Frequently Asked Questions about MINITAB
Please let me know immediately if you have a question that is not covered here!
Select Editor > Enable command language. (click here for video demonstration)
The menu item I want to select is gray
You have an uncompleted command somewhere. Try returning to the Session or Data window and hitting return.
How do I get to the Session window
Choose Window > Session from the menu bar
How do I print out the Data/Data window
Click in Data Window, and select File > Print worksheet (though I usually won’t ask you to include your raw data)
What do a SUBC prompt mean?
Minitab is now waiting for you to enter a subcommand.
How do I tell Minitab I’m done with subcommands?
After the last subcommand (on that same line or the next line) type a period.
Why didn’t I get a subcommand prompt?
Make sure you included the semi-colon at the end of the line.
How do I include a nice graphic in my report?
Copy the graphic window from Minitab and then Edit > Paste Special in Word. Change the format to picture and unclick the "float over text" option.
How do I get rid of the extra white space with the graphics files?
Click on the Picture and choose Format > Picture from the menu bar. In the Format Picture tool bar, the 7th button changes the mouse icon. If you then click on the edge of the picture and drag and you reduce the extra white space around the picture.
What are these strange * characters in the Minitab Data Window?
The *’s represent missing values. This just means no value is recorded for that cell and it will be ignored when Minitab makes computations using that column.
How do I erase *’s at the end of a column?
Choose Editor > Delete Cell (hitting delete in that cell won’t do it).
Minitab says it won’t use my text, but there are only numbers in the column?
At one time, there may have been text. If there is a "-T" as part of the column name, e.g. C3-T, Minitab still considers this a text column. Choosing Manip > Chance Data Type from the menu bar will allow you to convert a text column to a data column.
If the worksheet data get messed up, how do I get the original data back?
Choose File > Revert Worksheet from the Menu bar.