How to Learn to Use Microsoft Excel Effectively (and Why You Need To)

Microsoft Excel is one of the most accessible tools when it comes to organizing your data (within limits, of course). You can use it to do math, apply formulas to a dataset, organize your expenses, keep track of lists, and for many other office-related operations.

What’s even more interesting is that it’s quite easy to learn! True, it may be a bit confusing at first, but once you get used to all the tools it offers, you won’t want to let it go.

In this post, we’ll take a look at Excel’s use in both professional and personal life and teach you how to learn to use this amazing piece of software to your advantage.

What is Excel and Where Can I Use it?

Excel is a piece of software developed by Microsoft to help users visualize and analyze data. The system uses spreadsheets to keep the data organized and has a variety of formulas and functions. It can store large datasets, but its capacity is limited and it will get sluggish as the data volume increases.

Still, Excel is used by businesses everywhere, in all sorts of fields including accounting, marketing, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and others. This is due to Excel’s incredible versatility and ease of use.

In a nutshell, you can use Excel to organize your wedding (keep track of orders, spending, guests, and any other lists you may have) or your business (or both, but preferably in separate files).

How to Learn Excel?

Excel is relatively easy to learn by yourself because there are plenty of video and text materials online (free to access). However, if you want to make use of all its might, you may want the help of a professional and enroll in one of the Microsoft Excel training courses available online or in a classroom.

Take a Live or Online Course on Microsoft Excel

The advantage of a classroom training course is that you can ask your questions then and there. It’s also an opportunity for face-to-face networking with other students who may be entrepreneurs or business owners.

Microsoft Excel training courses will teach you about the hidden gems in Excel such as lesser-known functions, special formulas, or how to use templates. All these are tools that help users save time and have a bird’s-eye view of their data.

Turn Excel Into Your Secret Weapon

Excel has more than functions and formulas; it also has filters, Pivot Tables, the possibility to remove duplicates, and lots of other useful features. All these make it an incredibly useful tool for financial analysis and budgeting. This is why many businesses still use it to manage accounts and bookkeeping (especially entrepreneurs and self-employed workers).

But, if you take it out of the financial box, you’ll see Excel is amazing for anything that involves data organization. For instance, you can use it to create your own progress reports with Google Analytics data or keep track of all your social media accounts KPIs in one place.

On the other hand, you could use it to keep track of the amount of raw materials you need for production or track the shipping of your parcels.

The very simplicity of the interface and its incredible versatility makes it useful in every industry imaginable.

In Summary

It’s rather easy to learn Excel if you have access to quality resources and professionals who can show you the ropes. You can also pick up a few tricks on your own, but if you’re planning on building a business or playing with data for professional use, it’s best to take a look at the Microsoft Excel training courses (in a classroom or online) out there.

Plus, Excel is a great tool to master even as an employee because many businesses out there use it. And no, it’s not going anywhere, anytime soon!