Ultimate Guide for Microsoft Excel Basics
This is an ultimate guide to use Excel spreadsheet.
“I’ve never used Microsoft Excel before. I wished I had some of those skills to do what I need to do.”
“I don't know how to use Microsoft Excel."
"Microsoft Excel is too complicated."
Have you ever thought or felt the same? Microsoft Excel does seem intimidating when you literally don’t know how to use it or have never used it. And I mean, literally.
I remember when I saw my dad working overtime at home a few years ago, he was using Microsoft Excel to do a lot of complicated tasks. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, I want to learn how to use Microsoft Excel!” However, as you probably guessed, I never got to it.
When I started college, one of my first classes required me to use Microsoft Excel. I was quite afraid of it, but as I started putting my hands on it, I found Microsoft Excel fairly simple to navigate and not at all complicated if I want to do basic tasks! So, here I am, determined and inspired to help those of you who may have felt the same before to learn some of the important basics of Microsoft Excel.
Here is my ultimate guide for Microsoft Excel Basics.
What is Microsoft Excel?
First things first, it is crucial to understand what Microsoft Excel is before we learn how to use it. According to Hubspot, Microsoft Excel is a “powerful data visualization and analysis software, which uses spreadsheets to store, organize, and track data sets with formulas and functions." (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-use-excel-tips)
In other words, because of Microsoft Excel’s strong computational powers, we can use the software to do a lot of simple and complex calculations, store, analyze, and track almost any kind of information.
Excel was first released by Microsoft in 1985. By the 1990s, it was one of the most widely used and important business tools in the world. Today, Excel is still one of the programs that everyone has on his or her personal or work computers.
Because of Excel’s usefulness and effectiveness, Microsoft Excel skills have become one of the most desirable skills that employers are looking for in their new hires, no matter what the occupational field is. Thus, it is important to learn some basics of Microsoft Excel so we can stand out among competitors of job seekers.
Microsoft Excel Window Components
In order to be able to know how to work on Excel, we should first learn the specific phrases and terms for each of the Microsoft Excel Window Components.
The meaning of each component is as follows:
1. Active cell: This is a cell that is currently selected. It is highlighted by a rectangular box. The location of the cell (or address) will show up on the address bar.
2. Column: This is a vertical set of cells. They are labeled from A to XFD, left to right. You can click on the header to select a column.
3. Row: This is a horizontal set of cells. They are labeled from 1 to 1048576. You can click on the side header to select a row.
4. Fill Handle: This a small square dot in the lower right corner of the active cell. You can click on it to fill numeric values, text series, etc.
5. Address Bar: This shows the location or address of the active cell. If you have given a range of data a name, the name will show here.
6. Formula Bar: This is an input bar, below the ribbon. The content of the active cell will show up here. You can also use it to enter a formula in a cell.
7. Title Bar: This shows the name of your workbook, followed by the application name.
8. File Menu: This is a simple menu. It contains options like (Save, Save As, Open, New, Print, Excel Options, Share, etc).
9. Ribbon: These are a bunch of specific option group which further contains the option.
10. Worksheet Tab: This shows all the worksheets which are present in the workbook. You can change the name of the worksheet here.
11. Status Bar: This is a thin bar at the bottom of the Excel window. It gives you instant help once you start working in Excel.
Basic Excel Activities
If you are first starting out on using Microsoft Excel, below is a list of basic activities you can start doing and get yourself familiar with:
· Creating a new workbook.
· Inputting and formatting data in cells.
· Creating simple formulas by doing some basic computations such as adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.
· Using the auto-fill feature.
· Sorting your data.
· Saving your work and naming the file.
For any other skills, Microsoft provides several extra and more in-depth instructions on how to do each of the tasks above. (Basic Tasks in Excel)
Once you get these skills down, you are not far from learning some of the more advanced functions and features to create an excellent workbook for daily use!
Conclusion
It could be intimidating to learn a new skill. However, as the saying goes, how to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. We just need to take one step at a time when we are starting out in a new endeavor. Learning new skills takes time, but it will all be worth it once we spend time practicing and becoming familiar with the basic operational tasks on Microsoft Excel.
Good luck! Stay tuned for more help with excelling with Microsoft Excel in daily life.