Microsoft Excel: Starter Guide

Zoom in and out to better view your spreadsheet using the plus and minus controls in the bottom-right corner, so you can follow along with the examples.

Learn how relative and absolute cell references work in Excel. Lock a column with dollar signs to keep it constant when copying formulas down, while the row changes.

learn to create cell references and formulas in excel by calculating total revenue from quantity and price, using an equals sign and referencing B10 to get 600.

Master copy and paste of formulas in Excel, learn how relative and absolute references change when dragged, and verify results to ensure accurate calculations.

Explore basic math operations in Excel, including add, subtract, multiply, and divide, by building formulas with equals signs and referencing cells like A2 and B2.

Learn to sum large ranges in Excel using the sum formula with a colon range (e.g., B2:B5). Compare this to manual adds and plus notation.

Master cut and paste in Excel to move cells and formulas without retyping, using command X and V, drag techniques, and undo with command Z while preserving references.

Learn basic Excel selection, highlighting, and cut, copy, and paste. Master selecting cells, moving with cut, and copying data via drag techniques.

Build a budget quickly in Excel by listing attendees, items, quantities, prices, and totals. Then create high, medium, and low estimates with dynamic formulas using relative references.

Build a party budget in Excel by listing items, setting quantities, calculating line totals, factoring tax and gratuity, and testing best- and worst-case scenarios.

Build a reusable budgeting template in Excel. Use formulas to calculate subtotal, tax, and gratuity and copy and paste to compare best guess, high estimate, and tight budgets.

Enter monthly expenses in blue-highlighted cells and remove fill from headers to stand out. Use equals and sum to total monthly expenses, then copy the formula for annual expenses.

Calculate monthly and yearly savings by subtracting expenses from net income, then format results as currency and compute the percentage saved as savings divided by earnings.

Learn to express expenses as a percentage of income in Excel, format as percent, and assess rent, groceries, and miscellaneous against benchmarks to guide budgeting.

Learn to build a multi-year budget in Excel by creating a reusable template, linking yearly savings across sheets, and using simple formulas to project totals and cumulative savings.

Learn to format text in Excel by bolding, changing font type, and adjusting font size. Apply these steps on a sample sheet to improve readability.

Resize columns in Excel by double-clicking the boundary between A and B to snap to content, or drag to set exact pixel widths, keeping A and B the same width.

Tidy the spreadsheet by equalizing column widths from B to E, apply wrap text to prevent spillover, and format cells to center alignment.

Learn how to center numbers in a spreadsheet by selecting a block with shift plus command or control plus arrow keys, then applying center formatting for a uniform grid.

Learn how to select all data in an Excel sheet using Ctrl+A or Command+A or the corner box, enabling quick, consistent formatting across the entire spreadsheet.

Learn to sum apartment scores in Excel using the sum function, placing the total in column F. Enter =sum(...) and select the range to total for the final value.

Learn how to quickly duplicate formulas in Excel by copying and pasting across a range, using the fill handle, and applying shortcuts like Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V.

Learn to use the fill feature, merge cells, and center text to create a clean spreadsheet, then sort data and calculate weighted scores for apartment comparisons.