Microsoft Excel is the world’s most widely used spreadsheet program. It stores data in a grid of rows and columns, and lets you calculate, analyse and chart that data using formulas and functions. People use it for everything from budgets and invoices to reporting and data analysis. This guide covers the essentials, from cells to PivotTables.
Excel can feel enormous because it does so much. But almost everything useful is built on a handful of core ideas, and once those click, the rest follows. This guide walks through them in plain English and points you to deeper guides for each major topic.
What is Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application: software for storing, calculating and analysing data in a grid. That grid is made of cells arranged in rows and columns, and each cell can hold a number, some text, a date, or a formula that calculates a result.
Excel is part of the Microsoft 365 suite (alongside Word, Outlook and PowerPoint) and runs on Windows, Mac, the web and mobile. It is used in virtually every industry, because almost any information that fits in a table, financial, operational, or personal, can be managed in Excel.
What is Excel used for?
At its simplest, Excel is used to keep lists and do sums. In practice, people use it for a huge range of tasks:
- Budgets, cash flow and financial models.
- Invoices, quotes and expense tracking.
- Reporting and dashboards.
- Data analysis, summarising thousands of records into insights.
- Scheduling, planning and simple databases.
The common thread is structured data: anything you can organise into rows and columns, Excel can calculate on and summarise.
How is an Excel workbook structured?
Four terms cover the whole structure:
- Workbook: the Excel file itself (a .xlsx file).
- Worksheet (or sheet): a single tabbed page inside the workbook. One workbook can hold many sheets.
- Cell: a single box in the grid, identified by its column letter and row number, for example A1 (column A, row 1). The cell you have selected is the “active cell.”
- Rows and columns: rows run horizontally and are numbered (1, 2, 3); columns run vertically and are lettered (A, B, C). Where a row and column meet is a cell.
Understanding cell references like A1 or B2:B10 (a range) is the foundation for everything else, because formulas work by referring to cells.
How do formulas and functions work in Excel?
A formula is an instruction that calculates a result. Every formula starts with an equals sign. Type =2+2 into a cell and Excel shows 4. More usefully, formulas refer to cells: =A1+A2 adds whatever is in those two cells and updates automatically when they change.
A function is a built-in shortcut for a common calculation. Instead of =A1+A2+A3+A4, you write =SUM(A1:A4). Functions always take the form =NAME(arguments).
One concept worth learning early is absolute references. Normally, copying a formula shifts its cell references. Putting dollar signs in, like =A1*$B$1, locks the $B$1 part so it stays fixed when you copy the formula down a column. It is the difference between a formula that breaks when copied and one that works everywhere.
For looking up values across tables, Excel has dedicated functions. See our guides to XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP vs XLOOKUP vs INDEX/MATCH for the most important ones.
What are the most useful Excel functions to learn first?
You do not need hundreds of functions. A small set covers most everyday work:
- SUM adds a range of numbers:
=SUM(B2:B20). - AVERAGE finds the mean:
=AVERAGE(B2:B20). - COUNT / COUNTA count numbers / non-empty cells.
- IF returns one thing or another based on a test:
=IF(B2>100,"Over","Under"). - SUMIF / COUNTIF add or count only the cells that meet a condition.
- XLOOKUP finds a value in one column and returns a matching value from another.
- TODAY / NOW insert the current date or time.
Master those and you can handle the large majority of business spreadsheets.
What everyday Excel tasks should every beginner know?
Beyond formulas, a handful of practical skills make Excel far less frustrating:
- Freeze panes (View > Freeze Panes) to keep your headings visible as you scroll.
- Sort and filter (Data tab) to reorder and narrow a list.
- Remove duplicates (Data > Remove Duplicates) to clean a list.
- Create a drop-down list (Data > Data Validation) to control what can be typed in a cell.
- Format as a Table (Ctrl+T) so your data is easier to filter, reference and feed into PivotTables.
- Merge and centre, wrap text, and number formatting to make sheets readable.
Each of these is a two-minute skill that saves hours over time. (We are publishing step-by-step guides to these tasks; see the internal-links note.)
How do you create a chart in Excel?
To turn numbers into a chart, select your data (including the headings) and go to Insert > Charts, then pick a type: a column chart for comparisons, a line chart for trends over time, or a pie chart for parts of a whole. Excel creates the chart instantly, and it updates automatically when the underlying data changes. From there you can add titles, labels and colours from the Chart Design tab.
What is a PivotTable?
A PivotTable is Excel’s tool for summarising a large list of data into a compact, interactive report, totals by category, counts, averages, all without formulas. It is one of the highest-value skills in Excel for anyone who works with data. Our full walkthrough is in Excel Pivot Tables: A Beginner’s Guide.
How can you work faster in Excel?
Speed in Excel comes from three habits: using keyboard shortcuts, formatting your data as Tables, and letting functions do the work instead of manual editing. Shortcuts alone (like Ctrl+C/V, Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Arrow to jump across data, and Alt+= to autosum) save hours over a week. AI can help too: Copilot in Excel can suggest formulas, build charts and create PivotTables from a prompt; see our Microsoft 365 Copilot guide. It works best when you already understand the fundamentals, so you can check its output.
What are the Excel skill levels, and how good do you need to be?
It helps to think of Excel skills in tiers:
- Beginner: navigating sheets, entering and formatting data, basic formulas (SUM, AVERAGE), and simple charts.
- Intermediate: logical and date functions, filtering, conditional formatting, and working across multiple sheets.
- Advanced: lookup functions, PivotTables, data consolidation, and an introduction to automation.
- Data analysis / expert: Power Query, Power Pivot, and large-dataset modelling.
How far you need to go depends on your role. Most office professionals are well served by solid intermediate skills; anyone working with reporting or data benefits from advanced and PivotTable skills.
How do you learn Microsoft Excel?
You can learn a lot from guides like this one, but structured, hands-on training is the fastest way to become genuinely confident, especially with a trainer who can answer your questions on your own data. Dynamic Web Training runs instructor-led Excel courses across Australia, in Sydney, Melbourne and Online Live, at every level:
- Excel Beginner for the foundations.
- Excel Intermediate for functions, charts and data tools.
- Excel Advanced for lookups, PivotTables and automation.
- Excel for Data Analysis for Power Query and Power Pivot.
Every course is led by Microsoft Certified Trainers in small groups, and includes free re-sits. Browse all levels and dates on our Microsoft Excel training courses page.
Frequently asked questions
Microsoft Excel is used to store, calculate and analyse data in a grid of rows and columns. Common uses include budgets, invoices, reporting, scheduling and data analysis, essentially anything that can be organised into a table and calculated or summarised.
No. Excel is built on a few core ideas, cells and references, formulas and functions, and tables, and once those click, the rest builds on them. Most people become confident with everyday tasks after a beginner course or a few hours of focused practice.
Start with SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, IF, SUMIF and a lookup function like XLOOKUP. These handle the large majority of everyday business spreadsheets. You do not need to learn hundreds of functions to be effective.
A formula is any calculation you write starting with an equals sign, such as =A1+A2. A function is a built-in shortcut for a common calculation, such as =SUM(A1:A10). Functions are used inside formulas to save time.
Excel for the web is available free with a Microsoft account, with limited features. The full desktop version requires a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time Office purchase. Many workplaces provide Excel as part of their Microsoft 365 plan.
You can learn the basics in a day. A one-day beginner course covers navigating sheets, formatting, basic formulas and charts. Building intermediate and advanced skills, functions, PivotTables and analysis, typically comes with further training and practice over the following weeks.
