Learn Excel in 3 Hours Flat

A tour of the Excel program: from getting started, to understanding the tools you see in front of you.

We'll open new templates and recently-used documents, then introduce our terminology. Meet the Quick Access Toolbar, plus tabs and ribbons that contain all the commands. We'll explain cells, rows, columns, and worksheets.

We'll start from scratch to build a sample budget. We'll enter labels and values. And you'll learn your first wow-factor tool that you can't live without: the Autofill Handle!

The best part of Excel is that you don't perform any math yourself, by hand. Excel does all the calculating for you, even if your numbers change. We'll start with the basics of entering formulas, then move into faster ways of creating them.

Functions use words and "arguments" to instruct Excel on what kinds of math to do. We'll explain what that means, and how to make functions work for you. You'll even see a few traps to avoid!

When you're creating formulas and functions, Excel lets you copy them so that you don't need to create each one by hand (that's called "Relative Cell References"). But that can cause problems when you need the formula to always point to one particular variable.

Absolute Cell References ensure that your formula always looks to the correct cell, even if you copy it somewhere else.

If you hand someone a spreadsheet, they'll have to spend some time figuring out what they're looking at. When a spreadsheet is formatting well, it helps the reader understand at a glance.

It can also be time-consuming to type in all your dollar signs, commas, and decimals. There's no need!

Use text and cell formatting to make your text stand out. Format your numbers as decimals, currency, percentages, and more. Call attention to key information by changing its size and color. Resize your columns to best fit the contents. Draw borders around cells.

A well-formatted spreadsheet communicates your message!

When you're looking at a spreadsheet, it's helpful to analyze your numbers at a glance, instead of having to look at every single total and compare it in your mind. Conditional Formatting allows you to colorize your values to call out high, low, and average values...or cells that meet a specific criteria.

The best part is that as your numbers change, the formatting does, too!

Sparklines are tiny little one-cell charts that allow you to visualize trends right next to your data. They're a great way to add pizazz and usable information in a small space.

Charts allow you to visualize your data so you can analyze at a glance. They're pretty, and powerful. Using Column and Pie charts as the examples, we'll learn to change the color scheme, style, and content on the fly.

Data Tables are Excel's best-kept secret. By nature, people tend to store lists of data in Excel because it's organized into rows and columns. But if you've ever tried to sort your list and accidentally broken the data, you know this is kind of like using a hammer when you need a screwdriver!

The secret is to turn your list into a Data Table that allows you to sort your data to your heart's content. It also allows you to filter your data to just look at specific records. We'll even show you how to format the entire table in just one click!

For some reason, people seem to be scared of Pivot Tables, but there's no reason to be. They're actually fun!

Pivot Tables allow you to group your data lists so that you can pull out meaningful information and statistics. Break down and summarize your numbers into totals, averages, and counts.

Then, we'll just give them a little twist and look at your data in a whole new way!

Have you ever looked at a total in your spreadsheet and wondered where the heck it came from? Excel allows you to view your spreadsheet behind-the-scenes, to see the formulas and functions behind the figures. We'll show you how to trace the calculations back to the source to uncover errors.

A lot of the time, your spreadsheets print with just a couple rows or columns bleeding over onto the next page. We'll show you how to fit everything on one page!

We'll also explore headers and footers, complete with page numbers, automatic dates, and file paths so you know where to find the file on your computer in the future.