy a chart's format to another,
scale the text in a chart, point a chart to a different source data range,
change the order of data series in a chart, and spread (jitter) overlapping
data points.

**Productivity:** Automatically save a time-stamped backup file whenever
you save your spreadsheet, manage multiple worksheets in your file, use
keyboard shortcuts for extra productivity, jump to a cell or range of
cells given an address that is written in plain text in another cell,
copy a print page setup, and make complex selections of cells.

## What to do if you want to obtain publication-grade figures

If you need high-quality graphs for a publication, you can of course still use this add-on.
There are modern alternatives, ranging from paid software to software that you can use
free of charge.

I have become very fond of [R][], [ggplot2][], and the entire [Tidyverse][] ecossystem.
These tools allow me to analyze the data efficiently and obtain extactly the results
that I want, including vector-based figures, rather than raster images. It is not easy
to learn, but it is worth it!

## Archive

Here is a little archive of the old website: [Entrance to the museum]({{< relref "archive" >}}).

[download]: https://github.com/bovender/XLToolbox/releases/download/v7.3.4/XLToolbox-7.3.4.exe
[ggplot2]: https://ggplot2.tidyverse.org
[R]: https://r-project.org
[stats]: https://tooomm.github.io/github-release-stats/?username=bovender&repository=xltoolbox
[Tidyverse]: https://tidyverse.org