Excel Easy 

#1 Excel tutorial on the net

Basics of Excel
This section explains the basics of Excel. Don't miss our sections on Functions and
Data Analysis to discover the real power of Excel!
1 Ribbon: Excel selects the ribbon's
Home tab when you open it. Learn
how to use the ribbon.
2 Workbook: A workbook is
another word for your Excel file.
When you start Excel, click Blank
workbook to create an Excel
workbook from scratch.
3 Worksheets: A worksheet is a
collection of cells where you keep
and manipulate the data. Each
Excel workbook can contain multiple worksheets.
4 Format Cells: When we format cells in Excel, we change the appearance of a
number without changing the number itself.
5 Find & Select: Learn how to use Excel's Find, Replace and Go To Special feature.
6 Templates: Instead of creating an Excel workbook from scratch, you can create a
workbook based on a template. There are many free templates available, waiting
to be used.
7 Data Validation: Use data validation to make sure that users enter certain values
into a cell.
8 Keyboard Shortcuts: Keyboard shortcuts allow you to do things with your
keyboard instead of your mouse to increase your speed.
9 Print: This
Improve chapter teaches you how to print a worksheet and how to change
profits,
print settings.
productivity,
and10public
Share: Learn how to share Excel data with Word documents and other files.
image
11 Protect: Encrypt an Excel file with a password so that it requires a password to
open it. 

Take your Excel skills to the next level! 🚀 You can find related examples and
features at the bottom of each chapter. Below you can find a complete overview.
✦ 1. Ribbon
- Formula Bar: The formula bar in Excel displays the value or formula of the active
cell. You can use the formula bar to enter or edit formulas.
- Quick Access Toolbar: If you use an Excel command frequently, you can add it to
the Quick Access Toolbar. By default, the Quick Access Toolbar contains four
commands: AutoSave, Save, Undo and Redo.

- Customize the Ribbon: The ribbon in Excel can be customized. You can easily
create your own tab and add commands to it.
- Developer Tab: Turn on the Developer tab in Excel if you want to create a macro,
export and import XML files or insert controls.
- Status Bar: The status bar in Excel can be quite useful. By default, the status bar
at the bottom of the window displays the average, count and sum of selected cells.
- Checkbox: Inserting a checkbox in Excel is easy. For example, use checkboxes to
create a checklist or a dynamic chart.
✦ 2. Workbook
- Themes: Excel offers themes to change the look of your workbook with the click
of a button. Each theme consists of 12 colors, two fonts (Headings and Body) and
effects for shapes and SmartArt.
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- View Multiple Workbooks: If you want to view multiple Excel workbooks at the
same time, execute the following steps.
- AutoRecover: Excel periodically saves a copy of your Excel file. Learn how to
recover a file that was never saved and how to recover a file that has been saved
at least once.
- Merge Excel Files: To merge Excel files into one, use the 'Move or Copy' feature. If
you need to merge many Excel files, consider using VBA to automate the process.
- Save in 97-2003 Format: If you save your Excel files in 97-2003 format (.xls
instead of the new .xlsx format), users who do not have Excel 2007 or later
installed on their computer, can still open your Excel files.
✦ 3. Worksheets
- Zoom: In most cases, you can use the minus and plus symbols in the status bar
to quickly zoom the document. Use the buttons on the View tab to zoom to a
specific percentage and to zoom to a selection.
- Split: You can split your Excel worksheet into panes to view multiple distant parts
of your worksheet at once. Simply use the split bar to change the size of each
pane.
- Freeze Panes: If you have a large table of data in Excel, it can be useful to freeze
rows or columns. This way you can keep rows or columns visible while scrolling
through the rest of the worksheet.
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- Group Worksheets: Group worksheets in Excel to edit multiple worksheets at the

same time. Our workbook contains 3 similar worksheets (North, Mid and South)
and a blank fourth worksheet.
- Consolidate: You can use Excel's Consolidate feature to consolidate your
worksheets (located in one workbook or multiple workbooks) into one worksheet.
- View Multiple Worksheets: If you want to view multiple Excel worksheets at the
same time, execute the following steps.
- Get Sheet Name: To return the sheet name in a cell, use CELL, FIND and MID in
Excel. There's no built-in function in Excel that can get the sheet name.
- Comments: Insert a comment in Excel to start a conversation or to give feedback
about the content of a cell. Old style comments are still available and are now
called notes.
- Spell Check: Learn how to check the spelling of text in Excel, add words to your
custom dictionary (or AutoCorrect list) and learn how to change spell checking
options.
- Unhide Sheets: Unhiding sheets in Excel is easy. A workbook must contain at
least one visible worksheet.
- Chart Sheet: You can find most charts on the same worksheet as the source data
(embedded charts). However, you can also move a chart to a separate sheet that
only contains a chart (chart sheet).
✦ 4. Format Cells
- Decimal Places: Learn how to show fewer or more decimal places in Excel
without changing the number itself. You can also round a number.
- Fractions: This example teaches you how to enter a fraction in Excel and how to
change the format of a fraction.
- Currency vs Accounting: The Currency format and the Accounting format in Excel
are very similar to each other. This example shows the difference. 

- Text to Numbers: In Excel, text is left-aligned and numbers are right-aligned. This
example teaches you how to convert 'text strings that represent numbers' to
numbers.
- Numbers to Text: In Excel, numbers are right-aligned and text is left-aligned. This
example teaches you how to convert numbers to 'text strings that represent
numbers'.
- Custom Number Format: Excel has many built-in formats that you can use:
Currency, Accounting, Date, Time, Percentage, etc. If you cannot find the right
format, you can create a custom number format.
- Format Painter: The Format Painter is one of the most underused features of
Excel. The Format Painter copies formatting from one place and applies it to
another.

- Cell Styles: Quickly format a cell by choosing a cell style. You can also create your
own cell style in Excel.
- Wrap Text: Wrap text in Excel if you want to display long text on multiple lines in
a single cell.
- Merge Cells: Merge cells into one large cell to make clear that a label in Excel
applies to multiple columns. Use CONCATENATE, TEXTJOIN or Flash Fill to merge
cells without losing data.
- Strikethrough: This example teaches you how to apply strikethrough formatting
in Excel. You can still read text with a strikethrough effect.
- Superscript and Subscript: It's easy to format a character as superscript (slightly
above the baseline) or subscript (slightly below the baseline) in Excel.
- Check Mark: To insert a check mark symbol in Excel, simply press SHIFT + P and
use the Wingdings 2 font.
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- Remove Leading Zeros: This guide teaches you how to remove leading zeros in
Excel.
✦ 5. Find & Select
- Find Features: This page illustrates useful find features in Excel. Learn how to
perform workbook-wide searches, case-sensitive searches, find exact cell content,
and use wildcards.
- Wildcards: Excel has 3 wildcards. A question mark (?) matches exactly one
character. An asterisk (*) matches zero or more characters. And a tilde (~).
- Delete Blank Rows: This example teaches you how to delete blank rows or rows
that contain blank cells.

- Row Differences: This example teaches you how to quickly highlight cells whose
contents are different from the comparison cell in each row.
- Copy Visible Cells Only: By default, Excel copies both visible and hidden cells.
However, it is possible to copy visible cells only. 

- Search Box: This example teaches you how to create your own search box in
Excel.
✦ 6. Templates
- Budget: This example shows you how to create a budget in Excel. Follow this
step-by-step guide and take control of your finances.

- Calendar: This example describes how to create a calendar in Excel (2025

calendar, 2026 calendar, etc). If you are in a hurry, simply download the Excel file.
- Holidays: This example teaches you how to get the date of a holiday for any year
(2025, 2026, etc).
- Meal Planner: This article shows you how to create a meal planner in Excel. Use
drop-down lists to easily select meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
- Invoice: This article describes how to create a simple invoice in Excel.
- Automated Invoice: This article describes how to automate the generation of
invoices in Excel.
- Default Templates: Book.xltx and Sheet.xltx are two special templates you can
create and add to the XLStart folder. As a result, Excel uses Book.xltx as the basis 

for new workbooks and Sheet.xltx as the basis for new worksheets.
- Time Sheet: This example teaches you how to create a simple timesheet
calculator in Excel.

- BMI calculator: Create a BMI calculator in Excel and find out if you are a healthy
weight. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on weight and
height that applies to adult men and women.
✦ 7. Data Validation
- Reject Invalid Dates: This example teaches you how to use data validation to
reject invalid dates.
- Budget Limit: To avoid exceeding a budget limit in Excel, simply use data
validation and the SUM function.
- Prevent Duplicate Entries: To prevent duplicate values from being entered into
Excel, use data validation and the COUNTIF function.
- Product Codes: Use data validation to only allow the input of specific product
codes. For example, only allow codes that are 4 characters long, start with a C, etc.
- Drop-down List: Drop-down lists in Excel are helpful if you want to be sure that
users select an item from a list, instead of typing their own values.
 

- Dependent Drop-down Lists: This example describes how to create dependent

drop-down lists in Excel.
- Cm to inches: 1 cm = 0.3937 inch and 1 inch = 2.54 cm. Use a simple formula, the
CONVERT function or download our free unit converter to convert from cm to
inches or vice versa.
- Kg to lbs: 1 kg = 2.20462 lbs (pounds) and 1 lb (pound) = 0.45359 kg. Use a
simple formula, the CONVERT function or download our free unit converter to
convert from kg to lbs or vice versa.
✦ 8. Keyboard Shortcuts
- Function Keys: Function keys in Excel allow you to do things with your keyboard
instead of your mouse to increase your speed.
- Insert Row: To quickly insert a row in Excel, select a row and use the shortcut
CTRL SHIFT +.
- Save As: Use the shortcut F12 to display the Save As dialog box in Excel. Press
CTRL + s to save an existing workbook. It's good practice to periodically save while
you are working on your Excel file.
- Delete Row: To quickly delete a row in Excel, select a row and use the shortcut
CTRL - (minus sign).
- Formula to Value: To quickly convert a formula to a value in Excel or to convert
multiple formulas to values, execute the following steps.
- Scroll Lock: When Scroll Lock is turned on, you can use the arrow keys to scroll
through the worksheet without changing the active cell. Excel displays Scroll Lock 

in the status bar.

- Bullet Points: This page illustrates 4 ways to insert bullet points in Excel.
- Line Break: You can insert a line break in Excel by pressing Alt + Enter. When
concatenating strings, use CHAR(10) to insert a line break.
- Show Formulas: By default, Excel shows the results of formulas. To show the
formulas instead of their results, press CTRL + ` (you can find this key above the
tab key).

- Paste Special: Use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + V to display the Paste Special dialog
box in Excel. Next, press an underlined letter to paste formulas, values, formatting,
etc.
✦ 9. Print
- Workbook Views: Excel offers three different workbook views: Normal, Page
Layout and Page Break Preview.
- Page Breaks: Insert a page break in Excel to specify where a new page will begin
in the printed copy.
- Headers and Footers: This example teaches you how to add information to the
header (top of each printed page) or footer (bottom of each printed page) in
Excel.
 

- Page Numbers: This example teaches you how to insert page numbers in Excel.
- Print Titles: You can specify rows and columns in Excel that will be printed on
each printed page. This can make your printed copy easier to read.
- Center on Page: To center a range of cells on a printed page in Excel
automatically, execute the following steps.
- Print Gridlines & Headings: Print gridlines (the horizontal and vertical lines on
your worksheet) and row/column headers (1, 2, 3 etc. and A, B, C etc.) to make
your printed copy easier to read.
- Print Area: If you set a print area in Excel, only that area will be printed. The print
area is saved when you save the workbook.
✦ 10. Share
- Embed: Embed an Excel worksheet in a Word document and work with Excel in
Word. You can also embed files in Excel.
- PDF: This page teaches you how to convert an Excel file to a PDF file.
 

- Share Workbooks: If you share a workbook in Excel 2016 or older versions, you
can work with other people on the same workbook at the same time.
- OneDrive: Save your Excel files to your OneDrive location and access your files
from any computer or share them with other people.
- Online: You can edit Excel files with Excel Online from anywhere without having
Excel installed on your computer.
- Import Access Data: This example teaches you how to import data from a
Microsoft Access database. In Excel, when you import data, you make a permanent
connection that can be refreshed.
- Microsoft Query: This example teaches you how to import data from a Microsoft
Access database by using the Microsoft Query Wizard. With Microsoft Query, you
can select the columns of data that you want and import only that data into Excel.
- Import/Export Text Files: This article describes how to import or export text files.
Text files can be comma separated (.csv) or tab separated (.txt)
- XML: Convert your XML file to an Excel file, or vice versa. This enables you to
exchange data between different applications.
✦ 11. Protect
- Protect Workbook: This example teaches you how to protect the workbook
structure in Excel.
- Protect Sheet: When you share an Excel file with other users, you may want to
protect a worksheet to help prevent it from being changed.
- Lock Cells: You can lock cells in Excel if you want to protect cells from being
edited. 

- Read-only Workbook: This example shows you how to make your Excel
workbook read-only.
- Mark as Final: Mark a workbook as final in Excel to indicate that this is the final
version of your workbook. Only use this feature to discourage editing. Users can
still edit the workbook.
Visit our next section: Functions.

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Chapters
Ribbon
Workbook
Worksheets
Format Cells
Find & Select
Templates
Data Validation
Keyboard Shortcuts
Print
Share
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