Microsoft 365 Excel - Beginner

Explain what Microsoft Excel is and why we use it, compare it to other Office apps, and highlight Excel 365 features like charting, data types, formatting, and printing spreadsheets.

Discover multiple ways to open and access Excel, including desktop shortcuts, start menu pins, taskbar shortcuts, and Excel Online via Office.com.

Explore the Excel user interface by distinguishing workbooks from worksheets, understanding the title bar and file format, and using the ribbon, quick access toolbar, and search for commands.

Navigate the Excel ribbon across file, home, insert, draw, data, and other tabs to access features, tools, and Office 365 enhancements.

Explore the Excel environment, including the name box, function box, and formula bar, and understand how cells, rows, and columns organize data in a workbook.

Navigate the backstage view of the file tab in Office 365 Excel to create, open, save, share, password protect, inspect accessibility, manage workbook properties, export to PDF, and publish online.

Learn to create a new Excel workbook from within an open document or from the app, using the file tab or Ctrl+n. Create blank workbooks and choose templates.

Save and save as store your workbook, enable autosave to OneDrive, choose a compatibility type like Excel 1997–2003, and note the compatibility checker warns of fidelity changes.

Learn to use Excel's accessibility checker to identify and fix readability issues before sharing, including unmerging cells, improving contrast, and applying headers for screen readers.

Navigate an Excel worksheet with mouse and keyboard, select cells, and use shortcuts like arrow keys, shift, Ctrl, Home, name box, and Ctrl+arrow to reach data.

Inspect and apply the appropriate data types in an Excel workbook by setting cells to text, general, currency, accounting, percent, or date formats, and using format cells to control input.

Explore how to use the inking tools in Excel and other Office apps to draw, highlight, erase, and convert ink to shapes or equations, with cross-app collaboration.

Identify the cell address in the name box, learn to select contiguous and non-contiguous ranges with shift and control, and understand range notation like M9:M19 for formulas.

Master data selection in Microsoft 365 Excel by choosing single cells, contiguous ranges, and non-contiguous ranges with ctrl-click and shift-click, plus entire columns, rows, or the workbook.

Access common Excel commands through the right-click contextual menu and the Home tab clipboard, mastering cut, copy, paste, paste options, keyboard shortcuts, and format painter.

Explore how auto fill and flash fill in Microsoft Excel automate data entry by using fill options on the home tab, the bottom-right handle, and the Ctrl+E shortcut.

Learn the difference between formulas and functions in Excel, and use the sum function and range calculations from the function library.

Learn the anatomy of Excel formulas, starting with the equals sign, and distinguish between cell references, range references, constants, and built-in functions to ensure accurate outputs.

Learn the order of operations in Excel formulas, from parentheses to subtraction, and why the calculation hierarchy changes results. See how incorrect parentheses affect outputs using sales data examples.

Learn to create basic formulas in Excel using cell references and constants, apply order of operations, and understand how copying and pasting formulas affects references and outputs.

Master basic Excel functions—sum, average, count, max, and min—and use AutoSum to quickly calculate ranges across any dataset.

Master three cell reference types—relative, absolute, and mixed—and learn how copying formulas adjusts references, using $A$1 and $B$1 as absolute, and $A1 and B$2 as mixed to keep totals.

Explore how the quick analysis tool in Excel speeds data analysis and formatting by applying color coding, charts, sparklines, tables, and formulas to large datasets.

Explore how to modify columns and rows in Excel by adjusting width and height, auto fit, and inserting or deleting cells, rows, or columns via home ribbon or right-click.

Hide and unhide columns, rows, and sheets in Excel to share data without deleting it, using right-click menus and the unhide dialog box.

Format cells dialog box and the home tab to adjust fonts, borders, fills, and alignment. Learn to apply borders, color fills, and font colors for readability.

Master merging and centering cells in Excel, including merge across, to prevent data bleed. Understand how merged cells affect layout, data movement, and pivot tables.

Learn to prevent text overflow in Excel by wrapping text and adjusting column width, and rotate header text with counterclockwise or clockwise orientation to save space.

Learn to apply proper cell formatting in Excel, selecting number, currency/accounting, date, time, or text via the home tab and format cells, ensuring consistent formats across data ranges.

Learn to remove formatting in Excel by using the clear options in the Home tab, including clear formats, clear contents, clear comments, and clear hyperlinks, to revert to general formatting.

Discover how cell styles automate formatting in Excel, including good, bad, neutral, calculation, input, and heading styles. Learn to apply, modify, delete, and merge styles.

Apply a theme to the document to control colors, fonts, and effects. Cell styles cover only selected cells; themes can be customized and saved.

Learn to insert images in Excel, choosing between in-cell and floating images, using device, stock, or online pictures, and apply formatting while understanding the formula bar and cell resizing considerations.

Insert and format SmartArt in Excel to visualize non-sequential information from the Insert tab. Edit text, layouts, styles, colors, and organization with SmartArt Tools to represent data clearly and intelligently.

Learn to insert scalable vector graphics icons in Excel, convert icons to shapes, style with graphics tools, set alternative text, arrange, align, group, rotate, crop, and resize for scalable clarity.

Insert hyperlinks in Excel with the link dialog from the Insert tab or by right-clicking. Choose existing files, place in this document, or email, and customize the display text.

Learn to insert symbols and equations in Excel via the insert tab; symbols are text, while equations are images displayed in a resizable box.

Learn how to insert WordArt and text boxes in Excel, locate them on the insert tab, and use them to annotate, highlight, and organize data without disrupting cells.

Insert and rotate 3D models in Excel from files or online sources to visualize data, adjust views and size, and add accessibility text while arranging with other objects.

Learn to align and arrange objects in Excel, manage foreground visibility, and use snap to grid, selection pane, and grouping to keep data readable.

Use go to and go to special to jump to exact cells or specific cell types such as comments, formulas, and blanks in Excel via the go to dialogue box.

Master Excel’s spell checker to catch misspellings in data and headings. Access it via F7 (with Fn) or the Review tab, and manage suggestions, dictionary additions, and language options.

Master spell check, use the thesaurus, and explore translation features in Excel from the review tab, including the translation pane to translate text to French and adapt your workbook.

Learn how the resolve feature helps manage comment threads in shared Excel workbooks, archiving completed discussions and reopening them when needed, with in-email comment actions for Office 365 collaborators.