Training to work in excel. Excel courses (Excel). Training at a simple and accessible level

Microsoft Excel is still popular, although the number of data processing programs increases every year, this program is still one of the leaders in its field.

A section of the site is dedicated to the Excel program - training for beginners. Data processing using Excel is of interest to both beginners (“dummies”) and experienced users.

This is also evidenced by the many job advertisements that require knowledge related to how to work with Excel spreadsheets, including positions of sales representatives, logisticians, business analysts, accountants, project managers, managers or employees of the banking or administrative sector.

It seems that everyone knows a little how to work with Excel tables, but it is often impossible to perform more complex tasks and calculations, processing large amounts of data.

Working with Excel tables as a data analysis tool

Although awareness of Excel's capabilities is relatively high, use of the program is often limited to simple functions such as:

average,
amount or difference
multiplication or division is the so-called work with Excel tables for dummies.

Meanwhile, it is worth knowing that the program allows you to perform even very complex calculations, as well as their automation, which is why learning to work in Excel is so important. Well-prepared data can become the basis for analyzing the economic situation in a company. This, in turn, makes it possible to simplify many processes occurring in the enterprise. The more familiar we become with Excel, the more efficiently we will be able to analyze data, and the time saved will be devoted to summarizing and planning actions.

Create your own data tables in Excel with Excel lessons.

Excel also works great for collecting and storing data in almost any industry. Thanks to working with Excel spreadsheets, we can create sheets containing information about clients, actions taken by competitive companies or enterprises with which we intend to cooperate. After completing our training, you will be able to freely format a data table, which allows us to quickly obtain the data that interests us at the moment. Many financial, accounting, manufacturing or logistics programs allow you to export data to Excel format, which saves us from tedious input. Working with Excel tables greatly simplifies our work and saves time.

Data visualization with Excel - training for beginners.

The basis for any professional presentation is the skillful presentation of data. Tables are a good solution for only small amounts of information. And it happens that the numbers are not very well perceived visually. Graphs, time data or fancy infographics are much easier to read. And Excel offers many such data visualization solutions:

conditional formats,
pivot tables;
graphs from simple bar and pie charts

In addition, with each new version of Excel it becomes more intuitive and supports the user when creating graphic elements.

Examples like the ones above can, of course, be continued; it is clear that most office workers have to deal with Excel, so there is no doubt that it is worth knowing its functionality. People who have no experience with Excel spreadsheets can take advantage of our Spreadsheets Course for Beginners, which includes accessible and simple Excel lessons. Become a pro with affordable Excel spreadsheet training.

Microsoft Excel is an extremely useful program in various areas. A ready-made table with the ability to autofill, quickly calculate and calculate, build graphs, diagrams, create reports or analyses, etc.

Spreadsheet tools can greatly facilitate the work of specialists from many industries. The information presented below is the basics of working in Excel for dummies. After mastering this article, you will acquire the basic skills with which any work in Excel begins.

Instructions for working in Excel

An Excel workbook consists of sheets. A sheet is a work area in a window. Its elements:

To add a value to a cell, left-click on it. Enter text or numbers from the keyboard. Press Enter.

Values can be numeric, text, monetary, percentage, etc. To set/change the format, right-click on the cell and select “Format Cells”. Or press the hotkey combination CTRL+1.

For number formats, you can assign the number of decimal places.

Note. To quickly set the number format for a cell, press the hotkey combination CTRL+SHIFT+1.

For Date and Time formats, Excel offers several options for displaying values.

Let's edit the cell values:

To delete a cell value, use the Delete button.

To move a cell with a value, select it and press the button with scissors (“cut”). Or press the combination CTRL+X. A dotted line appears around the cell. The selected fragment remains on the clipboard.

Place the cursor somewhere else in the work field and click “Insert” or the CTRL+V combination.

In the same way, you can move several cells at once. On the same sheet, on another sheet, in another book.

To move multiple cells, you need to select them:

Place the cursor in the uppermost cell on the left.
Press Shift, hold and use the arrows on the keyboard to select the entire range.

To select a column, click on its name (Latin letter). To highlight a line, use a number.

To change the size of rows or columns, move the borders (the cursor in this case takes the form of a cross, the crossbar of which has arrows at the ends).

To make the value fit in the cell, the column can be expanded automatically: click on the right border 2 times.

To make it more beautiful, let's move the border of column E a little, align the text in the center relative to the vertical and horizontal.

Let’s merge several cells: select them and click the “Merge and Place in Center” button.

Excel has an AutoFill feature available. Enter the word “January” in cell A2. The program recognizes the date format and will fill in the remaining months automatically.

We grab the lower right corner of the cell with the value “January” and drag it along the line.

Let's test the autocomplete function on numeric values. We put “1” in cell A3, “2” in A4. Select two cells, grab the autofill marker with the mouse and drag it down.

If we select only one cell with a number and drag it down, then this is the number “multiply”.

To copy a column to an adjacent one, select this column, “catch” the autofill marker and drag it to the side.

You can copy strings in the same way.

Let's delete a column: select it - right-click - "Delete". Or by pressing the hotkey combination: CTRL+"-"(minus).

To insert a column, select the one adjacent to the right (the column is always inserted on the left), right-click - “Insert” - “Column”. Combination: CTRL+SHIFT+"="

To insert a line, select the one adjacent to the bottom. Key combination: SHIFT+SPACEBAR to select a line and press the right mouse button - “Insert” - “Row” (CTRL+SHIFT+"=")(the line is always inserted from above).

How to work in Excel: formulas and functions for dummies

In order for the program to perceive the information entered into the cell as a formula, we put the “=” sign. For example, = (2+3)*5. After you press ENTER, Excel calculates the result.

The calculation sequence is the same as in mathematics.

A formula can contain not only numeric values, but also references to cells with values. For example, =(A1+B1)*5, where A1 and B1 are cell references.

To copy a formula to other cells, you need to “hook” the autofill marker in the cell with the formula and drag it down (to the side - if you are copying to row cells).

When you copy a formula with relative cell references, Excel changes the constants depending on the address of the current cell (column).

In each cell of column C, the second term in brackets is 3 (the reference to cell B1 is constant and unchanging).

Built-in functions significantly expand the functionality of the program. To insert a function, you need to press the fx button (or the SHIFT+F3 key combination). A window like this will open:

To avoid scrolling through a large list of functions, you must first select a category.

When the function is selected, click OK. The Function Arguments window opens.

The functions recognize both numeric values and cell references. To put a link in the argument field, you need to click on the cell.

Excel recognizes another way to enter a function. Place the “=” sign in the cell and begin entering the name of the function. After the first characters, a list of possible options will appear. If you hover your cursor over any of them, a tooltip will appear.

Double-click on the desired function - the order of filling in the arguments becomes available. To finish entering arguments, you need to close the parenthesis and press Enter.

ENTER – the program found the square root of the number 40.

How to work in Microsoft Excel - watch the video course by Andrey Sukhov.

This video course covers the basics of working in Microsoft Excel. Using Excel, you can create various catalogs and file cabinets, make calculations of almost any complexity, analyze data, build graphs and diagrams. The possibilities of Excel are almost limitless and the program can be adapted to solve a huge number of different problems. © Andrey Sukhov.

Contents of the video course “Excel for Beginners”

Lesson #1. Program interface— overview of the program.
Lesson #2. Entering data— In the second video tutorial, you will learn how to enter data into a spreadsheet and also become familiar with the autofill operation.
Lesson #3. Working with cells— In the third video lesson you will learn how to align the contents of the cells of your spreadsheet, as well as change the width of the columns and the height of the rows of the table.
Lesson #4. Format the text— In the fourth video lesson you will become familiar with text formatting operations.
Lesson #5. Table cell borders— In the fifth video lesson, we will finally format the family budget form, which we started working on in previous lessons.
Lesson #6. Filling out the table— In the sixth video lesson we will fill out our family budget form with data.
Lesson #7. Calculations in Excel— In the seventh video lesson we will talk about the most interesting things - formulas and calculations.
Lesson #8. Let's finish the job— In the eighth video lesson we will completely finish working on the family budget form. We will compose all the necessary formulas and carry out the final formatting of rows and columns.
Lesson #9. Charts and graphs— In the final ninth lesson we will learn how to create charts and graphs.

Download the tutorial on working in Excel and learn the program using practical examples!

Video information

There are some things that you can completely live without. For example, an electric can opener, or a sausage cutter. This list could be continued indefinitely, however, the meaning is probably already clear. In ordinary life they are simply not needed. Of course, there is some probability that someday they will also find use.

For example, you are expecting a large number of guests and you need to open 10 cans of green peas, and then cut 20 loaves of sausage into thin slices. Of course, under such circumstances, the above things will be very useful. But these are special cases. In everyday life, it is easier for us to open a can of canned food in the usual way, as well as to cut off a couple of slices of sausage for a sandwich.

It's the same with computer programs. Studying them simply for general development, in the hope that someday they will be needed, would be a waste of time. Of course, during your training you will in any case improve your general computer skills. For example, you hold the mouse more confidently, you begin to type text faster and faster, you become more fluent in unfamiliar interfaces... However, first of all, it is worth mastering programs that will really help you in your work or personal life.

MS Excel program is a universal tool and is suitable for almost any person who, on duty, has to calculate something, maintain databases, build diagrams, and the like. Moreover, the word “calculate” often scares ordinary people. Something like matrix transposition or differential equations immediately appears.

In fact, even in everyday life there is a place for calculations. Let's look at some simple examples.

The first is the most banal: you need to keep a table of expenses and income. If you are not lazy and write down at least large expenses there, you will be able to draw conclusions about the structure of expenses and adjust them.

Second: you need to make a diagram using the existing table. In Excel, this can be done in just a few minutes (of course, if you know how).

Fourth: you need to maintain a small database of the company’s clients.

All these and many other tasks become easily solvable if you use Microsoft Excel.

Due to the nature of my work, I constantly have to analyze digital data. Previously, this took a lot of time because I preferred to work with a regular calculator. However, when the boss once again hinted at the presence of constant errors in the calculations and asked to speed up the provision of reports with the results of business trips, “bad” thoughts began to creep into my head that it was time to shake off the old days and start training.

How to learn Excel

Everyone comes to Excel differently. However, few people manage to master the program on their own, using textbooks. The fact is that, as a rule, there is absolutely no time for this. The bosses don't really care that you need to learn something. He needs results.

Therefore, we have to do it in fits and starts. In my free time. Buying books at your own expense.

There is another tactic: you can endlessly terrorize your colleagues by asking them question after question, asking them to show how this or that operation is done. Colleagues are different. Some people try to help you at first. Others immediately come up with a way to make you “get rid of” yourself. For example, giving advice in a deliberately dismissive tone, showing with all your appearance that you are an impenetrable idiot, and without a single hope of correction.

Unfortunately, self-learning is usually slow. Sometimes a person simply falls into a stupor, because he is firmly up against an insurmountable obstacle. Day after day nothing works out, and there is no one to ask. Colleagues, seeing you approaching their table, immediately take on such a puzzled look that they simply don’t dare ask them questions.

What to do, you think, and decide to look for some MS Excel courses.

MS Excel courses

Here, as they say, depending on your luck. If you are lucky enough to find a good teacher who actually works with the program in practice, and did not study it from books a month before the start of your courses, consider that half the battle is done.

If your boss agrees to let you study during working hours, it will be even better. And if he also deigns to pay for your tuition, then you can consider yourself a real darling of fate.

What if everything turns out the other way around?

You will go to the training center after work, when your head is already boiling from production tasks. You will pay a considerable amount of money out of your own pocket for the Excel course. And with all this, you will come across a teacher who can only talk about the program within the framework of the book “Excel for Dummies”. Any question “aside” from the general line will baffle him.

As a result, after completing the training you will be completely convinced that Excel is one of the most complex programs in the world, and you yourself are one of the most stupid students, a disgrace to the training center that graduated you and the teacher personally. How can you not return to the good old calculator, causing the wrath of your superiors and the smirks of your more advanced colleagues.

Even if this sad “second option” does not happen to you, you still have to travel halfway across the city to classes at the end of the working day, waste time in traffic jams, sit in a stuffy classroom under flickering neon lights, adjust to the speed of work of the slowest student in the group - is it really Is this how learning should take place in the 21st century?

Online MS Excel lessons

Of course not! I immediately dismissed the in-person courses and started looking for online learning options. In general, there are a lot of completely free ones on the Internet. materials for mastering Excel. At first I was happy and began to look through them, but over time it became clear that the free lessons were very scattered, it was difficult to find a continuation, etc.

Sometimes the quality of information delivery left much to be desired.

However, at some point I discovered two courses that seemed good to me. Alas, one of them was not complete enough and contained only the most. This was only suitable for the most novice users. The second course was thorough and serious. What was most captivating was that the analysis of the program’s functions was not carried out with a simple abstract enumeration, but with specific examples.

Even though these were examples not entirely from my field, they helped me master the capabilities of the program, get better at it, and absorb working techniques. All this made it possible to take subsequent independent steps, acting by analogy.

Online learning versus classic courses

There are disciplines where online learning is powerless. Everything there is built on live interaction between mentor and student. However, if we are talking about mastering a new computer program, then a video lesson will work more successfully than a regular one when both the teacher and the student are in the classroom at the same time.

If we work with video lessons, then we are not tied to a specific time and place of study. You can study when you have time. The main thing is not to give up. This rule is very important! Many people who criticize distance learning turn out to be undisciplined slobs. Having paid for the course, they believe that they will learn in any case and are very surprised when month after month passes, and somehow their knowledge does not increase at all.

Nothing surprising. On weekdays they usually have no time to study - work, fatigue, TV. And when they sit down to study on the weekend, what they mastered a week ago is almost forgotten. You have to endlessly go back and re-watch already completed video lessons. And not just watch, but do all the actions yourself. And then there are tasks for independent work.

Another problem is passively watching video tutorials without any attempts to complete the proposed exercises with your own hands. Indeed, why carry them out when everything is already clear. Let's move on...

As a result, without gaining practical skills day after day, simply watching lessons during a lunch break with a cup of coffee in hand, a person does not study, but wastes time. It is not surprising that some people have a strong antipathy towards distance learning.

Yes, it is not for slobs. If you want to learn something, watch and learn.

Excel lessons by Andrey Sukhov

As I already said, I liked the course. All topics are discussed using specific examples, which are much better remembered. I liked the fact that the author did not record one large video lesson covering an entire section of the course, but divided it into several short videos.

Watching a short video covering a specific situation and its solution is much more convenient. It's very easy to rewind the video if you've missed something. It is constantly suggested that you perform this or that action yourself. So not only the head, but also the hands remember the sequence of operations.

It is valuable that the author offers to watch the first, introductory part of the course without setting any conditions. It covers the most basic information and skills, which are nevertheless sufficient to solve simple, non-specialized problems.

At the same time, you have the opportunity to listen to how the author teaches lessons. Are there any problems with diction, is the pace of presentation of the material normal, are the examples clear, etc.

At one time, I also first signed up for the first free part, and then paid for the full course. It cost 1800 rubles. On the one hand, it seems expensive. On the other hand, full-time courses are much more expensive. If you buy a textbook, the savings will be very doubtful. Indeed, there are inexpensive books, but the training takes a lot of time.

Result of training and implementation of Excel

Now the bosses are quite happy with me. I have fewer mistakes and I submit reports on time. What about the bosses! I myself am completely delighted. After all, as soon as I created and debugged the table once, all the work then consisted only of adding fresh, relevant numbers to several cells. The program instantly performed calculations and produced ready-made numbers.

If earlier drawing up a damned report was real hard labor, now it has turned into a holiday. Everything works out quickly and without errors. Almost "itself" :)

Who said the phrase: “Manual labor on the shoulders of machines?” This is exactly what happened in my case. The time spent learning has paid off handsomely. Thanks to Microsoft for such a useful program and to Andrey Sukhov for an understandable and useful .

You need to know the basic techniques for working with cells and their contents in Excel in order to calculate, analyze, and organize information.

In this tutorial you will learn how to select cells, enter content, delete cells and their contents. You'll also learn how to cut, copy and paste cells, drag and fill cells using the fill handle.

Cells and their contents

Cells are the basic building blocks of a sheet. Cells can have a variety of contents, e.g. text, formulas or functions. To work with cells, you need to know how to select them, enter content, and delete cells and their contents.

Cell

Each rectangle on a sheet is called a cell. A cell is the intersection of a row and a column.

Each cell has a name or cell address, which is formed based on the names of the column and row, the intersection of which forms the cell. The address of the selected cell is shown in the Name field. Here you can see that the cell is selected C5.

You can also select multiple cells at the same time. A group of cells is called range of cells. If you are referring not to one cell, but to a range, then use a notation of the addresses of the first and last cells, separated by a colon. For example, a range of cells including cells A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5 would be written as A1:A5.

To select a cell:

You can also move between cells and highlight them using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

To select multiple cells:

Each cell can contain its own text, formatting, comments, formulas, or functions.

Text
Cells can contain letters, numbers, and dates.

Formatting Attributes
Cells can contain formatting attributes that change the way letters, numbers, and dates are displayed. For example, dates can be formatted as MM/DD/YYYY or Month/D/YYYY.

Comments
Cells can contain comments from multiple reviewers.

Formulas and functions
Cells can contain formulas and functions that calculate the cell's values. For example, SUM (cell 1, cell 2...) is a formula that adds the values of multiple cells.

To enter content:

Click on a cell to select it.
Enter content into the selected cell using the keyboard. It will appear in the cell and formula bar. You can also enter and edit content in the formula bar.

To delete the contents of a cell:

Select the desired cell.
Click the Clear command on the ribbon. A dialog box will appear.
Select Clear Contents.

You can also use the Backspace key to delete content from a single cell or the Delete key to delete content from multiple cells.

To delete cells:

Select the cells you want to delete.
On the ribbon, select Delete.

There is a huge difference between deleting cell contents And deleting the cell itself. If you delete a cell, by default the cells below the cell you delete will move up to take its place.

To copy and paste cell contents:

To cut and paste cell contents:

To access paste options:

There are quite a few paste options that can be accessed from the Paste command's drop-down menu. These options may be useful for advanced users whose cells contain formulas or formatting.

To access formatting commands:

Select the cells you want to format.
Right-click on the selected cells. A dialog box will appear where you can easily find many commands that are also available on the ribbon.

To move cells:

To use a fill handle to fill cells:

Practice!

Open an existing Excel 2010 workbook.
Select cell D3, and notice how its address looks in the Name field and its contents in the formula bar.
Try writing text and numbers.
Use the fill handle to fill adjacent cells vertically and horizontally.
Cut out the cells and paste them somewhere else.
Remove a cell and notice how the cells underneath move upward.
Try dragging the cells.