The Beginners Guide to Microsoft Excel

The Beginners Guide to Microsoft Excel The Basics of Microsoft Excel ChaptersHow Do You Create a Spreadsheet on Excel?IF, AND, OR, and NOT functions on ExcelHow Do You Create a Graph on Excel?Useful Excel Shortcuts“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” - Albert EinsteinAround a quarter of people over 60 have never used the internet. Digital exclusion is a big problem in modern society given that almost everything is happening online!Seniors and those who’ve never touched Microsoft Excel, here’s a quick guide to the digital world.  Alongside the other programmes in the Microsoft Office suite, such as Word for word processing, Excel is great for analysing data and automating calculations.Since things like Excel spreadsheets, keyboard shortcuts, Excel apps, Microsoft accounts, and dropdown menus can sound alien to some, this article will guide you through the basics of using Microsoft Excel so that you'll soon be making a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Excel worksheets, Excel workbooks, creating charts an d graphs, conditional formatting, etc.This operation shows you how IF functions work. Thus, if the number in cell A2 is greater than 10, the result will be “For”. If the number is smaller, the answer will be “Against”.To compare different data, you can use logical operators including equal (=), different (), greater than (), greater than or equal to (=), less than (), or less than or equal to (=).  These comparisons don’t necessarily need to be done with numbers. You can also use words.The IF function is the main logic function. Other functions (AND, OR, NOT) can be added to specify certain conditions.Thus, the AND function indicates that both conditions must be met for a positive result.  The OR function indicates that only one of the conditions needs to be met for the result to be positive.The NOT function indicates that the condition mustn’t be met in order for the result to be positive.There are plenty of ways for these operations to be used. There are also embedded functions and you can create several conditions if necessary.How Do You Create a Graph on Excel?In addition to creating spreadsheets, Excel is also great at creating different types of graphs. You can use the data from your spreadsheet to create different types of graphs. You can pick the type of graph that best suits your data.You can use graphs to show data more clearly. (Source: rawpixel)Different types of graphs include:HistogramLine chartPie chartColumn chartBar chartArea chartScatter chartRadarSo how do you get started with an Excel graph?Just like with a spreadsheet or table, you need to enter your data in the rows and columns in your current sheet. The data could be from one or several categories depending on your project.You just need to choose the cells that you’re interested in and then click “Insert”. “Chart” will be one of the options. By clicking on one of the symbols, a number of subcategories will appear. There’s a large choice of different styles availab le.Your chart will appear on your Excel spreadsheet. However, you can modify the formatting. You can click on the graph and then on the “Design” tab. There are various things that you can change:The axesThe title of the axesThe title of the chartThe labelsThe graphThe legendNow you know how to create a chart!This doesn’t need to be complicated and it can help you in your everyday life at work.  In fact, you can create charts to present a project to your boss, create reports, or manage your expenses. It can be much easier to understand information if it’s presented visually.Useful Excel ShortcutsExcel isn’t necessarily an intuitive programme. You may need to spend a few minutes in order to understand certain functions or tasks.Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time. (Source: Pixies)To help you use Excel more effectively, you should learn a few of the basic keyboard shortcuts.  Shortcuts are very useful for those who struggle to use a mouse.Here are some Excel keyboar d shortcuts:Close Excel: ALT + F4Open the Visual Basic Editor (for editing macros): ALT + F11Cut: CTRL + XCopy: CTRL + CPaste: CTRL + VSelect all: CTRL + AUndo: CTRL + Z (Undo the last action performed)Redo (Cancel an undone action): CTRL + YItalics: CTRL + IUnderlined: CTRL + UBold: CTRL + BDisplay the cell format dialogue box: CTRL + SHIFT + 1There are plenty of shortcuts that can be very useful in Microsoft Office suite. You can use shortcuts to insert rows, columns, and a whole plethora of other operations.The more time you spend with Excel, the more shortcuts you’ll learn. Bit by bit, you’ll start using Excel more efficiently, navigating around an Excel worksheet with the greatest of ease.  Now you're ready to excel with Excel!If you need more help on how to use Excel, you can get tutorials with a private IT tutor on Superprof. Whether you need help creating a macro, managing a workbook, working with templates, or even using other spreadsheet software, you can get Excel tra ining with one to one tutoring or learn more about Excel online.