Main features of excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS and iPadOS. It features calculation or computation capabilities, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Excel forms part of the Microsoft 365 suite of software.

Microsoft Excel

A simple bar graph being created in Excel, running on Windows 11
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Initial release	November 19, 1987; 35 years ago
Stable release	2103 (16.0.13901.20400) / April 13, 2021; 23 months ago[1]
Written in	C++ (back-end)[2]
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Type	Spreadsheet
License	Trialware[3]
Website	microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/excel

Microsoft Excel for Mac

Excel for Mac (version 16.67), running on macOS Big Sur 11.5.2
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Initial release	September 30, 1985; 37 years ago
Stable release	16.70 (Build 23021201) / February 14, 2023; 54 days ago[4]
Written in	C++ (back-end), Objective-C (API/UI)[2]
Operating system	macOS
Type	Spreadsheet
License	Proprietary commercial software
Website	products.office.com/mac

Microsoft Excel for Android

Excel for Android running on Android 13
Developer(s)	Microsoft Corporation
Stable release	16.0.14729.20146 / December 22, 2021; 15 months ago[5]
Operating system	Android Oreo and later
Type	Spreadsheet
License	Proprietary commercial software
Website	products.office.com/en-us/excel

Microsoft Excel for iOS and iPadOS

Developer(s)	Microsoft Corporation
Stable release	2.70.1 / February 15, 2023; 53 days ago[6]
Operating system	iOS 15 or later iPadOS 15 or later
Type	Spreadsheet
License	Proprietary commercial software
Website	products.office.com/en-us/excel

Features

Data storage and communication

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Workbook xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
 xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
 xmlns:x="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:excel"
 xmlns:ss="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:spreadsheet"
 xmlns:html="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
 <Worksheet ss:Name="Sheet1">
  <Table ss:ExpandedColumnCount="2" ss:ExpandedRowCount="2" x:FullColumns="1" x:FullRows="1">
   <Row>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Name</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Example</Data></Cell>
   </Row>
   <Row>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="String">Value</Data></Cell>
    <Cell><Data ss:Type="Number">123</Data></Cell>
   </Row>
  </Table>
 </Worksheet>
</Workbook>

Other platforms

Microsoft Excel Viewer

Quirks

Versions

Impact

Security

Games

See also

References

References

External links

Today on Top 10 Excel features you need to know. I am a frequent visitor to StackOverflow to see what is troubling the Excel community (and other developer/analyst communities). It is nothing incredible that many users have issues due to not being aware of some of the most significant features in Excel like PivotTables, Array Formulas, Tables and other. I have seen more than once users reaching out to use VBA macros instead of much easier PivotTables/Charts. Although, I value VBA it should also be the solution of last resort compare to “native” Excel features used more common.

I have decided therefore to list some of the top 10 features regarded often as the most significant and useful to know. So let’s start with the 10 Top Excel Features…

No. 1: PivotTables

You can’t call yourself an advanced Excel user without knowing about PivotTables! There is no other feature in Excel I being used more often and with success. Almost the first thing I always do when analyzing data is pivot the data in multiple manners and analyze the patterns/results. Pivots can process a large amount of data in a short period of time and are optimized in the Excel back-end for performance. This is definitely one of the 10 top Excel features!

PivotTables allow you to transform and analyze data in a structure manner. Just select a range of data (data in columns with headers) and select the ROWS, COLUMNS and VALUES for your Pivot Table! You can also create custom columns (based on formulas), summarize data by groups/rows/columns etc. There is almost no limit in the possibilities.

How to find it in Excel?
Insert->Tables->PivotTables

No. 2: Filtering and sorting data

Filtering and sorting your data is just as useful as using PivotTables. Excel is meant to transform and analyze data and filtering/sorting is one of the key elements. When provided with a table of data you will probably want to sort the data in a descending/ascending manner or filter out rows based on some features (values in certain columns). This is a must-know feature.

How to find it in Excel?
Data->Sort->Filter

No. 3: Excel Tables

If you want your data tables to be neat and structured you need to use Excel Data Tables. What do you get when using Tables in Excel? A consistent structure and formatting of your entire data table, automated copied formulas (across columns), non-repeating column headers and more. It is always good to resort to Excel Data Tables as you will have less work managing your data table and can focus on more interesting work like data transformation/analysis.

How to find it in Excel?
Insert->Tables->Table

No. 4: Conditional formatting

Analyzing/transforming data is important, but it is just as useful to be able to identify variances in a range of values using graphics like colors, bars or icons. Conditional formatting can allow you to notice patterns in data values which might not be obvious when looking at raw numbers.

How to find it in Excel?
Home->Styles->Conditional Formatting

No. 5: Lookup Excel functions

Although these functions are not exactly a separate feature they are considered to be one of the most useful and most often used when analyzing data. I can’t stress how often I stumbled upon articles/posts about these functions. These functions are also frequently used by recruiters for Excel jobs.

• VLOOKUP – search the first column of a range of cells, and then return a value from any cell on the same row of the range
• HLOOKUP – as above but for columns instead of rows
• INDEX – returns the value of an element in a table or an array, selected by provided index
• MATCH – searches for a specified item in a range of cells, and then returns the relative position of that item in the range

How to use these functions?
The VLOOKUP function will return a corresponding value from another cell of the same row of a value found in the first column of the data table.

The INDEX and MATCH functions are best to be used together (see the links section below). Why? They allow you to basically achieve the same result as the LOOKUP functions HOWEVER these are more flexible. I encourage you to read the links below.

No. 6: Array Formulas

Array Formulas are one of the greatest knowledge gaps in the Excel community in my opinion. I see so often questions which can be easily answered if someone at least made an effort to learn them. Many Excel users fall into the trap of writing a lot of custom VBA just because they are not aware or are too lazy to use a neat Array Formula.

How to use Array Functions?
Go to the links section for a decent tutorial. However, the process itself is quite simple:

1. Create a function using an Excel range e.g. A1:A10
2. Hit CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER

So easy and yet so powerful! Let’s jump into a simple example:

Excel Array Formula Example
Let’s assume we have a range of value for a certain period of time. We want to get the maximum value for dates after the 1st of March 2015. We can get this in a single Array Formula! See below.

How does it work?

'MAX ( returns all cells from A2:A8 for which B2:B8 are older than 2015-03-01)
=MAX(IF(B$2:B$8>DATE(2015;3;1);A$2:A$8))

See the logic? You can also multiply/divide/sum and do other cool thing with Array Formulas. See the tutorial link below.

No. 7: Data Analysis Excel Tools

All tools needed in doing basic data cleansing can be found in the Data Tools section of the Data ribbon. Working on data often? You need to know how and when to use Text to Columns, Data Validation and all the other neat tools.

How to find it in Excel?
Data->Data Tools

No. 8: Naming fields / NameManager

Naming cells/ranges comes in handy when you repeatedly reference certain cells or arrays e.g. USD/EUR currency field, interest rate used in formulas etc. This is a nice and clean way to manage all reference to those fields and allows you to easily relocate these cells or ranges.

How to set a Defined Name to an Excel cell/range?

• Click on the text field in the upper-left with the cell/range reference
• Type in Defined Name for this cell/range – it must not have whitespaces
• Hit ENTER

Now when trying to reference the cell/range in a formula simply type the new Defined Name.

How to find it in Excel?
Formulas->Defined Names

No. 9: VBA macros and recording macros

The reason VBA is placed before last on the 10 Top Excel features list is because, in my opinion, it is so often abused but users who refuse to learn well the remaining Excel features. VBA macros fills the gap of all the missing features/functions in Excel. Macros let’s you program almost anything in Excel, you name it – forms, database connectivity, analytics, web browsing etc. You can’t basically consider yourself an Excel Pro without being able to program macros in VBA. However, it is important to stress that the problem with VBA is that once learned it tends to make analysts lazy – instead of Excel Array Formulas you will see custom macros or hideous UDF-functions. VBA should be used as a tool of last resort!

Typical applications of VBA

• Cleansing/filtering/sorting/copying data
• Custom algorithms (custom analysis of data sets)
• Custom Excel UDF functions (User Defined Functions)
• Excel Forms (making custom user forms to input data or create a custom UI)

How to find it in Excel?
Developer->Code->Visual Basic
Recording macros
The other fantastic thing with Excel is that it enables you to record macros – by recording your actions in Excel and translating them into VBA code. In some cases you need not even understand the code to be able to reuse it e.g. applying custom formatting to selected cells. This is definitely a great feature on it’s own.

How to find it in Excel?
Developer->Code->Record Macro

No. 10: Microsoft Power Add-In’s

Last but not least on the 10 Top Excel features list are the PowerPivot, PowerQuery and PowerMap powerful Microsoft developed Add-Ins for Excel. Harness the power of Big Data, SQL, complex pivots and charts with these fantastic Add-ins! The PowerMap is a relatively new member of the family delivering nice bells and whistles to your Workbooks!

PowerPivot basically pumps Excel with more Analytics features by extend the PivotTable with summarization, cross-tabulation, expanded data capacity, advanced calculations, ability to import data from multiple sources, and the ability to publish the workbooks as interactive web applications.

PowerQuery will allow you to easily harness data and access to external data sources such as files, the Web, databases etc. and more easily manipulate and cleanse data. PowerQuery enables you to process enormous data sources/tables counting millions of records (more than an Excel Worksheet can contain).

PowerMap (as quoted on the official MS site) is a three-dimensional (3-D) data visualization tool that lets you look at information in new ways. A power map lets you discover insights you might not see in traditional two-dimensional (2-D) tables and charts.

Both these tools complete one another. If you want to do Business Intelligence in Excel you need to be able to use both these Add-Ins. Microsoft seems to have great plans for them and I would anticipate that both these Add-Ins become a “native” part of Excel in the following versions of Microsoft Excel.

As a business owner, you know that using MS Excel is essential for managing your finances and managing your data. In this article, we will take a look at the main features of MS Excel 2016, so that you can better understand what this powerful spreadsheet can do for you.

What is an Excel Workbook?

The Excel workbook is a document that contains all of the data and information that you need to work on a project. You can save your work in an Excel workbook, so that you can access it later without having to open the file again. You can also share your workbook with other people, so that they can help you with your project.

The Main Features of an Excel Workbook

An Excel workbook is a versatile tool that can be used for a variety of tasks. Here are some of the main features of an Excel workbook:

-You can store data in columns and rows.
-You can create tables and charts to display your data.
-You can format your data using font, color, and borders.
-You can password protect your workbook.

How to Save a Workbook

There are a few main features of Excel that you may want to keep in mind when saving a workbook:

1. You can save a copy of your workbook as a PDF or XLS file.
2. You can password protect your workbook so that only you can access it.
3. You can share your workbook with others by sending them an email or attaching it to an email.
4. You can track changes to your workbook by marking it as read-only and then viewing the changes history.

How to Print a Workbook

If you print your workbook in Microsoft Excel, you can choose to print either the entire workbook or just the sheets you are working on. To print a workbook:
1.Open the workbook you want to print.
2.Click the File tab and then click Print.
3.Select which pages you want to print and then click OK.
4.If you want to include headers and footers on your printout, select them from the Page Setup dialog box that appears and then click OK.

You can also save a copy of your workbook as a PDF file by clicking File > Save As > PDF. In this case, only the pages that have content will be printed, not any headers or footers that you may have selected in the Page Setup dialog box.

How to Open a Workbook in Excel

If you want to open a workbook you already have open in Excel, there are a few different ways you can go about it. The easiest way is to just click on the workbook’s icon on your desktop. If the workbook is open in another application, like Office 2013, you can open it in Excel by clicking the “Open” button on the File tab and selecting “Excel.”

If the workbook isn’t open in any of these ways, you can try one of the following methods:

1. Click on the “File” menu and select “Open.” This will open the file in your default application.

2. Double-click on the file’s name. This will open the file in Excel if it’s not already open.

3. Click on the “Workbooks” tab and select the workbook from the list that appears.

4. Use keyboard shortcuts to open a workbook quickly: F5 (for Microsoft Excel 2013) or Ctrl+O (for Microsoft Excel 2010) will open a workbook in its default location, while Alt+F11 (for Microsoft Excel 2007) or Ctrl+O (for Microsoft Excel 2003

How to Use Functions in an Excel Workbook

If you’re like most people, you use Excel for a variety of tasks—from calculating taxes to planning budgets to tracking progress on projects. But what if you need to do something a little more specific than what Excel can offer? That’s where functions come in handy. In this article, we’ll explain what functions are and how to use them in your Excel workbook.

Functions are special commands that Excel can run automatically whenever you enter particular values into certain cells. For example, you can use the SUM function to calculate the total value of all the cells in a workbook row by row. Or, you could use the VLOOKUP function to lookup a value from a specific cell and return its corresponding value from the first column in the worksheet that contains that cell’s value.

There are dozens of different functions available in Excel, and each one comes with its own set of instructions (or “recipe”) for how it should be used. So don’t be surprised if you’ve never seen or used a function before—just keep reading and gradually start incorporating them into your workflows!

How to Create Tables in an Excel Workbook

In this article, we will be discussing the different features of Microsoft Excel and how to use them to create tables. When working with tables in Excel, it is important to keep in mind that there are a few main features that you should be aware of.

First and foremost, tables in Excel can be used for organizing data. Whether you are working with basic data or more sophisticated information, table formatting can help make your work easier. Additionally, tables in Excel can be used to perform calculations on the data within them. For example, you can use formulas to calculate averages or percentages based on data within a table.

Finally, tables in Excel can be exported as PDF files or CSV (common spreadsheet) files. This allows you to easily share your work with other people and collaborators.

How to Format Cells in an Excel Workbook

If you need to format cells in an Excel workbook, there are a few main features to keep in mind. The easiest way to format a cell is to use the predefined formats that Excel provides. For example, you can set a cell to be a number or a date. You can also use custom formats, which allow you to format cells in a more specific way. For example, you can make a cell bold or underline it.

You can also format text in a cell by using the available formatting options. You can change the font, size, and color of the text. You can also add borders around the text and add highlights. Finally, you can add images to your cells by using the Insert Picture command.

How to Use AutoCorrect in an Excel Workbook

Microsoft Excel offers a number of features that can help you save time and effort when working in the spreadsheet application. One such feature is AutoCorrect, which can automatically correct common typographical errors as you type. This article will explain how AutoCorrect works and what kinds of errors it can correct.

Conclusion

As a business owner, you are likely using Microsoft Excel on a daily basis. Whether you are creating spreadsheets to track expenses or compiling data for presentations, understanding the basics of this software can save you time and help ensure accuracy in your work. In this article, we will take a look at some of the main features of Microsoft Excel so that you can start using it more effectively.

Asked by: Uriah Marvin

Score: 4.4/5
(35 votes)

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.

What is MS Excel explain?

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program included in the Microsoft Office suite of applications. … Spreadsheets present tables of values arranged in rows and columns that can be manipulated mathematically using both basic and complex arithmetic operations and functions.

What is MS Excel Short answer?

Microsoft Excel is a software program produced by Microsoft that allows users to organize, format and calculate data with formulas using a spreadsheet system. This software is part of the Microsoft Office suite and is compatible with other applications in the Office suite.

What are the 3 common uses for Excel?

The three most common general uses for spreadsheet software are to create budgets, produce graphs and charts, and for storing and sorting data. Within business spreadsheet software is used to forecast future performance, calculate tax, completing basic payroll, producing charts and calculating revenues.

How many types of MS Excel?

Excel 2010’s Three Data Types and Their Default Formats — dummies.

38 related questions found

15 Features That Make Excel “Excel”

Hello everybody,

Here we are with another long article again.
As you know, Excel has been an indispensable part of our office life for a long time. We wanted to compile The Features That Make Excel “Excel”.
There are so many topics, so many features… But in this article, we will be talking about the most important features of Excel that you need to know.

Let’s get started.

What are these features?

‣ Shortcuts
‣ Formulas (Functions)
‣ Pivot Table
‣ Conditional Formatting
‣ Data Validation
‣ Sort
‣ Filter
‣ Advanced Filter
‣ Wildcard Characters
‣ Charts
‣ Flash Fill
‣ Find and Replace
‣ Convert Text to Columns
‣ Al Import External Data
‣ VBA (Macro)

► SHORTCUTS

It is disputable that if the shortcuts in Excel are a feature, but it is a very important feature for us. Because shortcuts allows us to access and apply the existing features faster.
Being able to do that is very valuable.

While creating pretty much any program, some keyboard shortcut keys are assigned to some menus and features so that they are accessed in a quicker way. In addition, there are global shortcuts that are frequently used in the computer world.

You can download the 40 Most-Used and Time-Saving Shortcuts in Excel in both Turkish and English below.

Turkish
English

With these shortcuts, we can act faster in Excel and get our job done quicker. And also, they allow us to work more confidently. This way, we sum the table quickly, select the whole table with one action, add filter quickly, and become faster by using the keys assigned to a feature instead of looking for that feature in the menu.

► FUNCTIONS (FORMULAS)

No doubt that one of the biggest reasons why we use Excel is the built-in functions it contains and allows us to use. In a daily use, we usually prepare tables and want to sum the financial numbers, sales stock numbers; produce their statistics and analyze them. Excel offers us many tools for that, and one of them is the Functions.

There are many menus in the Ribbon in Excel, and many features in those menus that are related to the menu’s name and also that are not. But the Formulas menu only has to do with the Formulas. It is a pretty broad subject. Thus, Microsoft has created a menu just for this subject.

There are many formula categories. If we know the functions we need, we start the formula by writing that function’s name directly. But if we don’t know, then we can find the suitable function for our need in the Formulas menu and continue that way.

Many functions in Excel are named wisely based on what they do. For example, if we want to get a year, month or day our of a date, they already have their functions as: YEAR, MONTH, DAY. We can use them. There are many examples of this situation. For example, there are MAX and MIN functions to find out the lowest or highest number in a column. And the MATCH function searches for a specified item in a range of cells, and then returns the relative position of that item in the range.

The working principle of functions is like this: they require some arguments from you and if you give it those arguments, the formula executes the necessary look up and calculation, and returns us a value. Some of these arguments are required/obligatory, and some are optional. Even if you do not enter them, the formula works. But a different result might be returned when the optional arguments are entered. So, it is important to make a good decision about the options.

There are also functions that can change instantly, daily, or with each calculation. For example: NOW(), TODAY(), RANDBETWEEN(). If you write the =TODAY() formula into a cell, it returns you that day’s date. And when you open that file the next day, it returns the date of the next day. Likewise, when you write the =NOW() formula, it will return the date and hour of that moment.

10 Most Popular Functions Stated by Microsoft

► PIVOT TABLE

Pivot Table is a strong tool that helps you to calculate, sum and analyze the data in order to see the comparisons, patterns, and trends of your data. You can access it through the Tables group in the Insert menu.

We use this feature when we have a big table and want to create pivot tables based on the fields we want. Even though it is very easy to use, it allows us to execute a very strong and fast data analysis and prepare reports. If you have a table like this, you can get many summary reports from it. If you have a date field in your table, you can create reports by years, quarters, months, weeks and days for all the dates.

You can get many reports from the table below like What is the total amounts and costs based on the Company, import no or product reference; or based on year, quarter, month, or week?

After creating a Pivot Table, the Field List will come to the right. You can select the fields you will use in the summary report or drag and leave them to shape your report.

After creating a Pivot Table, you can edit the design of the report via the Analysis and Design Menus and make its visualization better with a chart by filtering quickly in your report with Slicers, Timeline and Pivot Chart that are Pivot Table tools offered to us.

► CONDITIONAL FORMATTING

Another frequently used feature in Excel is the Conditional Formatting. This feature is usually used to highlight the cells that meet a specific condition. It is in the Styles group in the Home menu.

There are some ready-made conditions that you can use. And when those ready-made conditions are not enough for us, we can create our own rules with formulas and format the cells that meet these rules. Of course, for this you need to know about the formulas first.

We can see the ready-made rules offered to us when we choose Conditional Formatting as below. We can easily format by number, text and date.

If these rules are not enough for us, we can choose the “Use a formula to determine which cells to format” from the New Rule option and write the formula and highlight the cells that meet our conditions.

We can create multiple Conditional Formatting in a field if we want. We can use the Manage Rules option to see or change the conditions of these formattings.

We can use the Clear Rules option to clear rules in a certain field of the page or all the rules in the page.

You can see the examples about Conditional Formatting that have been prepared based on the Data Bars, Color Scales, and Icon Sets rules. You can bring light to your tables and get visual analysis by using formatting rules.

And on top of that, you can highlight without having advanced-knowledge like macros with this built-in feature.

You can see a few examples about the Data Bars, Color Scales, and Icon Sets rules below.

► DATA VALIDATION

We use the Data Validation feature a lot in Excel too.
We can define it like this: It is a feature that enables a certain data to be entered into a cell or cell range and blocks any other data to be entered there. It is in the Data Tools group of the Data menu.

We already have ready-made Data Validation criteria. You can see these criteria in the image below.

Whole Number – to restrict the cell to accept only whole numbers.

Decimal – to restrict the cell to accept only decimal numbers.

List – to pick data from the drop-down list.

Date – to restrict the cell to accept only date.

Time – to restrict the cell to accept only time.

Text Length – to restrict the length of the text.

Custom – for custom formula.

We can create custom criteria with formulas in the List and Custom criteria. If we want, we can create dependent data validation lists as well. For this, you need to create the table appropriately and define the data ranges with the Define Name feature. And then you can relate them to each other.

► SORT

After we write titles in our tables and enter the data one under another or in a prepared list, the data is not always sorted Alphabetically, Numerically or by Date and we feel the need to have our data sorted. Here comes the Sort feature of Excel to our help.

We can access this feature through many ways:

• Through the Editing group on the right of the Home menu
• Through the Sort & Filter group in the Data menu
• Through the Quick Access Toolbar if we add it
• By clicking the Filter arrows activated for filtering
• By coming to Sort in the Right Click menu

The most important mistake made while using the Sort feature is to leave a black column in our table. Sometime we add a column and then hide it instead of deleting and when we sort the table, our table is separated into two and the left and right sides are seen as separate tables. Thus, our table loses its general integrity in any sorting and the data get all mixed up. Such a situation can cause fatal consequences.

If you will sort just one column, it will be enough to choose any cell in that column. You don’t ever have to choose the whole table or a whole column.

And when you want to sort multiple columns, you should use the Custom Sort window.

With the fields in this window, you can sort on Cell Values, Cell Color, Font Color or Conditional Formatting Icon with alphabetical, numeric, date, cell color and Custom Lists order.

► FILTER

We can filter in a field or multiple fields of our table and make only the data we want visible. For this, we use the Filter feature frequently. It is one of the main features of Excel and is usually located next to the Sort feature. So, we can access the Filter feature through the ways we can access the Sort feature.

Shortcut: Ctrl + Shift + L  – ( Add Filter if there is none in the table, removes it if there is. )

There is Automatic Filter and Advanced Filter in Excel. We can use the wildcard characters in both of them. In the Filter feature, you can filter more quickly and in a custom way by using the

• Text Filters
• Number Filters
• Date Filters

depending on the data type you want to filter.

Also, if the column was highlighted, you can filter the data with the Filter by Color option. You will see that the cells with the color you choose are filtered.

We have mentioned that you can use the Wildcard Characters when looking up a data.
You can especially use the * character in the Search box and limit your search.

► ADVANCED FILTER

As you know, we can filter by maximum two conditions as and/or in a field with the automatic filter feature. We can use the Advanced Filter feature to filter the data in our table by multiple conditions or to list the results in another field. This feature is right under the Filter with the name of Advanced in the Data menu.

This feature offers us two things:

• To list unique expressions in the stated field or fields on another field
• To filter the data that meet columns and criteria stated in another field on the table or list the results in another place.

You can find the example of the first article below.
Here we say this: List the Unique Records in the F1:F193 cell range starting from the N1 cell. You can see the result in the N column.

You can find the example of the second article below.
Here we say this: If the A1:K193 cell range has the data in the M1:O3 range, list the results starting from the M6 cell.

► WILDCARD CHARACTERS

Just like in many programs, we can use the Wildcard Characters given to us in formulas or some features of Excel. These Wildcard Characters help us to find expressions that are in the beginning or end of a text or within it by writing a certain part of the text.

There are three different Wildcard characters.

•  * (Asterisk)
•  ? (Question Mark)
•  ~ (Tilde)

They are used in looking up letters, and words.
We can use the Wildcard Characters as comparison criteria for the text filters and while searching and changing the content.

* (asterisk) It is used for multiple characters. Covers all the characters in the keyboard.

For example: “İst*” Means the ones that start with İst.
For example: “*ist” Means the ones that end with İst..
For example: “*ist*” Means the ones that has İst in it..

? (Question Mark) It is used for any character.

For example: “Mura?” means that it starts with Mura and is followed by a letter.
For example: “?urat” means that it starts with a letter and is followed by urat.
Helps you to find expressions like Murat, Surat

~ (tilde) is used to find the ones that has a question mark, asterisk or tilde.

You can press ALTGR + Ü and then space to write this character. (In a Turkish keyboard) To create the tilde symbol using a U.S. keyboard hold down the Shift key and press tilde key.

It is used to search/state the Asterisk, Question Mark and Tilde.
For the Asterisk and Question mark, it means that you don’t represent one or more characters, you are just a star or question mark.

We have mentioned that they can be used in formula. Let’s have an example of this if you wish.
It will be enough for us to write “SU*” (“WATER*”) into the criteria part in order to find out the Total Product Sales Amount of the ones that start with SU in the Product (Ürün) column.

We have also mentioned that you can use the Wildcard characters in the Filter feature.
When we write *e? into the Search box of filter, it means that it stars with any characters but the penultimate character is e and ends with any text.

► CHARTS

Charts help you to make your data more visually-pleasing to be more impressive on your target audience. You can prefer charts that are more appealing that presenting with just plain tables. Excel offers us many chart types at this point. It has become easier to create chart especially with Excel 2013 and forward. Now, we don’t think about which chart type we should pick thanks to the suitable chart recommendations for our tables.

We need to simplify our data as much as possible for our chart to be easily comprehended. You can add chart title or axis title to any chart type. The axis type normally can be used in all axes that can be seen in the chart and depth (series) axes in 3-D charts are included. Some chart types (like radar charts) have axes but they can not view axis titles. You can not add axis titles to charts that don’t have an axis (like doughnut or pie charts).

► FLASH FILL

This amazing feature has entered our lives with the Excel 2013 version.
Now, we can see the results that we could only get by writing a few nested formulas before with one click.
You can find this feature in the Data Tools group of the Data menu.

We can say that we are able to get things done that we could only get done with Text Functions or Convert Text to Columns Wizard with one feature.

We have to have this logic while using this feature: first, we state the part we want to get from the main text and how we want to get it in a cell, and then apply it to the other cells with the CTRL + E shortcut.

What Can We Do with This Feature?

• Separate Names and Surnames in a single cell to separate columns.
• Join data in separate columns in a single cell.
• Separate the data you want to get from the data with spaces that is in the beginning, end, or middle of a text.
• Sort out the text and numbers in the cell.
• Convert a text or number to the format you want.
• Change all the letters of the text to capitals.
• Change all the letters of the text to lower case.
• Get the initials of each word.
• Create a date from the day, month and year expressions that are in separate cells.
• Turn the decimal points to comma.
• Separate the decimal part and whole number from a decimal number.
• Convert the phone number in the cell to any format you want.
• Separate the username and domain parts of e-mail and use it in many other text editing actions.

► FIND and REPLACE

As you know, in Excel we can call the Find and Replace window with the CTRL + F and CTRL + H shortcuts while looking for a data in an active cell or in the workbook. We use this feature frequently. And the first thing we should do while using it is to click the Options button. Because, the last search we have made stays in the memory and the choices come as marked if a choice was made out of options before when we call the window and these affect the next search.

Any text written into the Find what box is looked up in the worksheet as contains and if it finds, lists the cells under the window.

Here is a tip: as you can see in the table above, when we make a search, all these are listed and the first record is marked under the window. Since it is marked, we can select all the records with the CTRL+A keys. And you can highlight, delete etc. all the selected cells at once after selecting all.

In addition, we can limit the search with the “Match case” or “Match entire cell contents” options. If you want, you can use the wildcard characters ( * ? ~ ) to search faster and more specifically.

And we can replace the that we looked up with other data in the Replace tab. We can limit the search again by choosing among the options. If you are looking for a format, you can replace it with another format.

We can get extra special work done by using the Wildcard Characters in the Replace window. For example: there are both text and numbers in cells one under another in a column and there is just a space between these two data, just like you can see below. We can say “leave all the characters before the space blank” by using * in the Replace window. This way, all the characters before the space will be erased and only the numbers will be left. For this, write star space (*) into the Find what box and leave the Replace with box empty.

► CONVERT TEXT TO COLUMNS

Sometimes we want to get data from Text or CSV files in Excel, or we receive a ready-made table. In these files the data is usually showed next to each other with commas or semi colons. We can separate these data into different columns with the Convert Text to Columns Wizard and make them look like a decent table.

You can access this feature through the Data Tools group in the Data Menu.

Now, let’s take a look at an example.
We have a table like the one below. We will separate the data in the A columns into the columns next to it from the delimiter points. When we look at our data, our delimiter that we will consider as delimiters are semicolons and points, and we see that they can repeat more than once.

Now let’s convert our data to the table we want using this feature.

• First, we select the range A2: A16 in which we have data.
  We choose Convert Text to Columns from the Data menu.
  In the first stage of the window, select Delimited and click Next
  We select Semicolon and Other from the Delimiters on the left.
  Select the Treat consecutive delimiters  as one option on the side and click Next
  At the last stage, we specify B2 as the Destination and click the Finish button.

As a result, we can separate the complex data on the left from the delimiter points and transform it into a table by separating it to different columns.

And we can get many other similar things done with this feature.

For example:

• We can convert numbers written as 22102019 to the Date format.
• When our thousands and decimal delimiters are written backwards as 1,000.00, we can reverse the delimiters and convert it to 000,00.
• In cases where the negative sign in numbers is at the end of the number, we can put the – (minus) sign in front of the number.

► IMPORT EXTERNAL DATA

It is important to know that Excel is not just a simple app to create tables and make calculations. In our opinion, Excel is the most inclusive and developed application in the world. It shows it is uniqueness with being sector free -anyone who sits in a desk can use this app, so to speak- and its ever-developing nature with each new version.

And the Import External Data feature allows us to connect to many database, data source and online services and import the data to Excel and show that data as Table, Pivot Table, and Pivot Chart and make analysis. It allows you to simply import data from structures like Txt, Csv, Json, XML as well as connecting to very different and broad data sources.

► EXCEL & VBA (MACRO)

Microsoft Office offers the Macro command in some of the Office packages to the users in order to automatize the routine actions.

While preparing Macros, the Visual Basic programming language that works in the background of Excel waits there. When you save anything, this programming language becomes active and translates the macro command you have prepared into the programming language. This way, when you want to run or edit the macro you’ve prepared, Excel offers you this opportunity easily.

Without a doubt, one of Excel’s most powerful features is the VBA , i.e. Macros. By using this language that comes ready in the background when Office is installed, you can codify your daily routines, weekly and monthly reports, and you can list and report your data much faster, even within seconds.

And you can prepare programs for your needs on UserForm and make everyone in your company use these programs.

You can share this article and help many other people get informed as well.

Good bye. 👍🏻

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