Using Microsoft Excel is one of the most important skills that you can learn these days. No, seriously. As many as 92% of employers find it important that their employees know how to work with Microsoft Excel.
If the idea of deciphering or creating an Excel spreadsheet fills you with terror, never fear. Our guide to Excel for beginners will show you some of the simplest tasks you can do with this program that will have you making spreadsheets like a pro!
First, Let’s Clarify Some Terms
Even navigating Excel can seem terrifying to a complete newbie. So, first things first, let’s clarify some terms used commonly within the Excel program itself.
- A workbook is the .xlsx file itself
- A worksheet is a single spreadsheet within that workbook
- The ribbon is the top part of the window, where you click on buttons to add, delete, and edit information
- A cell is one singular square where data gets entered
And remember, the row is the horizontal line of cells going across the page, while the column is the vertical one. If you keep these basic terms straight, it will be easier to navigate.
Understanding Formulas and Functions
Now, let’s talk about where Excel for beginners classes often lose people: formulas and functions.
Excel formulas are mathematical or data-searching functions created by the user that can apply to a single cell or a range of cells in a row or column. Excel functions are essentially formulas that the program has coded in by default, simplifying the amount of work you need to do.
Excel formulas and functions use standard mathematical operations like addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction. However, they can also be used to automate data-adding processes. For instance, if an entire subset of clients has their invoices paid, you wouldn’t want to manually adjust each one of their balances to 0.
To automate this function, you would write something like this in the cell:
- =IF(B:B=”PAID”,0,C:C)
Breaking this down, this formula states that if you’ve written in Column B as a whole that someone has “PAID” their invoice, then it would render as 0. If not, then the formula would simply copy the data from Column C as a whole, showing the remaining balance.
Don’t Forget About Templates, APIs, and Macros
Feeling overwhelmed yet? Don’t worry. Even without taking Excel courses for beginners, there are resources available to you. Many templates, APIs, and Macros exist on the internet to help you automate these processes without having to code them for yourself. You can learn more about one of these, aspose cells, and its alternative from our affiliate.
Want More Tutorials in Excel for Beginners?
Understanding how Excel commands work can be difficult even for those with years of experience. We hope our Excel for beginners guide provided you with some insight as to what this program can do when you dig into it. If you found this guide helpful and would like to read more handy tech tips, tricks, and how-tos, then check out our blog. We update each day with more content like this.
