Basics

If you're looking to learn Excel from scratch, or you have a basic understanding but need help to develop your Excel skills, you're in the right place. This page lists a series of lessons and tutorials that have been designed to help you get started with Excel so you can start to use it more effectively. Each lesson should take around five minutes to complete, and sometimes less. So you can come back here regularly and get better and smarter with Excel every time.

If you want to learn Excel, this lesson covers ten important things that we think you need to know if you are going to use Excel effectively. Even if you've been using Excel for a while, check this lesson out to make sure you have the basics covered.

How to use Autosum in Excel

Microsoft Excel

Basics

This lesson explains how to use Autosum. Autosum is a powerful feature that can save you time if you need to add up cells or columns of data. It is often faster than creating a formula by hand, especially when you have a large amount of data to add up. In this lesson you'll learn how to use Autosum, and some of its limitations.

Use the TIMEVALUE function to convert text to time in Excel

Microsoft Excel

Basics

If you have a spreadsheet with time values that have been added to the spreadsheet as text values, you need the TIMEVALUE function. This will allow you to convert the text values into valid time values. A common scenario where this might be useful is when you've been provided data to import into Excel, and the times in the imported data are not recognised by Excel as valid times.

Rounding numbers in Excel

Microsoft Excel

Basics

Rounding in Excel refers to reducing the number of digits in a number to make it easier to work with. A common example is rounding a price to two decimal places. Rounding errors can cause havoc with your spreadsheets without you even realising it. A common mistake occurs when you change the display format of a number to show fewer digits after the decimal point and assume that the number has been rounded for use in other calculations. This lesson explains how rounding in Excel works, and shows you how to use the different rounding functions available in Excel.

How to enter basic formulas and calculations in Excel

Microsoft Excel

Basics

Excel Formulas and Functions

If you're getting started with Excel, creating formulas is one of the first things you should learn. In this lesson you'll learn how to create simple formulas and calculations in Excel.

Freeze or lock rows and columns in an Excel worksheet

Microsoft Excel

Basics

When you are working with a large spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel, it's easy to find yourself scrolling down or across and losing track of where you are. This lesson explains how to freeze rows and columns (officially known as "Freeze Panes") in Excel 2010 for Windows and Excel 2011 for Mac.

Print an Excel 2010 spreadsheet with header rows at the top of every page

Microsoft Excel

Basics

When printing in Excel 2010 for Windows, it is sometimes useful to print a set of rows (e.g. column headings) on each page in the print out. There is nothing worse than having a printout that runs to multiple pages, with the column headings only printed on the first page. This lesson shows you how to get header rows printing at the top of every page.

Print header rows at the top of every page in Excel 2011 for Mac

Microsoft Excel

Basics

Excel Printing

When printing in Excel, it is sometimes useful to print a set of rows (e.g. column headings) on each page in the print out. There is nothing worse than having a printout that runs to multiple pages, with the column headings only printed on the first page. This lesson shows you how to get header rows printing at the top of every page in Microsoft Excel 2011 for Mac. You will also learn how to print header columns on the left of every page in your printout.

Use COUNTBLANK to count empty or blank cells in a range in Excel

Microsoft Excel

Basics

Excel Formulas and Functions

COUNTBLANK allows you to count the number of empty or blank cells in a range in Excel. This lesson shows you how to use COUNTBLANK, and also shares a couple of things to watch out for when you use COUNTBLANK in an Excel formula.

Find the minimum or maximum value in a range of cells in Excel

Microsoft Excel

Basics

Excel offers a couple of handy functions that you can use to calculate the smallest and largest values in a range of cells. They are simple functions that go by the names of MIN() and MAX(). This lesson shows you how to use them. It also introduces SMALL() and LARGE(), functions which duplicate what MIN and MAX do, plus more besides.

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