How to Use Microsoft Excel – Beginners Guide to Microsoft Excel

How to Use Microsoft Excel is a must-read for all Excel beginners, you will sure need the knowledge in one way or the other.

If you’ve communed with lots of people, you will find out that lots of people don’t go into computer-related courses or skills like programming, coding, data computation, statistics, analysis, etc. The reason is simple, people always run away from tech task that deals with data computation and analysis because of the demanding focus and attention and the rate of time and meticulous effort it requires to come up with consistent accurate data or final results.

How does that relate to Microsoft Excel? There is this thing about MS Excel that when people hear it, it turns them off, because of how complex people make it look. However, using Microsoft Excel is not rocket science, it’s just a tool which when understood is very easy to use especially for beginners.

To use Microsoft Excel, go to the Microsoft Word processor download page using your web browser, navigate and click on the download button, locate the downloaded file, and double click on it to install, after the installation is completed, then locate the app icon on your desktop, launch it, navigate to the file ribbon and click new to start a new Spreadsheet and key in the data you want to compute.

Beginners Guide to Microsoft Excel – How to get started with Ms. Excel

The above illustration will get you started with Microsoft Excel on desktop computers or PCs or laptops; Windows and MacOS. However, the How to Use Microsoft Excel for Mobile devices is a bit different, in that, you will need to download the MS Excel from your Smartphone app store.

The Ms Excel app is available for download on Google play store for Android users and Apple app store for iOS users.

That said, How to Use Microsoft Excel program or tool is not about getting started, there is more that, and that’s what we will be exploring down the post. Keep reading.

How to Use Microsoft Excel for Beginners – Features you Need to Know

Using Ms Excel is not about having the app installed, there are features you need to get conversant with, however, there is not going to be a magic someone, you would have to use those features and controls over and over to get familiar with use them and using them efficiently. We are going started with importing data into Excel

How to Import Data into Excel

Yes, we have shown you how to get started, the next is to import the data you want to work on. The instructions below will guide you;

1. Scroll to the “data” menu,
2. Move to the “Get External Data” section.
3. Chose the import type (import from Web, Access, text, etc)
4. Click on the import
5. It will take to the data source you selected
6. Click on the data
7. The import process should start. Rate this

How to Use Ms Excel Format Painter

After data import comes how your data will appear. A feature format painter helps you put your data or arrange your data exactly the way you want to appear or look by formatting cells, rows, and columns. Here is how to use the Format painter tool or feature in Excel;

1. Navigate to the cell you want to format
2. Select the cell
3. Scroll to the home tab at the top field and click on the format painter tool (the format painter tool looks like a painter brush).
4. Click on the brush to add all the content from the cell you selected to other cells.
5. To arrange your cells, click on the “Format Painter” twice, and press the ESC” key to exist when you have finish formatting.

How to Enter a Single Data in more than one Cells

If you have a particular data, you want to enter into many cells, the instructions below will help you;

1. Go to your spreadsheet
2. Select the cells you want to input the data (Shortcut key; CTRL + click)
3. On the last cell, input your data.
4. Press CTRL + Enter key
5. The data will appear in all the cells you selected.

How to Select Spreadsheet Rows or Columns

Now, we are moving to work on rows and columns. Of course, I believe you what rows and columns are. The instruction below will help you navigate around it;

1. Select all rows with the key combination; Press CTRL + Shift.
2. To get all the data in a row or column; click on the first cell you want to be selected
3. Press CTRL + Shift key
4. Use your Cursor or arrow button to select all the data

How to Show Spreadsheet Formulas

If you want to unveil a spreadsheet formula, it’s easy and simple. just do the following;

1. On the Spreadsheet, scroll to the page top
2. Select the formula tab
3. Navigate to the right and click show formulas.

How to Hide Spreadsheet Rows and Columns

If you don’t want your columns and rows displayed, you can hide it with the following instruction;

1. Select the first row or column in the sequence you want to hide
2. Under the “home” button
3. Click on format
4. Scroll and click on the hide and unhide button
5. Choose hide rows or hide columns.

How to Freeze Rows and Columns

To keep all data visible, follow the instruction below;

1. Go to the “view” section at the top of the page
2. Click on “freeze panes”
3. Select the part you want to freeze.

How to Input Data Pattern

To date pattern, you will need to follow the instructions below;

1. Key in your data in two cells
2. Highlight the cells, you will see a square shape beneath the last cell.
3. Place your cursor on the square until it changes to black.
4. Click and drag it down to increase the data.

Conclusion

The instructions illustrated below for different functions might have an alternative way of doing it. However, that basis is, we can share with you all you need to know about Excel. What we did is to give you a background and a launching pad through which you can start using many of the features in Microsoft Excel to do date entry, edit, computation, analysis, and many other things you can do with Microsoft Excel software.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to use the comment box below. We will be pleased to hear from you.

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