The Kramata blog

Practical, no-code guides for cleaning recurring CSV and Excel files the same way every time — a Power Query alternative, a VLOOKUP alternative, merging files, removing duplicates, and more.

Merge two spreadsheets by a common column — without VLOOKUP

A reproducible alternative to VLOOKUP / XLOOKUP for combining files by a key.

A simple Power Query alternative for non-technical analysts

Repeatable cleaning — merge, pivot, unpivot, dedupe — in plain language, no M code.

Kramata vs Easy Data Transform — which fits you?

Both local, both batch-capable. An honest comparison of the linear recipe vs the node graph.

Kramata vs OpenRefine — which fits you?

Both free, both local. A power tool for one-off deep cleans vs a simple tool for recurring files.

What not to paste into ChatGPT or Copilot — a checklist

For anyone who handles client data: what never to paste, what happens to it on each tier, and how to still use AI safely.

How to clean a messy CSV the same way every time (no code)

Reproducible cleaning for files that arrive on a schedule — build the steps once, re-run forever.

Remove duplicates and fix dates in a CSV — without formulas

Two of the most common cleanup chores, done once and re-run on every new file.

How to unpivot in Excel — turn wide columns into tidy rows

The "wide → long" transform Excel makes painful, done in one repeatable step.

How to combine and append CSV files without losing data

Stack multiple files into one — without scrambled headers, dropped rows, or silent inconsistencies.

How to merge CSV files by a common column (no formulas)

Join two files by a shared key column — a reproducible, formula-free alternative to VLOOKUP.

How to merge multiple CSV files into one

Combine a folder of files into one clean file — no code, no copy-paste marathon.

Spreadsheet recipes: build once, reuse forever

The core idea — save your cleaning steps as a reusable recipe and re-run them in one click.

Excel workflow automation without VBA or macros

Automate the repetitive data work — clean, merge, reshape — with no code and nothing that breaks.

How to automate monthly Excel reports (no VBA)

Stop rebuilding the same report every month — build it once, then one click per cycle.

Batch process hundreds of CSV & Excel files

Clean a whole folder in one pass — same steps on every file, separate or merged.

An XLOOKUP alternative that works across files

Match between separate workbooks and recurring exports — a merge you build once and re-run.