Pointy Haired Dilbert: amazing blog offers free Excel templates for download
Pointy Haired Dilbert is a blog that provides some amazing, freely-downloadable MS Excel resources. The philosophy behind the site is a focus on data charting and visualization and on “telling stories” with data. Templates that can be downloaded from the site (all 100% free) include sophisticated reporting dashboards, templates for advanced charts (e.g. bullet graphs, Gannt charts, Petal Charts, Speedometer, Candlestick charts, etc.), and even Excel-based games and apps (including a calendar and an Excel-based Twitter client).
What you may not know is that aside from my interest in freeware I am an expert user of MS Excel: macros, VBA automation, the works 
. I was searching for information on Excel dashboards, which I needed for a project at work, when I stumbled upon this site.
Now I fully realize that the web is chock-full of excellent Excel sites that offer downloadable templates, but in terms of quality this site is definitely in the 90th percentile. This is because of the originality of some of the topics and templates on offer as well as the fact that they are presented with a good degree of simplicity (not to mention given away for free).
My top three five favorite templates:
KPI Dashboards with visualizations revisted. See a 6-part tutorial on how this was made starting with part 1 here. See the image to the right for a preview.- Using Maps in Excel. Very interesting. Can be customized for your particular needs.
- Using data filters as chart filters. Simple and elegant.
- Artistic dashboards in Excel. Very cool. Tutorial available here.
- Tag clouds in Excel. If only for the sheer originality factor.
I hope Mr. Chandoo (a.k.a Pointy Haired Dilbert) does not mind my linking to the above downloads directly.
Go to the Pointy Haired Dilbert home page, or go straight to the downloads page.
This is one of the best template downloads site I’ve ever been to! (M$ templates site sucks). Also to mention, FreePrintable.net.
Hi Samer…
Thank you so much for such a lovely review of the site.
@All: You can get a free e-book with 95 excel and charting tips when you sign up for my newsletter..
Given your expressed interest in Excel, you might want to check out http://www.dailydoseofexcel.com . Lot’s of interesting tips, with a strong emphasis on programming/scripting
Samer – Great review. I’ve been using P.H.D. for quite some time now and it is a great site. Chandroo does an amazing job. I was wondering if you could list some of your other favorite excel sites that rank in the 90th+ percentile as well. I think like a lot of excel users, we are always on the lookout for new tips/tricks/ideas.
Thanks for all that you do. Your site is great too!
I’ve not used Excel for anything other than making a graph once for a science fair project years and years ago. Somebody enlighten me as to its cooler uses?
Wow, this is great. Thx for share this “magic excel” website.
Hi Thanks a lot for share the free template I think it was very good site to looking as the excel referent. I can say it was great resources. Thanks again for shareing this to all of us. All the best.