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Roadmap to learn MS Excel Skills

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. WHAT IS MS EXCEL AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO LEARN MS EXCEL?
  2. STEPS TO LEARN MS EXCEL
  3. BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS IN MS EXCEL
  4. WHERE CAN YOU LEARN MS EXCEL?
  5. BENEFITS OF LEARNING MS EXCEL
  6. PROJECT IDEAS FOR MS EXCEL
  7. TIPS FOR LEARNING MS EXCEL

 

 

I. WHAT IS MS EXCEL AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO LEARN MS EXCEL?

  • Microsoft Excel is among the most important computer programs because it plays a key role in many business and co-operative sectors.
  • It is helpful for data analysis and documentation and is used to perform formula-based arithmetic calculations and other activities.
  • MS Excel serves as a visual basic for different applications.
  • Excel utility is seen in different departmental units such as Graphing, Data Organization, Programming, etc.
  • MS Excel offers a grid interface that allows you to organize any information you require. It actually means that it offers flexibility.
  • MS Excel is required in almost all managerial roles, data analyst role, data scientist role, data entry work, Financial Analyst, accountants, & many other job roles. It is an important part for an entrepreneur as well.

 

II. STEPS TO LEARN MS EXCEL

1. BASIC SKILLS

To become an expert in MS Excel, you first have to start with the basics. It will help you build a strong foundation and master advanced MS Excel skills. Read the Excel skills that you must learn if you are a beginner.

  • Opening and Saving a Workbook-Learn how to open and save an excel worksheet. 
  • Learn how to manage multiple worksheets in a workbook.
  • Learn about the various cell formatting options that are available in MS Excel.
  • Learn how to print an Excel Sheet.
  • Learn how to create charts and graphs in Excel to represent any kind of quantitative data.
  • Read about the basic arithmetic functions in Excel. (SUM, MIN, MAX, AVG, etc.)
  • Learn how to sort data on parameters like cell value and color, font color, and conditional formatting.
  • Learn about the options like Find and Replace, Paste Special, etc.
  • Learn the keyboard shortcuts

 

2. INTERMEDIATE SKILLS

Once you know basic MS Excel skills, it is time for you to learn the intermediate skills. These skills will help you to manage and work data efficiently. Read below the important topics/concepts that you need to learn under this.

  • Learn how to create, update, group data, etc. in a pivot table.
  • Learn how to use options like “Go to Special” and “Named Range”.
  • Learn to create dropdown lists.
  • Learn about options such as COUNTIF, SUMIF, VLOOKUP, SLOOKUP, etc.
  • Learn how to do conditional formatting on cells.
  • Learn how to use Sparklines in MS Excel.
  • Make sure that you explore all the 7 tabs that are there in Excel- Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, and View.
  • Learn the use of built-in functions in MS Excel that are mentioned below.

 

3. ADVANCED SKILLS

Advanced Excel skills will help you solve complex problems and make you efficient in doing all the work in Excel. Here are some advanced Excel skills that you need to learn. 

  • Learn how to manipulate the main Excel software through VBA.
  • Learn how to view and analyze your data in one place with the help of Dashboard in Excel.
  • Learn how to make Excel Macros.
  • Learn about the use of Flash Fill and Sparkline.
  • Learn how to use power pivot.
  • Learn how to use Power Query
  • Learn about advanced Excel Charts like-Waffle, Tornado, Thermometer, Pyramid, etc.

 

III. BUILT-IN FUNCTIONS IN MS EXCEL

Excel has a large number of built-in functions that can be used to do calculations or to return information about the spreadsheet data. Here is a list of some of the important built-in functions in MS Excel that you must learn.

  1. Functions to Remove Extra Character- CLEAN, TRIM.
  2. Functions to change Upper and Lowercase: LOWER, UPPER, PROPER.
  3. Functions to Convert Excel Data Type: BAHTTEXT, DOLLAR, TEXT, VALUE, etc.
  4. Functions to convert between numeric and character codes: CHAR, CODE, UNICODE, UNICHAR.
  5. Excel Date and Time Functions
  6. Excel Math and Trig Functions
  7. Excel Statistical Functions
  8. Excel Database Functions
  9. Excel Financial Functions
  10. Excel Cube Functions

 

IV. WHERE CAN YOU LEARN MS EXCEL?

MS Excel is one of the most sought courses among students today. Everyone wants to learn this skill because it has a wide utility. Here are some free as well as paid courses to learn MS Excel.

1. Free Courses:

2. Paid Courses:

3. MS Excel Advanced Skills courses

Here are some courses for you to learn the advanced MS Excel skills that are mentioned above. These courses focus on individual skills and provide extensive learning.

4. Certification courses for MS Excel

Certification Course in MS Excel will help you showcase your competency and commitment to the profession. It will build your expertise in Microsoft Excel and also help you with job advancement.

Here are some of the certificate courses for MS Excel that you may consider enrolling in.

 

V. BENEFITS OF LEARNING MS EXCEL

One of the reasons MS Excel is famous among its users is that it offers various advantages and is not limited to just one gain. You can read the benefits of learning MS Excel below.

  • MS Excel lets you layout your text data in spreadsheet or workbook format. Excel spreadsheets can be used to bring information and data from various files and locations to a single destination and then later crunched and analyzed on a single file.
  • MS Excel lets you process and analyze data with graphs and charts. There are preview options as well that provide you with a choice to choose the best among many.
  • MS Excel allows you to share and team with other members of your project or friends group via Share Point or One Drive. The team members and you can work together on it in real-time.
  • MS Excel has various in-built functions or formulae that can be used to work with the data and perform calculations. There are almost 450 functions in excel that you can use.

 

VI. PROJECT IDEAS FOR MS EXCEL

Here are some fun project ideas for beginners that will help you efficiently learn MS Excel.

1. Attendance managing project on Excel

In this project, you will make a spreadsheet to track attendance in meetings, classrooms, or any other place. It will be useful for a workplace with a large number of employees. You can include details, such as the worker’s name, contact details, etc. in the sheet.

You can refer to this YouTube video to get an idea about this project.

2. Creating  Sudoku puzzle

You can create a series of Sudoku puzzles in Excel. In this project, as a beginner, you can create Sudoku puzzles. Moreover, if you are a Professional developer you can develop new puzzles using the program's visual basic for applications (VBA) feature.

You can refer to this YouTube video to get an idea about this project.

3. Creating 3D Pendulum

In this project, you can practice your animation skills by creating beautiful 3D animated pendulums in Excel. You may make a single series on a scatter chart that has two points with a connecting line. It will be a fun way to learn how to include charts in your spreadsheet.

You can refer to this YouTube video to get an idea about this project.

4. GIF Creation 

In this project, the Digital artists can create and watch animated GIFs in Excel. For instance, you can create your favorite cartoon characters on a spreadsheet.

You can refer to this YouTube video to get an idea about this project.

5. Converting a photograph into a spreadsheet

With Excel, you can easily turn your photos into a spreadsheet. You can transform/convert any photo into a graphic piece of art by just putting it into the software.

You can refer to this YouTube video to get an idea about this project.

 

VII. TIPS FOR LEARNING MS EXCEL

The topics that you need to learn while learning MS Excel are diverse. Here are some tips that you can follow to learn MS Excel.

  • The key for learning MS Excel is breaking down the learning process into manageable components. Divide the topics as per their difficulty level and read accordingly.
  • One of the learning habits that you must follow from the beginning is working on your speed. Use various shortcuts that are available in Excel to make your work easy.
  • Make use of charts and graphs to analyze your data and work on it. This will help you develop the required data analysis skills easily.
  • Do not settle down at the intermediate level. You must learn advanced excel skills to master the program.
  • Do simple projects on excel with the help of the concepts that you learn to enhance your learning experience.
  • Do not forget to take breaks in between.

    ALL THE BEST!!!