Microsoft Excel for Beginners

Explore how to create and edit a worksheet to track sales for the Acme Widget Company, then apply key concepts as you build your own project.

Track Acme Widget Company sales for three years by entering text, numbers, and dates in Excel, including regions north, south, east, and west, with currency formatting and date calculations.

Edit data in Excel by updating cell contents directly or in the formula bar, and learn when each method is easiest, especially for editing formulas.

Master undo and redo in Excel to correct mistakes, locate the undo button on the Quick Access Toolbar, and customize visible functions with checkmarks.

Save your worksheet by using the File menu, choose a save location such as My Documents, name it Section 2, and verify the save by the worksheet title.

Navigate your Excel worksheet with keyboard shortcuts, including the home key to the leftmost column, End mode with arrow keys, and Ctrl+Home to return to the upper-left corner.

Create your first worksheet by entering text, numbers, and dates, then edit data with undo, redo, and save. Upcoming lessons reveal how to manipulate numbers with formulas.

Watch the video solution for practice lesson 2 in Microsoft Excel for Beginners to reinforce the content of this lesson.

Learn to use Excel to calculate and manipulate numbers by entering formulas, and add two total titles to your worksheet as you prepare to create formulas in upcoming lessons.

Learn how to create a basic Excel formula by entering an equal sign, adding numbers, and using cell references to keep totals dynamic as data changes.

Master building formulas with cell references, starting with an equal sign, summing E6, F6, and G6, and updating the worksheet date for dynamic results.

Discover three advantages of using cell references in formulas: shorter formulas, automatic updates when inputs change, and easy copying of formulas to other cells with updated references.

Learn to create formulas with speed and accuracy using the fill handle to copy formulas across cells and automatically adjust references. Build yearly totals and a grand total in Excel.

Explore how ranges simplify formulas in Excel by summing groups of cells with the sum function, and learn why ranges beat chains of cell references for 30 years of data.

Learn how to create a sum formula in Excel by typing an equals sign and the sum function to add a range of cells, display the total, and press enter.

Revisit fast, accurate formula creation using the fill handle in Excel to copy formulas across rows and nearby columns, with automatic adjustments and sum for large ranges.

Learn to create formulas quickly and accurately with auto sum in Excel, as it automatically identifies the correct data range, builds the formula, and supports the fill handle.

Master how to create formulas in Excel starting with an equals sign, from simple additions to cell references and the SUM function, and use AutoSum to quickly total ranges.

Watch the video solution for practice lesson 3 to support Excel learning for beginners in this Microsoft Excel for beginners course.

Learn to edit a basic worksheet to improve readability by applying bold, underline, italics, fonts, titles, borders, and shading. Format numbers as currency or standard numbers to polish your data.

Learn how text is left aligned and numbers are right aligned in a worksheet, and how to adjust alignment in Excel by selecting cells and clicking the alignment buttons.

Format numbers as currency by applying dollar signs, commas, and two decimals, then adjust currency options or remove decimals to match your worksheet.

Select the cells, then apply a thick bottom border to separate sales data from totals, instead of using an underline, and explore other border options in later lessons.

Learn to adjust the total column width in Excel after currency formatting, by dragging between columns with the mouse. Use techniques to set column widths precisely every time.

Learn to adjust column widths in Excel by double-clicking right edge. Then apply to other columns, with a note that a wide heading can make a column look too wide.

Learn to adjust multiple column widths in Excel by selecting columns E to H and dragging between headings to set a precise width; you can also adjust row heights.

Select the columns you want to adjust and double-click between their headings to automatically fit multiple column widths; then drag to fine-tune the layout for a polished worksheet.

Learn to add a title across multiple columns, center it using the merge and center command, and create a single title in cell D-3.

Learn to change the font size and color in Excel, select text, use the font size dropdown, type a custom size, and apply bold.

Use the indent feature to move headings to the right, create bold region headings, and use the increase and decrease indent buttons to organize data in large worksheets.

Learn to shade cells with the fill color to highlight data and reuse colors for totals. Add borders and bold totals to sharpen your worksheet's look.

learn to use conditional formatting to quickly highlight regions with sales over 25,000, boosting speed, accuracy, and reducing errors in Excel analyses.

Edit your worksheet to enhance appearance with bold, underline, borders, shading, and fonts; format numbers as currency or standard, and use conditional formatting to identify data quickly.

Watch the video solution for practice lesson 4 in Microsoft Excel for beginners to reinforce essential spreadsheet skills and problem-solving steps.

learn to use the average, max, and min functions in Excel to calculate averages, find the largest and smallest values, and apply the insert function for building formulas.

Learn to calculate the average of a range using Excel's average function, copy the formula with the fill handle, and explore inserting functions for beginners.

Learn how to use the insert function (fx) in Excel to choose the average function, select the range E-6 through G-6, and copy the result with the fill handle.

Learn to use the max formula to identify the highest sales figure across regions and years by inserting the function, selecting the range, and confirming the result.

Use the min function to identify the lowest sales figure. Build simple min formulas by selecting a range and inserting the function, like the max and average formulas.

Master quickly extracting min and max values using Excel's status bar by selecting a range, without formulas, to reveal results in 10 seconds.

Learn how to use the average, max, and min functions to compute statistics in a range of numbers, and use the insert function command to help build formulas.

Watch the video solution for practice lesson 5 in Microsoft Excel for beginners, reinforcing core beginner skills through guided problem solving and practical worksheet demonstrations.

Master worksheet editing with the format painter, cut, copy, and paste data; insert or delete columns, rows, and cells; and use tips for inserting headings without typing and unhiding columns.

Use the format painter to copy cell formatting across the worksheet, applying lines, bold, and number formatting to match different sections.

Master inserting a new column in Excel by selecting the column to the right of year three heading, right-clicking, and choosing insert, while keeping the Acme Widget Company heading centered.

Learn to add a new column heading with the fill handle, copy formulas down for year 4 sales, keep totals updated, and adjust ranges for highest and lowest sales.

Insert a new row by selecting the row header, right-clicking, and choosing insert; add the southwest region, then auto-fit columns and use the fill handle for totals and averages.

Learn to insert cells between independent data sections by selecting the area, right-clicking, and shifting cells down, then verify formulas and use undo if needed.

Delete columns in Excel by right-clicking and choosing delete, then see how formula results adjust automatically and remember to double-check formulas after deletion.

Master deleting in Excel by removing rows, columns, or specific cells with a select and right-click delete. Use undo and shift cells up or left to keep other data intact.

Learn to hide and unhide columns and rows in Excel to prepare worksheets for review or printing, using select, right-click, and unhide commands.

Unhide all columns and rows in one step by selecting the entire worksheet with the select all button, then right-click column headings and row headings to make hidden data visible.

Learn to cut and paste in Excel to move data within a worksheet by selecting, cutting, and pasting, with a marquee cue and formulas adjusting after relocation.

Learn to copy and paste in Excel to create a copy elsewhere on the worksheet, preserving formulas, by selecting data, copying, and pasting; press escape to clear the selection.

Master excel skills with the format painter, inserting and deleting columns and rows, and cutting, copying, and pasting data; learn tips to insert column headings and unhide columns or rows.

Practice lesson six provides a video solution for beginner Microsoft Excel concepts, guiding learners through essential Excel tasks and techniques.

Explore how tabs at the bottom of an Excel workbook organize related data across multiple worksheets, such as sheet one, sheet two, and sheet three.

Rename tabs to organize data, using double-click and names like sales years 1-5 within a 31 character limit. Add new tabs with insert worksheet tab and delete tabs by right-clicking.

Change tab color by right-clicking and selecting color. Move or copy tabs by dragging; press control to copy with a plus sign, and you can delete the copied tab.

Learn how Excel uses bottom tabs to organize one or more worksheets, and rename, add, delete, color, move, and copy tabs to structure related data efficiently.

Watch the video solution for practice lesson 7 to reinforce beginner Microsoft Excel concepts and essential spreadsheet skills.

Learn to print the worksheet you created with confidence by exploring how printing may not match expectations and applying adjustments to achieve the desired look.

Learn to preview worksheets before printing using the print preview command (File > Print), see page breaks and two-page output, and start fixes to adjust the print layout.

Preview a worksheet by switching from portrait to landscape to improve data fit on the page, then adjust margins to reduce blank space and reveal all data when printing.

Learn to adjust margins in Microsoft Excel for beginners using presets, identify data boundaries with the dotted line, and remove blank columns to move data left and fit on page.

Center on page horizontally teaches centering data between margins and aligning the title over the data using merge and center, and uses print preview to verify the page.

Select the data to print, set the print area in the page layout tab, and preview before printing. Clear the print area to return to the full worksheet.

Learn how to add headers and footers in Excel, insert page numbers and dates, and preview print layouts using the page setup and header/footer options.

Finish your worksheet printing by applying the print process learned throughout the course. Practice trial-and-error adjustments to your worksheets to achieve the exact look you want.

watch the practice lesson 8 video solution for microsoft excel for beginners in this course.