Excel in 5 Steps.

 

Most people try to limit their Excel exposure to the bare minimum (and even actively avoid it like that one weird relative we all have). But whether it be a project at work or just a personal budget, you need to know basic Excel to get things done right and done quickly. To help you get the most out of Excel, we’ve put together a batch of the best Excel tips for beginners.

1. Adding frequent actions to quick access toolbar

Looking around any version of Excel you’ll notice there’s an endless array of tools at your fingertips. But most beginners use just a few of these repetitively. Instead of switching between the different tabs of the ribbon every time, you can add your personal favorites to what’s known as the Quick Access Toolbar. Microsoft offers several ways to make this happen but the easiest way is to right-click on what you want to add and select “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”. One of my personal favorites in my QAT is the Sort & Filter function as I usually work with a lot of data.

Once you have your favorites added, you can also rearrange your QAT shortcuts by right-clicking on it and then clicking “Customize Quick Access Toolbar...” in the menu. With your customized QAT you’ll be blazing through your next spreadsheet with ease.

 

2. Filtering data

Speaking of a lot of data, Microsoft has amazing tools to handle it all, which probably explains why it became the most important workplace computer program around the world.  Excel’s basic function for handling all this information is the Sort & Filter function. This is so useful because it allows you to rearrange and summarize data in a way that’s actually useful.

To do this, highlight all the data you want included in the filter (a quick way to do this is Ctrl + A). Then, click the funnel icon in the top left of the Home ribbon.

Now there will be a drop-down arrow at the top of each column in the filter. Here, you can select different values in the table and sort them. For example, let's say you wanted to see how many orders were made in a certain time frame. Just filter on the date column and select your desired time frame.

 

3. Protect sheets and workbook

When it comes time to send your Excel spreadsheet, it's important to protect the data that you're sharing. You might want to share your data, but that doesn't mean it should be changed by someone else. Luckily, Excel has built-in features to protect your spreadsheets.

To protect a sheet, click on the Review tab in the ribbon then Protect Sheet. This will bring up a pop-up box where you’ll add the unlock password and what functions users can still perform while the sheet is protected.

Once you click Ok, you are prompted to confirm the password and save the workbook. Now, if anyone tries to alter the information they will need that password. If you have a bunch of sheets you want protected, click on Protect Workbook follow the same procedure.

4. Setting print areas on sheets

Now that you know how to automatically update what prints in the margin, another time-saving trick is set up print areas for your tabs to update what prints within the margins. If you like to keep all your work on one spreadsheet but only need to print out a certain portion, setting the print area is a great way to save time when you hit Ctrl + P.

To set your print area, highlight the cells you want printed. On the Page Layout ribbon, click the drop-down under Print Area and select Set Print Area. In the same drop-down menu, there’s the option to clear the print area. This is useful if you’ve changed your spreadsheet and want to add more to printable area.

5. Group/ungroup columns to hide detail data

Spreadsheets with a bunch of complicated and detailed information can be hard to read and analyze. Luckily, Excel provides an easy way to collapse and expand the messy details to create a more compact and legible view. Grouping in Excel works best for structured worksheets that have column headings, no blank rows or columns, and data is sorted by at least one column.

Select all the data you want to summarize in the group. Then, go to the Data tab > Subtotal. This will bring up a pop-up in which you can select how the data should be grouped and summarized.