How to Use Excel for beginners?

To use Excel for beginners, The key to learning Excel fast is breaking the learning process down into manageable components. It’s impossible to learn Excel in a day or a week, but if you set your mind to understanding individual processes one by one, you’ll soon find that you have a working knowledge of the software.

What is Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is a helpful and powerful application for data analysis and documentation. It is a spreadsheet program, which includes a number of columns and rows, where each intersection of a column and a row is a “cell.”

It comes with Office Suite with several other Microsoft applications, such as Word, Powerpoint, Access, Outlook, OneNote, etc. Excel provides you with the worksheet to create a new document in it. You can save the Excel file with the .xls extension.

What are the Components of Microsoft Excel?

• Active Cell: A cell that is currently selected.
• Columns: A column is a vertical set of cells.
• Rows: A row is a horizontal set of cells.
• Fill Handle: It’s a small dot present in the lower right corner of the active cell.
• Address Bar: It shows the address of the active cell.
• Formula Bar: It shows the active cell and you can also use it to enter a formula in a cell.
• File Menu: It contains options like (Save, Save As, Open, New, Print, Excel Options, Share, etc).

What are the basics of Excel?

This section will take you to Excel for beginners (opening a microsoft excel), through entering and working with data, and finish with saving and sharing.

Create a new workbook

• To create a new workbook, Navigate to File > New > Blank Workbook. A blank Excel worksheet will open and be displayed to you.

• To Open an existing workbook, Navigate to File > Open. Your recently edited workbooks will appear. Click over the workbook you want to open.

Explore the worksheet

• Columns: It is vertical and labeled with letters, which appear above each column.
• Rows: It is horizontal and labeled by numbers, which you’ll see running along the left side of the worksheet.
• Cell: Every cell has an address that contains its column letter and row number.
• Workbook: A workbook can have multiple worksheets, all containing different sets of data. To add another worksheet, just click the + next to the worksheet tab(s).

Save your Data

• Navigate to File tab > Save As.
• Choose a location to save the file, such as on your computer or in OneDrive.
• Type a name for your workbook. All workbooks will automatically inherit the .XLSX file extension.
• Click Save.

Enter and Format Data

To enter data:

• Click a cell. Type the numbers or text that you want to enter, and then press ENTER.
• To enter data on a new line within a cell, enter a line break by pressing ALT+ENTER.

To format data:

• Select the cell or range of cells that you want to format.
• Click the General box on the home tab and then select a number format.

Create, Sort, and Filter Data

Create table in Excel:

• Choose your data by clicking the first cell and dragging it to the last cell.
• Click the Quick Analysis.
• Click Tables, move your cursor to the Table button to preview your data, and then select the Table button.

Sort table in Excel:

• Select a cell in the column you want to sort.
• On the Data tab, in the Sort & Filter group, do one of the following:
  • To quickly sort in ascending order, click (Sort A to Z).
  • To quickly sort in descending order, click (Sort Z to A).

Filter table in Excel:

• Select the table you want to work with.
• Select Data > Filter.
• Now, select the column header arrow (grey box with a downwards arrow).
• Select Text Filters or Number Filters, and then select a comparison, such as Between.
• Enter the filter criteria and select OK.

Perform Basic Calculations

Use the AutoSum:

• Select a cell that you want to sum, and then click AutoSum on the Home tab.
• Then, hit Enter.

Use a math formula:

• Add: Type =SUM(cell+cell) (e.g., =SUM(A4+B4)) to add two cells’ values together.
• Subtract: Type =SUM(cell-cell) (e.g., =SUM(A4-B4)) to subtract one cell value from another cell’s value.
• Divide: Type =SUM(cell/cell) (e.g., =SUM(A6/C5)) to divide one cell’s value by another cell’s value.
• Multiply: Type =SUM(cellcell) (e.g., =SUM(A2A7)) to multiply two cell values together.