All about excel spreadsheets

A spreadsheet is a computer application that is designed to add, display, analyze, organize, and manipulate data arranged in rows and columns. It is the most popular application for accounting, analytics, data presentation, etc. Or in other words, spreadsheets are scalable grid-based files that are used to organize data and perform calculations. People all across the world use spreadsheets to create tables for personal and business usage. You can also use the tool’s features and formulas to help you make sense of your data. You could, for example, track data in a spreadsheet and see sums, differences, multiplication, division, and fill dates automatically, among other things. Microsoft Excel, Google sheets, Apache open office, LibreOffice, etc are some spreadsheet software. Among all these software, Microsoft Excel is the most commonly used spreadsheet tool and it is available for Windows, macOS, Android, etc. 

A collection of spreadsheets is known as a workbook. Every Excel file is called a workbook. Every time when you start a new project in Excel, you’ll need to create a new workbook. There are several methods for getting started with an Excel workbook. To create a new worksheet or access an existing one, you can either start from scratch or utilize a pre-designed template.

A single Excel worksheet is a tabular spreadsheet that consists of a matrix of rectangular cells grouped in rows and columns. It has a total of 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns, resulting in 17,179,869,184 cells on a single page of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet where you may write, modify, and manage your data.

In the same way as a file or a book is made up of one or more worksheets that contain various types of related data, an Excel workbook is made up of one or more worksheets. You can also create and save an endless number of worksheets. The major purpose is to collect all relevant data in one place, but in many categories (worksheet).

Feature of spreadsheet

As we know that there are so many spreadsheet applications available in the market. So these applications provide the following basic features:

1. Rows and columns: Rows and columns are two distinct features in a spreadsheet that come together to make a cell, a range, or a table. In general, columns are the vertical portion of an excel worksheet, and there can be 256 of them in a worksheet, whereas rows are the horizontal portion, and there can be 1048576 of them.

The color light green is used to highlight Row 3 while the color green is used to highlight Column B. Each column has 1048576 rows and each row has 256 columns.

2. Formulas: In spreadsheets, formulas process data automatically. It takes data from the specified area of the spreadsheet as input then processes that data, and then displays the output into the new area of the spreadsheet according to where the formula is written. In Excel, we can use formulas simply by typing “=Formula Name(Arguments)” to use predefined Excel formulas. When you write the first few characters of any formula, Excel displays a drop-down menu of formulas that match that character sequence. Some of the commonly used formulas are:

• =SUM(Arg1: Arg2): It is used to find the sum of all the numeric data specified in the given range of numbers.
• =COUNT(Arg1: Arg2):  It is used to count all the number of cells(it will count only number) specified in the given range of numbers.
• =MAX(Arg1: Arg2): It is used to find the maximum number from the given range of numbers.
• =MIN(Arg1: Arg2): It is used to find the minimum number from the given range of numbers.
• =TODAY(): It is used to find today’s date.
• =SQRT(Arg1): It is used to find the square root of the specified cell.

For example, you can use the formula to find the average of the integers in column C from row 2 to row 7:

= AVERAGE(D2:D7)

The range of values on which you want to average is defined by D2:D6. The formula is located near the name field on the formula tab.

We wrote =AVERAGE(D2:D6) in cell D9, therefore the average becomes (2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7)/6 = 27/6 = 4.5. So you can quickly create a workbook, work on it, browse through it, and save it in this manner.

3. Function: In spreadsheets, the function uses a specified formula on the input and generates output. Or in other words, functions are created to perform complicated math problems in spreadsheets without using actual formulas. For example, you want to find the total of the numeric data present in the column then use the SUM function instead of adding all the values present in the column. 

4. Text Manipulation: The spreadsheet provides various types of commands to manipulate the data present in it. 

5. Pivot Tables: It is the most commonly used feature of the spreadsheet. Using this table users can organize, group, total, or sort data using the toolbar. Or in other words, pivot tables are used to summarize lots of data. It converts tons of data into a few rows and columns.

Use of Spreadsheets

The use of Spreadsheets is endless. It is generally used with anything that contains numbers. Some of the common use of spreadsheets are:

• Finance: Spreadsheets are used for financial data like it is used for checking account information, taxes, transaction, billing, budgets, etc.
• Forms: Spreadsheet is used to create form templates to manage performance review, timesheets, surveys, etc.
• School and colleges: Spreadsheets are most commonly used in schools and colleges to manage student’s data like their attendance, grades, etc.
• Lists: Spreadsheets are also used to create lists like grocery lists, to-do lists, contact detail, etc.
• Hotels: Spreadsheets are also used in hotels to manage the data of their customers like their personal information, room numbers, check-in date, check-out date, etc.

Components of Spreadsheets

The basic components of spreadsheets are:

1. TitleBar: The title bar displays the name of the spreadsheet and application. 

2. Toolbar: It displays all the options or commands available in Excel for use.  

3. NameBox: It displays the address of the current or active cell.

4. Formula Bar: It is used to display the data entered by us in the active cell. Also, this bar is used to apply formulas to the data of the spreadsheet. 

5. Column Headings: Every excel spreadsheet contains 256 columns and each column present in the spreadsheet is named by letters or a combination of letters. 

6. Row Headings: Every excel spreadsheet contains 65,536 rows and each row present in the spreadsheet is named by a number.

7. Cell: In a spreadsheet, everything like a numeric value, functions, expressions, etc., is recorded in the cell. Or we can say that an intersection of rows and columns is known as a cell. Every cell has its own name or address according to its column and rows and when the cursor is present on the first cell then that cell is known as an active cell.

8. Cell referring: A cell reference, also known as a cell address, is a way for describing a cell on a worksheet that combines a column letter and a row number. We can refer to any cell on the worksheet using cell references (in excel formulae). As shown in the above image the cell in column A and row 1 is referred to as A1. Such notations can be used in any formula or to duplicate the value of one cell to another (by using = A1).

9. Navigation buttons: A spreadsheet contains first, previous, next, and last navigation buttons. These buttons are used to move from one worksheet to another workbook. 

10. Sheet tabs: As we know that a workbook is a collection of worksheets. So this tab contains all the worksheets present in the workbook, by default it contains three worksheets but you can add more according to your requirement.

Create a new Spreadsheet or Workbook

To create a new spreadsheet follow the following steps:

Step 1: Click on the top-left, Microsoft office button and a drop-down menu appear.

Step 2: Now select New from the menu.

Step 3: After selecting the New option a New Workbook dialogue box will appear and then in Create tab, click on the blank Document.

A new blank worksheet is created and is shown on your screen. 

Note: When you open MS Excel on your computer, it creates a new Workbook for you.

Saving The Workbook 

In Excel we can save a workbook using the following steps:

Step 1: Click on the top-left, Microsoft office button and we get a drop-down menu:

Step 2: Now Save or Save As are the options to save the workbook, so choose one.

• Save As: To name the spreadsheet and then save it to a specific location. Select Save As if you wish to save the file for the first time, or if you want to save it with a new name.
• Save: To save your work, select Save/ click ctrl + S if the file has already been named.

So this is how you can save a workbook in Excel.

Inserting text in Spreadsheet

Excel consists of many rows and columns, each rectangular box in a row or column is referred to as a Cell. So, the combination of a column letter and a row number can be used to find a cell address on a worksheet or spreadsheet. We can refer to any cell in the worksheet using these addresses (in excel formulas). The name box on the top left(below the Home tab) displays the cell’s address whenever you click the cell.

To insert the data into the cell follow the following steps:

Step 1: Go to a cell and click on it

Step 2: By typing something on the keyboard, you can insert your data (In that selected cell).

Whatever text you type displays in the formula bar as well (for that cell).

Edit/ Delete Cell Contents in the Spreadsheet

To delete cell content follow the following steps:

Step 1: To alter or delete the text in a cell, first select it. 

Step 2: Press the Backspace key on your keyboard to delete and correct text. Alternatively, hit the Delete key to delete the whole contents of a cell. You can also edit and delete text using the formula bar. Simply select the cell and move the pointer to the formula bar.

Microsoft Excel know-how is so expected that it hardly warrants a line on a resume anymore. But how well do you really know how to use it?

Marketing is more data-driven than ever before. At any time you could be tracking growth rates, content analysis, or marketing ROI. You may know how to plug in numbers and add up cells in a column in Excel, but that’s not going to get you far when it comes to metrics reporting.

Do you want to understand what pivot tables are? Are you ready for your first VLOOKUP? Aspiring Excel wizard, read on or jump to the section that interests you most:

What is Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is a popular spreadsheet software program for business. It’s used for data entry and management, charts and graphs, and project management. You can format, organize, visualize, and calculate data with this tool.

How to Download Microsoft Excel

It’s easy to download Microsoft Excel. First, check to make sure that your PC or Mac meets Microsoft’s system requirements. Next, sign in and install Microsoft 365.

After you sign in, follow the steps for your account and computer system to download and launch the program.

For example, say you’re working on a Mac desktop. You’ll click on Launchpad or look in your applications folder. Then, click on the Excel icon to open the application.

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Basics

Sometimes, Excel seems too good to be true. Need to combine data in multiple cells? Excel can do it. Need to copy formatting across an array of cells? Excel can do that, too.

Let’s start this Excel guide with the basics. Once you have these functions down, you’ll be ready to tackle more pro Excel tips and advanced lessons.

Inserting Rows or Columns

As you work with data, you might find yourself needing to add more rows and columns. Doing this one at a time would be super tedious. Luckily, there’s an easier way.

To add multiple rows or columns in a spreadsheet, highlight the number of pre-existing rows or columns that you want to add. Then, right-click and select «Insert.»

In this example, I add three rows to the top of my spreadsheet.

Autofill

Autofill lets you quickly fill adjacent cells with several types of data, including values, series, and formulas.

There are many ways to deploy this feature, but the fill handle is among the easiest.

First, choose the cells you want to be the source. Next, find the fill handle in the lower-right corner of the cell. Then either drag the fill handle to cover the cells you want to fill or just double-click.

Filters

When you’re looking at large data sets, you usually don’t need to look at every row at the same time. Sometimes, you only want to look at data that fit into certain criteria. That’s where filters come in.

Filters allow you to pare down data to only see certain rows at one time. In Excel, you can add a filter to each column in your data. From there, you can choose which cells you want to view.

To add a filter, click the Data tab and select «Filter.» Next, click the arrow next to the column headers. This lets you choose whether you want to organize your data in ascending or descending order, as well as which rows you want to show.

Let’s take a look at the Harry Potter example below. Say you only want to see the students in Gryffindor. By selecting the Gryffindor filter, the other rows disappear.

Pro tip: Start with a filtered view in your original spreadsheet. Then, copy and paste the values to another spreadsheet before you start analyzing.

Sort

Sometimes you’ll have a disorganized list of data. This is typical when you’re exporting lists, like marketing contacts or blog posts. Excel’s sort feature can help you alphabetize any list.

Click on the data in the column you want to sort. Then click on the «Data» tab in your toolbar and look for the «Sort» option on the left.

• If the «A» is on top of the «Z,» you can just click on that button once. Choosing A-Z means the list will sort in alphabetical order.
• If the «Z» is on top of the «A,» click the button twice. Z-A selection means the list will sort in reverse alphabetical order.

Remove Duplicates

Large datasets tend to have duplicate content. For example, you may have a list of different company contacts, but you only want to see the number of companies you have. In situations like this, removing duplicates comes in handy.

To remove duplicates, highlight the row or column where you noticed duplicate data. Then, go to the Data tab, and select «Remove Duplicates» (under Tools). A pop-up will appear so that you can confirm which data you want to keep. Select «Remove Duplicates,» and you’re good to go.

If you want to see an example, this post offers step-by-step instructions for removing duplicates.

You can also use this feature to remove an entire row based on a duplicate column value. So, say you have three rows of information and you only need to see one, you can select the whole dataset and then remove duplicates. The resulting list will have only unique data without any duplicates.

Paste Special

It’s often helpful to change the items in a row of data into a column (or vice versa). It would take a lot of time to copy and paste each individual header.

Not to mention, you may easily fall into one of the biggest, most unfortunate Excel traps — human error. Read here to check out some of the most common Microsoft Excel errors.

Instead of making one of these errors, let Excel do the work for you. Take a look at this example:

To use this function, highlight the column or row you want to transpose. Then, right-click and select «Copy.»

Next, select the cells where you want the first row or column to begin. Right-click on the cell, and then select «Paste Special.»

When the module appears, choose the option to transpose.

Paste Special is a super useful function. In the module, you can also choose between copying formulas, values, formats, or even column widths. This is especially helpful when it comes to copying the results of your pivot table into a chart.

Text to Columns

What if you want to split out information that’s in one cell into two different cells? For example, maybe you want to pull out someone’s company name through their email address. Or you want to separate someone’s full name into a first and last name for your email marketing templates.

Thanks to Microsoft Excel, both are possible. First, highlight the column where you want to split up. Next, go to the Data tab and select «Text to Columns.» A module will appear with more information. First, you need to select either «Delimited» or «Fixed Width.»

• Delimited means you want to break up the column based on characters such as commas, spaces, or tabs.
• Fixed Width means you want to select the exact location in all the columns where you want the split to occur.

Select «Delimited» to separate the full name into first name and last name.

Then, it’s time to choose the delimiters. This could be a tab, semicolon, comma, space, or something else. (For example, «something else» could be the «@» sign used in an email address.) Let’s choose the space for this example. Excel will then show you a preview of what your new columns will look like.

When you’re happy with the preview, press «Next.» This page will allow you to select Advanced Formats if you choose to. When you’re done, click «Finish.»

Format Painter

Excel has a lot of features to make crunching numbers and analyzing your data quick and easy. But if you ever spent some time formatting a spreadsheet, you know it can get a bit tedious.

Don’t waste time repeating the same formatting commands over and over again. Use the format painter to copy formatting from one area of the worksheet to another.

To do this, choose the cell you’d like to replicate. Then, select the format painter option (paintbrush icon) from the top toolbar. When you release the mouse, your cell should show the new format.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Creating reports in Excel is time-consuming enough. How can we spend less time navigating, formatting, and selecting items in our spreadsheet? Glad you asked. There are a ton of Excel shortcuts out there, including some of our favorites listed below.

Create a New Workbook

PC: Ctrl-N | Mac: Command-N

Select Entire Row

PC: Shift-Space | Mac: Shift-Space

Select Entire Column

PC: Ctrl-Space | Mac: Control-Space

Select Rest of Column

PC: Ctrl-Shift-Down/Up | Mac: Command-Shift-Down/Up

Select Rest of Row

PC: Ctrl-Shift-Right/Left | Mac: Command-Shift-Right/Left

Add Hyperlink

PC: Ctrl-K | Mac: Command-K

Open Format Cells Window

PC: Ctrl-1 | Mac: Command-1

Autosum Selected Cells

PC: Alt-= | Mac: Command-Shift-T

Excel Formulas

At this point, you’re getting used to Excel’s interface and flying through quick commands on your spreadsheets.

Now, let’s dig into the core use case for the software: Excel formulas. Excel can help you do simple arithmetic like adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing any data.

• To add, use the + sign.
• To subtract, use the — sign.
• To multiply, use the * sign.
• To divide, use the / sign.
• To use exponents, use the ^ sign.

Remember, all formulas in Excel must begin with an equal sign (=). Use parentheses to make sure certain calculations happen first. For example, consider how =10+10*10 is different from =(10+10)*10.

Besides manually typing in simple calculations, you can also refer to Excel’s built-in formulas. Some of the most common include:

• Average: =AVERAGE(cell range)
• Sum: =SUM(cell range)
• Count: =COUNT(cell range)

Also note that series’ of specific cells are separated by a comma (,), while cell ranges are notated with a colon (:). For example, you could use any of these formulas:

• =SUM(4,4)
• =SUM(A4,B4)
• =SUM(A4:B4)

Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting lets you change a cell’s color based on the information within the cell. For example, say you want to flag a category in your spreadsheet.

To get started, highlight the group of cells you want to use conditional formatting on. Then, choose «Conditional Formatting» from the Home menu. Next, select a logic option from the dropdown. A window will pop up that prompts you to provide more information about your formatting rule. Select «OK» when you’re done, and you should see your results automatically appear.

Note: You can also create your own logic if you want something beyond the dropdown choices.

Dollar Signs

Have you ever seen a dollar sign in an Excel formula? When this symbol is in a formula, it isn’t representing an American dollar. Instead, it makes sure that the exact column and row stay the same even if you copy the same formula in adjacent rows.

You see, a cell reference — when you refer to cell A5 from cell C5, for example — is relative by default.

This means you’re actually referring to a cell that’s five columns to the left (C minus A) and in the same row (5). This is called a relative formula.

When you copy a relative formula from one cell to another, it’ll adjust the values in the formula based on where it’s moved. But sometimes, you want those values to stay the same no matter whether they’re moved around or not. You can do that by making the formula in the cell into what’s called an absolute formula.

To change the relative formula (=A5+C5) into an absolute formula, precede the row and column values with dollar signs, like this: (=$A$5+$C$5).

Combine Cells Using «&»

Databases tend to split out data to make it as exact as possible. For example, instead of having data that shows a person’s full name, a database might have the data as a first name and then a last name in separate columns.

In Excel, you can combine cells with different data into one cell by using the «&» sign in your function. The example below uses this formula: =A2&» «&B2.

Let’s go through the formula together using an example. So, let’s combine first names and last names into full names in a single column.

To do this, put your cursor in the blank cell where you want the full name to appear. Next, highlight one cell that contains a first name, type in an «&» sign, and then highlight a cell with the corresponding last name.

But you’re not finished. If all you type in is =A2&B2, then there will not be a space between the person’s first name and last name. To add that necessary space, use the function =A2&» «&B2. The quotation marks around the space tell Excel to put a space between the first and last name.

To make this true for multiple rows, drag the corner of that first cell downward as shown in the example.

Pivot Tables

Pivot tables reorganize data in a spreadsheet. A pivot table won’t change the data that you have, but it can sum up values and compare information in a way that’s easy to understand.

For example, let’s look at how many people are in each house at Hogwarts.

To create the Pivot Table, go to Insert > Pivot Table. Excel will automatically populate your pivot table, but you can always change the order of the data. Then, you have four options to choose from.

Report Filter

This allows you to only look at certain rows in your dataset.

For example, to create a filter by house, choose only students in Gryffindor.

Column and Row Labels

These could be any headers or rows in the dataset.

Note: Both Row and Column labels can contain data from your columns. For example, you can drag First Name to either the Row or Column label depending on how you want to see the data.

Value

This section allows you to convert data into a number. Instead of just pulling in any numeric value, you can sum, count, average, max, min, count numbers, or do a few other manipulations with your data. By default, when you drag a field to Value, it always does a count.

The example above counts the number of students in each house. To recreate this pivot table, go to the pivot table and drag the House column to both the row Labels and the values. This will sum up the number of students associated with each house.

IF Functions

At its most basic level, Excel’s IF function lets you see if a condition you set is true or false for a given value.

If the condition is true, you get one result. If the condition is false, you get another result.

This popular tool is useful for comparisons and finding errors. But if you’re new to Excel you may need a little more information to get the most out of this feature.

Let’s take a look at this function’s syntax:

• =IF(logical_test, value_if_true, [value_if_false])

• With values, this could be: =IF(A2>B2, «Over Budget», «OK»)

In this example, you want to find where you’re overspending. With this IF function, if your spending (what’s in A2) is greater than your budget (what’s in B2), that overspending will be easy to see. Then you can then filter the data so that you see only the line items where you’re going over budget.

The real power of the IF function comes when you string or «nest» multiple IF statements together. This allows you to set multiple conditions, get more specific results, and organize your data into more manageable chunks.

For example, ranges are one way to segment your data for better analysis. For example, you can categorize data into values that are less than 10, 11 to 50, or 51 to 100.

• =IF(B3<11,»10 or less»,IF(B3<51,»11 to 50″,IF(B3<100,»51 to 100″)))

Let’s talk about a few more IF functions.

COUNTIF Function

The power of IF functions goes beyond simple true and false statements. With the COUNTIF function, Excel can count the number of times a word or number appears in any range of cells.

For example, let’s say you want to count the number of times the word «Gryffindor» appears in this data set.

Take a look at the syntax.

• The formula: =COUNTIF(range, criteria)
• The formula with variables from the example below: =COUNTIF(D:D,»Gryffindor»)

In this formula, there are several variables:

Range

The range that you want the formula to cover.

In this one-column example, «D:D» shows that the first and last columns are both D. If you want to look at columns C and D, use «C:D.»

Criteria

Whatever number or piece of text you want Excel to count.

Only use quotation marks if you want the result to be text instead of a number. In this example, «Gryffindor» is the only criteria.

To use this function, type the COUNTIF formula in any cell and press «Enter.» Using the example above, this action will show how many times the word «Gryffindor» appears in the dataset.

SUMIF Function

Ready to make the IF function a bit more complex? Let’s say you want to analyze the number of leads your blog has generated from one author, not the entire team.

With the SUMIFS function, you can add up cells that meet certain criteria. You can add as many different criteria to the formula as you like.

Here’s your formula:

• =SUMIFS(sum_range, criteria_range1, criteria1, [criteria_range2, criteria 2],etc.)

That’s a lot of criteria. Let’s take a look at each part:

Sum_range

The range of cells you’re going to add up.

Criteria_range1

The range that is being searched for your first value.

Criteria1

This is the specific value that determines which cells in Criteria_range1 to add together.

Note: Remember to use quotation marks if you’re searching for text.

In the example below, the SUMIF formula counts the total number of house points from Gryffindor.

If AND/OR

The OR and AND functions round out your IF function choices. These functions check multiple arguments. It returns either TRUE or FALSE depending on if at least one of the arguments is true (this is the OR function), or if all of them are true (this is the AND function).

Lost in a sea of «and’s» and «or’s»? Don’t check out yet. In practice, OR and AND functions will never be used on their own. They need to be nested inside of another IF function. Recall the syntax of a basic IF function:

• =IF(logical_test, value_if_true, [value_if_false])
• Now, let’s fit an OR function inside of the logical_test: =IF(OR(logical1, logical2), value_if_true, [value_if_false])

To put it plainly, this combined formula allows you to return a value if both conditions are true, as opposed to just one. With AND/OR functions, your formulas can be as simple or complex as you want them to be, as long as you understand the basics of the IF function.

VLOOKUP

Have you ever had two sets of data on two different spreadsheets that you want to combine into a single spreadsheet?

For example, say you have a list of names and email addresses in one spreadsheet and a list of email addresses and company names in a different spreadsheet. But you want the names, email addresses, and company names of those people to appear in one spreadsheet.

VLOOKUP is a great go-to formula for this.

Before you use the formula, be sure that you have at least one column that appears identically in both places.

Note: Scour your data sets to make sure the column of data you’re using to combine spreadsheets is exactly the same. This includes removing any extra spaces.

In the example below, Sheet One and Sheet Two are both lists with different information about the same people. The common thread between the two is their email addresses. Let’s combine both datasets so that all the house information from Sheet Two translates over to Sheet One.

Type in the formula: =VLOOKUP(C2,Sheet2!A:B,2,FALSE). This will bring all the house data into Sheet One.

Now that you’ve seen how VLOOKUP works, let’s review the formula.

• The formula: =VLOOKUP(lookup value, table array, column number, [range lookup])
• The formula with variables from the example: =VLOOKUP(C2,Sheet2!A:B,2,FALSE)

In this formula, there are several variables.

Lookup Value

A value that LOOKUP searches for in an array. So, your lookup value is the identical value you have in both spreadsheets.

In the example, the lookup value is the first email address on the list, or cell 2 (C2).

Table Array

Table arrays hold column-oriented or tabular data, like the columns on Sheet Two you’re going to pull your data from.

This table array includes the column of data identical to your lookup value in Sheet One and the column of data you’re trying to copy to Sheet Two.

In the example, «A» means Column A in Sheet Two. The «B» means Column B.

So, the table array is «Sheet2!A:B.»

Column Number

Excel refers to columns as letters and rows as numbers. So, the column number is the selected column for the new data you want to copy.

In the example, this would be the «House» column. «House» is column 2 in the table array.

Note: Your range can be more than two columns. For example, if there are three columns on Sheet Two — Email, Age, and House — and you also want to bring House onto Sheet One, you can still use a VLOOKUP. You just need to change the «2» to a «3» so it pulls back the value in the third column. The formula for this would be: =VLOOKUP(C2:Sheet2!A:C,3,false).]

Range Lookup

This term means that you’re looking for a value within a range of values. You can also use the term «FALSE» to pull only exact value matches.

Note: VLOOKUP will only pull back values to the right of the column containing your identical data on the second sheet. This is why some people prefer to use the INDEX and MATCH functions instead.

INDEX MATCH

Like VLOOKUP, the INDEX and MATCH functions pull data from another dataset into one central location. Here are the main differences:

VLOOKUP is a much simpler formula.

If you’re working with large datasets that need thousands of lookups, the INDEX MATCH function will decrease load time in Excel.

INDEX MATCH formulas work right-to-left.

VLOOKUP formulas only work as a left-to-right lookup. So, if you need to do a lookup that has a column to the right of the results column, you’d have to rearrange those columns to do a VLOOKUP. This can be tedious with large datasets and lead to errors.

Let’s look at an example. Let’s say Sheet One contains a list of names and their Hogwarts email addresses. Sheet Two contains a list of email addresses and each student’s Patronus.

The information that lives in both sheets is the email addresses column. But, the column numbers for email addresses are different on the two sheets. So, you’d use the INDEX MATCH formula instead of VLOOKUP to avoid column-switching errors.

The INDEX MATCH formula is the MATCH formula nested inside the INDEX formula.

• The formula: =INDEX(table array, MATCH formula)
• This becomes: =INDEX(table array, MATCH (lookup_value, lookup_array))
• The formula with variables from the example: =INDEX(Sheet2!A:A,(MATCH(Sheet1!C:C,Sheet2!C:C,0)))

Here are the variables:

Table Array

The range of columns on Sheet Two that contain the new data you want to bring over to Sheet One.

In the example, «A» means Column A, and has the «Patronus» information for each person.

Lookup Value

This Sheet One column has identical values in both spreadsheets.

In the example, this is the «email» column on Sheet One, which is Column C. So, Sheet1!C:C.

Lookup Array

Again, an array is a group of values in rows and columns that you want to search.

In this example, the lookup array is the column in Sheet Two that contains identical values in both spreadsheets. So, the «email» column on Sheet Two, Sheet2!C:C.

Once you have your variables set, type in the INDEX MATCH formula. Add it where you want the combined information to populate.

Data Visualization

Now that you’ve learned formulas and functions, let’s make your analysis visual. With a beautiful graph, your audience will be able to process and remember your data more easily.

Create a Basic Graph

First, decide what type of graph to use. Bar charts and pie charts help you compare categories. Pie charts compare part of a whole and are often best when one of the categories is way larger than the others. Bar charts highlight incremental differences between categories. Finally, line charts can help display trends over time.

This post can help you find the best chart or graph for your presentation.

Next, highlight the data you want to turn into a chart. Then choose «Charts» in the top navigation. You can also use Insert > Chart if you have an older version of Excel. Then you can adjust and resize your chart until it makes the statement you’re hoping for.

Microsoft Excel Can Help Your Business Grow

Excel is a useful tool for any small business. Whether you’re focused on marketing, HR, sales, or service, these Microsoft Excel tips can boost your performance.

Whether you want to improve efficiency or productivity, Excel can help. You can find new trends and organize your data into usable insights. It can make your data analysis easier to understand and your daily tasks easier.

All it takes is a little know-how and some time with the software. So start learning, and get ready to grow.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

If you use spreadsheets on a daily basis, this post isn’t for you.

Within the past year I’ve led 61 trainings (and counting!) about both data analysis/statistics and data visualization. In each session, there’s one person who’s enthusiastically eager to learn but has almost zero experience with spreadsheets. Spreadsheet novices, rejoice! This one’s for you.

Key Spreadsheet Terminology

Sometimes Excel novices say that learning to use Excel is like learning a new language. Here are some key Excel terms to get you off to a good start.

Your entire Excel file is called an Excel workbook.

Your workbook will probably include multiple sheets. When you open a new file, you’ll see Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3 included along the bottom of your screen.

Your sheets are organized into tabular Columns and Rows.

Tabs are displayed across the top of your Excel workbook. Each tab contains a variety of incredible features. For example, the Home tab contains features that let you format text and numbers. The Page Layout tab is where you adjust printer settings and the Data tab contains a sorting button.

Finally, the Formula Bar is where you’ll get to view formulas that are typed into your spreadsheet.

Basic Text Formatting

Novices are often pleasantly surprised to learn how many similarities exist between Microsoft products like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Whether you need to format text, adjust colors, or insert images, you can apply your existing Word and PowerPoint skills as you begin using Excel.

Just like with Word and PowerPoint, you’re not stuck with regular ol’ text inside of Excel. You can adjust some or all of your spreadsheet’s contents to bold, italic, or underlined numbers and letters.

Adjusting Colors

Colors are highly customizable in Excel, just like in Word and PowerPoint. Change your font’s color with the Font Color button on the Home tab. Or, fill in your cells with the Fill Color button on the Home tab.

Inserting Images

Want to include your organization’s logo within your spreadsheet? Images are just as easy to use in Excel as in Word and PowerPoint. Head over to the Insert tab and click the Pictures button. Then continue formatting your image — re-sizing, re-coloring, flipping, etc. — just like you normally would.

Building Diagrams with SmartArt

I primarily use SmartArt within my PowerPoint slides or Word documents, but sometimes diagrams are helpful in my Excel file, too. Head over to the Insert tab and click the SmartArt button to see all your options. I tweak each diagram’s colors and fonts for a customized look.

Inserting Hyperlinks

It’s easy to include hyperlinks inside your spreadsheet. Just type the link, and when you hit Enter on your keyboard, the text will magically turn itself into a hyperlink. Right-click on the hyperlink and select Edit Hyperlink to display new text for the link, like Link to Udemy text from our example. If you don’t need the hyperlink anymore, simply delete the cell’s text, or just right-click on your link and select Remove Hyperlink.

An Excel spreadsheet is a very powerful software which was developed by Microsoft in 1985 and is used by over 800 million users for number crunching, data analysis & reporting, charting and note taking – wherein its true power is often underutilized 🙂

It is widely used by organizations for calculating, accounting, preparing charts, budgeting, project management, and various other tasks. The different uses of an Excel spreadsheet is in fact limitless!  In this tutorial we will hold your hand and teach you how to use Excel for the first time.

Want to know How To Master Excel from Beginner to Expert?

*** Watch our video and step by step guide below with a free downloadable Excel workbook to practice ***

Watch it on YouTube and give it a thumbs-up!

An Excel Spreadsheet is the go-to software to analyze, sort, or present a large amount of information and data in no time.

In this Excel tutorial, I will cover the Basics of Excel that you need to know to get started with how to use Excel. This Excel for dummies guide will include tutorials on:

• Opening an Excel Spreadsheet
• Understanding the Different Elements of an Excel Spreadsheet
• Entering Data in an Excel Spreadsheet
• Basic Calculations in an Excel Spreadsheet
• Saving an Excel Spreadsheet

Let’s start this step by step Excel tutorial on – “How to use Excel”

Opening an Excel Spreadsheet

To open an Excel Spreadsheet, follow the steps of this Excel tutorial below:

Step 1: Click on the Window icon on the left side of the Taskbar and then scroll below to find “Excel”.

Step 2: You can either click on the “Blank Workbook” button to open a blank Excel spreadsheet or select from the list of pre-existing templates provided by Excel.

To open an existing Excel spreadsheet, click on the “Open Other Workbooks” and select the Excel sheet you want to work on.

Step 3: An Excel spreadsheet is now opened and you are ready to explore the wonderful world of Excel.

Understanding the Different Elements of an Excel Spreadsheet

To explore the different ways on How to use Excel you should be familiar with the different elements of Excel first.

Excel Workbook and Excel Worksheet are often used interchangeably, but they do have different meanings. An Excel Workbook is an Excel file with the extension “.xlsx” or “.xls” whereas an Excel Worksheet is a single sheet inside the Workbook. Worksheets appear as tabs along the bottom of the screen.

Now that you are clear about these two terms, let’s move forward and understand the layout of an Excel Spreadsheet. It is a crucial step if you want to know how to use Excel efficiently.

Excel Ribbon

The Excel Ribbon is located at the top of the Excel Spreadsheet and just below the title bar or name of the worksheet. It comprises various tabs including Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, etc. Each tab contains a specific set of commands.

By default, each Excel spreadsheet contains the following Tabs – File, Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, and View.

• File Tab can be used to open a new or existing file, save, print, or share a file, etc.
• Home Tab can be used to copy, cut, or paste cells and work on the formatting of data.
• Insert Tab can be used to insert the picture, charts, filter, hyperlink, etc.
• Page Layout Tab can be used to prepare the Excel spreadsheet for printing and exporting data.
• Formula Tab in Excel can be used to insert, define the name, create the name range, review the formula, etc.
• Data Tab can be used to get external data, sort filter and group existing data, etc.
• Review Tab can be used to insert comments, protect the document, check spelling, track changes, etc.
• View Tab can be used to change the view of the Excel Sheets and make it easy to view the data.

You should be familiar with these tabs so you can understand how to use Excel efficiently. You can even customize these Tabs using the following steps:

Step 1: Right-click on the ribbon and click on “Customize the Ribbon”

Step 2: An Excel Options dialog box will open, click on the New Tab.

Step 3: Select that newly created tab and click on Rename and give it a name e.g. Custom

Step 4: Now you can add the commands that you want under each group by simply clicking on the command from the Popular Command column and click on Add >>

This will create a New Tab called “Custom” with a popular command “Center“.

Under each Tab, there are various buttons grouped together. For Example – Under the Home Tab, all font-related buttons are clubbed together under the Group name “Font”.

You can access other features related to that group by clicking on the small arrow at the end of each Group. Once you click on that arrow, a dialog box will open and you can make further edits using that.

There is also a search bar available next to the tabs which was introduced in Excel 2019 and Office 365. You can type the feature that you are after and Excel will find it for you.

You can also collapse the ribbon to provide extra space in the worksheet by pressing the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + F1 or by right-clicking anywhere on the ribbon and then clicking “Collapse the Ribbon”.

This will collapse the Ribbon!

Formula Bar

Excel’s Formula bar is the area just below the Excel Ribbon. It contains two parts – on the left is the name box (it stores the cell address) and on the right is the contents of the currently selected cell. It is used to type values, text or an Excel formula or function.

You can hide or unhide the formula bar by checking/unchecking “Formula Bar” under View Tab.

You can also expand the formula bar if you have a large formula and its contents are not entirely visible. Click on the small arrow at the end of the formula bar and it will be expanded.

Status Bar

At the bottom left side of the workbook, all the Excel worksheets are shown. You can access an Excel sheet by simply clicking on it.

To add more Excel sheets, click on the “+” sign below which will add a new blank Excel sheet.

You can reorder the Excel sheets in your workbook by dragging them to a new location with your left mouse button.

You can also rename each Excel sheet by Right Clicking on a Sheet Name > Click on Rename > Type the Name > Press Enter.

At the bottom right of the Excel spreadsheet, you can quickly zoom the document by using the minus and plus symbols. To zoom to a specific percentage, in the ribbon menu go to the View tab > Click Zoom > Click on the specific percentage or type in your custom % > Click OK.

There are different Excel workbook views available at the left of the zoom control: Normal View, Page Break View, and Page Layout View. You can select the view as per your choice.

Cell & Excel Spreadsheet Basics

Any information including text, number, or an Excel formula can be inserted within a Cell. Alphabets are used to label Columns and numbers are used to label Rows.

An intersection of a Row and Column is called a Cell. In the image below, cell C4 is the intersection of Row 4 and Column C.

You can refer to a series of cells as a range by putting a colon between the first and last cells within the range. For example, the reference to the range starting from A1 to C10 will be A1: C10.  This is great when you are using an Excel formula.

Now that you are familiar with the different elements in an Excel Spreadsheet, let’s show you how to use Excel to enter data and do some calculations!

Entering Data in an Excel Spreadsheet

Follow this step -by-step tutorial on how to use excel to enter data below:

Step 1: Click the cell you want to enter data into. For Example, you want to enter your sales data and want to start with the first cell, so click on A1

Step 2: Type what you want to add, say, Date. You will see that the same data will be visible on the Formula Bar as well.

Step 3: Press Enter. This will store the written data on the selected cell and move the selection to the next available cell, which is A2 in this example

To make any changes in the cell, simply click on it and make the changes.

You can copy (Ctrl + C), Cut (Ctrl + X) any data from one Excel worksheet and paste it (Ctrl + V) to the same or another Excel worksheet.

Basic Calculations in an Excel Spreadsheet

Now that you have understood how to use Excel to enter data, let’s do some calculations on the data. Let’s say you want to add two numbers: 4 and 5 in the excel spreadsheet.

Follow the steps below on how to use Excel to add two numbers:

Step 1: Start with the = or the + sign to tell Excel that you are ready to run some sort of calculation.

Step 2: Type number 4.

Step 3: Type + symbol to add

Step 4: Type number 5.

Step 5: Press Enter.

You will see the result 9 is displayed in the cell A1 and the formula is still displayed in the formula bar.

Let’s try to use a cell reference to make calculations.

In the example below, you have Column A that contains the number of products sold and Column B that contains price per product and you need to calculate the total amount in Column C.

To calculate the total amount, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Select cell C2

Step 2: Type = to start the formula

Step 3: Select cell A2 with your mouse cursor or by using the left arrow key.

Step 4: Type the multiplication sign *

Step 5: Select cell B2

Step 6: Press Enter

You can use various calculation operators, such as Arithmetic, Comparison, Text Concatenation and Reference operators that will be useful for you to have a  clear and complete idea on how to use Excel.

Here is a walk-through for Excel for Dummies by Microsoft covering the most requested features of Excel.

Saving an Excel Spreadsheet

To save your work in Excel, click on the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar or press Ctrl + S.

If you are trying to save a file for the first time, then follow these steps:

Step 1: Press Ctrl + Shift +S or Click on the “Save As” button under the File tab.

Step 2: Click on “Browse” and choose the location where you want to save the file.

Step 3: In the File name box, enter a name for your new Excel workbook.

Step 4: Click Save

Here is an Excel for Dummies Video from Microsoft explaining how to save an Excel Workbook.

This brings us to the end of this how to Use Excel tutorial.

I have just covered the basics of how to use Excel in this article.  As an Excel newbie, Excel is a completely unexplored & exciting world for you right now and you are going to learn so much along your journey.

My advice is to take baby steps, learn how to use one Excel feature, apply it to your data, make mistakes and keep on practicing.

Within 7 days your Excel confidence will skyrocket!

Make sure to download our FREE PDF on the 333 Excel keyboard Shortcuts here:

You can learn more on how to use Excel by viewing our FREE Excel webinar training on Formulas, Pivot Tables and Macros & VBA!

You can follow our YouTube channel to learn more about How To Use Excel for Dummies!