Microsoft Excel: Beginner to Advanced 2020

Open Excel from the start bar by typing Excel, downloading if needed. The home page shows a highlighted blank workbook to start a new worksheet and access recent files.

Open a blank workbook, use the quick access toolbar and ribbon for font, size, bold, underline, and basic formatting, and locate the formula bar and name box.

Customize the quick access toolbar to add commands like sort and quick print for faster access, then use right-click to add items from the ribbon to the toolbar.

Explore the Excel interface by using the status bar to view page breakdown, page layout, and page preview; navigate the workbook area, sheets, and view tab options.

Save your Excel workbook by selecting file, choosing save, naming the file, and picking a location. Understand the .xlsx format and alternative options, and enable autosave for continuous saving.

Open a saved Excel workbook by clicking the file button and selecting open. Browse recent workbooks, folders, or cloud storage, and use the search bar to locate the file.

Explore essential Excel shortcuts, including saving a workbook and using control c, control v, and control x for copy, paste, and cut, to move through Excel and edit efficiently.

Create a business budget in Excel by entering text and numbers in a blank workbook, using formulas for totals, applying formatting, and labeling rows and months like January to March.

Learn to enter numeric and currency values in Excel and distinguish them from text. See how right alignment and decimal alignment distinguish numbers, with rent, inventory, and payroll examples.

Learn how to enter dates in Excel, including adding the year and using custom formats, while understanding dates as numeric values and regional format variations.

Learn how to use cell references in Excel, linking formulas to single or multi-cell ranges (A3 to D8) and non-contiguous cells, using the name box and shift and ctrl.

Learn about relative references and absolute references in Excel, and how copying formulas adjusts references while using $ and the F4 shortcut to lock a cell.

learn how to use the sum function to add a range of cells in Excel, so totals update automatically when values change and you avoid typing each cell.

Learn to use the Excel min and max functions to find the smallest and largest values in a selected range. Practice inserting the function and entering the range.

Use the average function to compute the mean of a range of cells, without counting cells manually, including non-contiguous selections via control-click.

Learn to build a budget in excel using sum, max, average, and count, manage relative and absolute references, address adjacent cell errors signaled by green triangle, dates read as numeric.

Learn how to use Excel's AutoSum function to quickly total a range, with both the Alt+= keyboard shortcut and the formulas tab button, including summing multiple cells at once.

Master Excel auto fill to quickly propagate sum, max, average, and count formulas using drag from the bottom-right corner and keyboard shortcuts; practice filling down and across with relative references.

Copy and paste data in Excel to move, copy, and cut cells across worksheets and workbooks, then fix hard coded references with auto fill down.

Learn how to insert and delete rows and columns in Excel using right-click, the Home tab, or keyboard shortcuts, with auto-update of totals and formulas.

Learn to adjust row height and column width, auto-fit selected columns with a double-click, and resize multiple columns together to prevent data from becoming cut off and showing pound signs.

Rename worksheets in Excel by right-clicking the sheet tab and entering a new name, like budget costs or copy and paste, to keep your workbook organized.

Learn how to delete a sheet in Excel, including how to handle multiple sheets, the permanent loss without undo, and the importance of saving a copy before deletion.

Learn how to move and copy Excel sheets, add and rename sheets, and delete multiples, using drag, right-click, and copy options to preserve formulas and update budgets.

Delete unnecessary header rows and columns, adjust font size to 20 or 25, apply bold to headers, and choose legible fonts from the home tab to improve readability.

Learn how to format Excel cells by changing background and font colors, align headers, highlight totals, and use color to distinguish costs from totals.

Add borders to your Excel tables by applying top, bottom, left, and right borders with thick styles, using the Home tab and more borders, to clearly separate costs from totals.

Convert cost, min, max, and average values to currency using accounting or currency formats, adjust decimals and separators, and auto-fit columns for a clean budget table.

Turn the decimals in the percentage column into percentages by applying Excel's percentage format, highlight the range, press percentage, and adjust decimals to control rounding for accuracy.

Use Excel's Format Painter to copy exact cell formatting, including background color, borders, and font styles, across multiple cells for consistent totals, min, max, and averages.

Create and apply a custom header cell style, then modify and propagate it across all formatted cells, using clear formats, date and currency formatting, to streamline styling.

Apply merge and center to center a title across six cells, creating a clean header for the budget table, with auto height adjustment and larger font.

Master conditional formatting in Excel to highlight values greater than 500 or between 200 and 900, and learn how to clear rules for a clean sheet.

Insert images and shapes into an Excel spreadsheet from your computer, online pictures, or cloud storage. Resize by dragging corners and balance visuals with data to tell a budget story.

Learn to insert shapes in Excel by using the insert tab and illustrations, draw them on the worksheet, and apply shape format options on the ribbon to highlight data.

Format shapes in charts by editing shapes, rounding corners, applying no fill with an outline, adjusting weight and color, and using text boxes to highlight budget percentages.

Learn to use smart art in Excel to visualize data with ready-made graphics, from inserting on a new sheet to editing text, changing layouts, and applying colors for presentations.

Explore customizing a bar chart in Excel by changing colors and styles, adjusting chart elements, and adding axis titles, data labels, grid lines, legend, and trend lines.

Modify your chart data by adjusting the data source with drag handles, removing months like March and outliers like rent, so the chart updates automatically to emphasize the remaining values.

Move your Excel chart to its own sheet for a larger view by selecting the chart, choosing move chart, and picking a new sheet; name it as you like.

Preview your Excel sheets before printing to verify charts, tables, and layout. Configure print options such as portrait or landscape and margins to avoid wasting paper.

Preview and print the active sheet or entire workbook, switching between portrait and landscape, and adjust margins and scaling to fit data on one page.

Learn to use Excel's Page Layout view to preview page breaks, adjust scaling, and place tables and graphs on separate pages for clean printouts.

Add headers and footers in Excel's page layout, with left, center, and right sections, automatic page numbers, sheet names, and the file path.

Select the table, set the print area from the page layout tab, and print only that section; clear the print area to print everything again.

Open and use pre-existing Excel cell templates and create your own with ready-made formulas and graphs to plug in numbers quickly, and understand what a template is.

Explore how to use existing Excel templates, access templates via File > New, search for budgets, and see prebuilt graphs, charts, and formulas that update as you enter numbers.

Learn to create a reusable Excel template by removing hard-coded data, saving as an Excel template, and reusing it for different periods with formulas and charts updating automatically.