Beginner to Intermediate Excel for Real-World Applications

Access and launch Microsoft Excel by searching for it, pin the app to the taskbar for quick access, and open Excel by double-clicking downloaded files.

Open a new Excel workbook, identify workbooks and sheets, create new sheets with the plus sign, rename sheets by double-clicking or right-clicking, and name worksheets as you go.

Explore Excel ribbons and their sections, from home formatting to insert charts and pivot tables, with pinning quick access, page layout, formulas, and review tools for real-world use.

Move the quick access section below the ribbon to make popular commands visible, and import the Excel customizations file to create commonly used shortcuts, like format painter and name manager.

Customize and pin the quick access toolbar to show below the ribbon in Excel, then import the Excel customizations file to populate icons across the top.

Copy or move a worksheet by right-clicking its tab, choosing move or copy, then create a copy in the desired book; use shift or control to select multiple sheets.

Learn how to save Excel files by using save, save as, renaming, and choosing a destination folder, while applying shortcuts and saving often to protect data sets and autosave cautions.

Master keyboard shortcuts in Excel to boost productivity, covering commands for new, open, save, undo, redo, copy, paste, find and replace, filters, and formatting.

Learn practical cell formatting in Excel: adjust column widths and row heights, apply borders, fills, fonts, alignment, wrap text, merge cells, and format numbers like currency, percent, and date formats.

Set up the print area and adjust page layout to control how your worksheet prints, including orientation, margins, paper size, and headers and footers.

Set up a print layout in Excel by defining print areas, adjusting orientation and margins, scaling, repeating header rows, and adding headers, footers with file name, date, and page numbers.

Choose the specific worksheets to print, preview the results, and select printer or pdf output. Adjust the page layout and page area formatting to create a presentation of your data.

Learn to freeze panes and arrange all in Excel, keeping headers and key columns in view while comparing data across workbooks.

Learn standard operators in Excel, including plus, minus, asterisk, and forward slash; explore exponents with the carrot and build formulas from cell references.

Apply standard operators in Excel through a hands-on exercise, replicating the D7*E7 formula and calculating net price with D-F, then copy results down and explore multi-step equations.

Explore how multi-step equations work in excel by building discount formulas with hard-coded values and cell references, using parentheses for correct order of operations, and exploring dynamic what-if scenarios.

Apply a multi-step equation in excel to compute a discount using (d - g) / d, verify results with column e, and copy the formula down.

Learn to locate and use sum, count, and average with the formulas ribbon and formula bar, and practice entering functions in cells or the formula bar.

Apply sum and average functions in Excel using the formulas tab, with hands-on examples of discount amounts, and practice counts to reinforce real-world data analysis.

Create and manage named ranges with the name manager, apply them to datasets as you add columns or rows, and use them in formulas like countif, sumifs, and averageif.

select the data set (a through p, excluding q) with ctrl a, name it data set in the name box, and use name manager to configure the sales rep range.

Master intermediate Excel functions like Countif, Sumif, and Averageif using named ranges to analyze sales data, calculate counts, totals, and averages for each sales rep.

Master absolute and relative cell references in Excel, using dollar signs to lock rows and columns. Learn how copying formulas across rows or columns changes references.

Practice using absolute and relative cell references in Excel by locking ranges with dollar signs and preserving the calculated net price when copying and pasting.

Master working with text in Excel for notes, lists, and project management. Use apostrophes to keep text, Alt+Enter for line breaks, and dash-start items without triggering formulas.

Explore how to concatenate strings in Excel using concat and the ampersand, combining text with cell references and punctuation for real world business data.

practice concatenation in Excel by building strings with the concat function or ampersand, using quotes, commas, spaces, and symbols like the dollar sign to combine text and numbers.

Learn how to use VLOOKUP to join data from multiple sources by matching a common field with lookup tables, ranges, and exact matches using absolute references.

Practice Vlookup across region, probability, type, and date lookups using related lookup tables, applying absolute references and exact-match rules to determine quarters.

Master flash fill to quickly copy cells in a column using the fill handle and autofill options, saving time on real-world data tasks.

Practice flash fill with hands-on exercises to automatically fill down vlookup results and other data, then compute expected revenue by multiplying amount by probability.

Learn how to build and apply if statements in Excel, using logical and conditional formulas to create intelligent fields, with and/or examples and a real-world revenue scenario.

learn to create a simple Excel if statement to label expected revenue as high or low, using the condition revenue >= 50,000 in H2 and flash fill the rest.

Learn how to use the iferror function in Excel to replace #N/A and other errors with a chosen value, keeping data clean and analysis-ready for real-world applications.

Use the true equals false formula to compare column a with column b. Learn to perform quick sanity and error checks across large data sets by verifying matches.

Learn to sort data in Excel by color, A to Z, or largest to smallest, and build custom, multi-level sorts using header values and dates to organize opportunities and revenue.

Toggle and apply filters from the home ribbon, use text and numeric criteria, safely filter the entire header on large data sets, copy visible cells to a new workbook.

Explore conditional formatting in the home ribbon styles, highlight duplicate values, use data bars and icon sets, and manage rules to filter by color and clear formats.

Learn to remove duplicates in Excel using the data tools remove duplicates feature. Apply it to the entire sheet or a single column to manage duplicates.

practice removing duplicates across the full data set using the remove duplicates tool in the data tools, selecting all columns, to see duplicates found and nine unique values remain.

Learn how to group columns or rows in Excel, hide and unhide data with a toggle, and reset by ungrouping, including multi-level subgroups.

Discover how pivot tables turn large data sets into digestible, visual insights, and learn end-user use, creation, and customization of pivot tables with filters, rows, columns, and values.

Create and replicate pivot tables using a data set or named range, drag fields into filters, rows, columns, and values, then apply currency formatting.

Create a pivot table from a named data range by inserting it, then drag fields into filters, columns, rows, and values, and adjust the data source to include missing data.

Update the pivot table data source as data grows, using named ranges or changing the data source, then refresh to include the new High Value column.

Change the data source to pull in the additional high value column, either by extending the data set or via Name Manager. Refresh the pivot table as needed.

Learn to use slicers with pivot tables to filter data, create product and account name slicers, and multi-select to quickly analyze sales data while keeping the table compact.

Learn to insert and configure slicers in a pivot table to filter data by row, column, or filters, then adjust display options and clear filters with a few clicks.

Create and format standard charts in Excel, including bar, horizontal bar, pie, and line charts, by formatting data, using pivot tables or direct charts, and refining axes and labels.

Learn to create and customize standard charts in Excel by selecting data, inserting charts, and formatting titles, axes, and data labels; replicate charts, switch types, and add legends.

Create a standard bar chart by selecting A3 through C4 and inserting it; rename the title and format the y-axis to display units in millions with a border.

Explore pivot table charts that update as you slice and dice pivot data, filter, and switch fields like region, product, and created quarter for business intelligence and automation.

Replicate pivot table charts by inserting a pivot chart, selecting column charts or pie charts, and refining titles, axes, data labels, and legends for clear analytics.

Create a pivot chart from the pivot table by inserting a chart and choosing a clustered column, then customize the title, data labels, axis units, and borders, and explore charts.

Explore Excel’s out-of-the-box templates, from calendars and invoices to budgets, Gantt charts, and lists, and learn to start, customize, and save them with logos and dynamic totals.

Learn to insert pictures into an Excel template by using more templates, choosing an invoice template, and placing a logo over cells to create a professional look quickly.

Apply what you've learned from this Excel journey right away through consistent practice and enjoyment. Share a review if you found value to help others discover Start to Excel.