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Excel Essentials: Complete Beginner Course

A free, step-by-step Excel course with a screenshot for every step: the Excel window, ranges, formulas, formatting, printing and more.

  • 104 lessons
  • 14 chapters
  • 5h 39m
  • Beginner
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What you’ll learn

  • The parts of the Excel window and what each one does
  • How to use and customize the Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar
  • How to select and work with ranges of cells
  • How to write formulas and use common functions
  • How to format, check, print and protect your spreadsheets

About this course

This course takes you from opening Excel for the first time to working with it confidently. Every lesson is short, covers one task, and shows each step with a screenshot, so you can follow along in your own copy of Excel.

Start with the Excel window and the Ribbon, then move on to ranges, formulas and functions, formatting, data validation, printing and protecting your work. The lessons build on each other, but you can also jump straight to the task you need.

Course content

104 lessons · 14 chapters · 5h 39m · Your progress is saved in this browser only.

01 Chapter 1 The Excel Interface 7 lessons · 23m
  1. Excel Window Parts and Their Names 3 min
  2. How to Use the Excel Ribbon 4 min
  3. How to Customize the Ribbon in Excel 3 min
  4. How to Customize the Quick Access Toolbar 3 min
  5. How to Show the Developer Tab in Excel 2 min
  6. How to Use the Excel Status Bar 3 min
  7. How to Insert a Checkbox in Excel 5 min
02 Chapter 2 Working With Ranges 12 lessons · 45m
  1. What Is a Range in Excel? 4 min
  2. How to Move Columns in Excel 4 min
  3. How to Use Flash Fill in Excel 4 min
  4. How to Split Cells in Excel 6 min
  5. How to Transpose Data in Excel 4 min
  6. How to AutoFit Columns and Rows in Excel 3 min
  7. How to Use AutoFill in Excel 4 min
  8. How to Paste and Skip Blanks in Excel 2 min
  9. How to Hide and Unhide Columns and Rows 5 min
  10. How to Insert Comments in Excel 3 min
  11. How to Create a Custom List in Excel 3 min
  12. How to Create a Number Sequence in Excel 3 min
03 Chapter 3 Workbooks 5 lessons · 13m
  1. Excel Workbook Basics: Open, Close and Create 3 min
  2. How to Change the Theme in Excel 2 min
  3. How to View Multiple Workbooks Side by Side 2 min
  4. How to Recover an Unsaved Excel File 4 min
  5. How to Save in Excel 97-2003 Format 2 min
04 Chapter 4 Worksheets 9 lessons · 27m
  1. Excel Worksheet Basics 4 min
  2. How to Zoom In and Out in Excel 2 min
  3. How to Split the Screen in Excel 2 min
  4. How to Freeze Panes in Excel 5 min
  5. How to Group Worksheets in Excel 2 min
  6. How to Consolidate Data in Excel 4 min
  7. How to View Two Worksheets at Once 2 min
  8. How to Get the Sheet Name in Excel 3 min
  9. How to Spell Check in Excel 3 min
05 Chapter 5 Formatting Cells 14 lessons · 41m
  1. How to Format Cells in Excel 4 min
  2. How to Change Decimal Places in Excel 2 min
  3. How to Show Fractions in Excel 3 min
  4. Currency vs Accounting Format in Excel 4 min
  5. How to Convert Text to Numbers in Excel 4 min
  6. How to Convert Numbers to Text in Excel 3 min
  7. How to Create a Custom Number Format 3 min
  8. How to Use Format Painter in Excel 2 min
  9. How to Use and Create Cell Styles 3 min
  10. How to Wrap Text in Excel 3 min
  11. How to Merge and Unmerge Cells 2 min
  12. How to Strikethrough Text in Excel 3 min
  13. How to Use Superscript and Subscript 2 min
  14. How to Insert a Check Mark in Excel 3 min
06 Chapter 6 Formulas and Functions Basics 10 lessons · 36m
  1. Excel Formulas and Functions for Beginners 6 min
  2. 10 Most Used Excel Functions 6 min
  3. How to Subtract in Excel 3 min
  4. How to Multiply in Excel 2 min
  5. How to Divide in Excel 2 min
  6. How to Calculate a Square Root in Excel 2 min
  7. How to Calculate Percentage in Excel 3 min
  8. How to Create a Named Range in Excel 4 min
  9. How to Create a Dynamic Named Range 4 min
  10. Excel Paste Options Explained 4 min
07 Chapter 7 Find and Select 5 lessons · 13m
  1. Find and Replace in Excel, Plus Go To Special 5 min
  2. Advanced Find: Match Case and Wildcards 2 min
  3. How to Delete Blank Rows in Excel 2 min
  4. How to Find Row Differences in Excel 2 min
  5. How to Copy Visible Cells Only 2 min
08 Chapter 8 Data Validation 6 lessons · 24m
  1. How to Use Data Validation in Excel 4 min
  2. How to Reject Invalid Dates 3 min
  3. How to Set a Budget Limit in Excel 3 min
  4. How to Prevent Duplicate Entries 3 min
  5. How to Create a Drop-Down List in Excel 7 min
  6. How to Create Dependent Drop-Down Lists 4 min
09 Chapter 9 Templates 5 lessons · 19m
  1. How to Use and Create Excel Templates 3 min
  2. How to Create a Cash Budget in Excel 4 min
  3. How to Make a Weekly Meal Planner 3 min
  4. How to Make a BMI Calculator in Excel 5 min
  5. How to Make an HbA1c Calculator in Excel 4 min
10 Chapter 10 Keyboard Shortcuts 7 lessons · 24m
  1. Most Used Excel Keyboard Shortcuts 5 min
  2. Excel Function Keys F1 to F12 6 min
  3. How to Convert Formulas to Values 3 min
  4. How to Turn Off Scroll Lock in Excel 2 min
  5. How to Add Bullet Points in Excel 3 min
  6. How to Add a Line Break in a Cell 3 min
  7. How to Show Formulas in Excel 2 min
11 Chapter 11 Printing 9 lessons · 21m
  1. How to Print in Excel 5 min
  2. Excel Workbook Views 3 min
  3. How to Insert Page Breaks in Excel 2 min
  4. How to Add a Header and Footer 3 min
  5. How to Insert Page Numbers in Excel 2 min
  6. How to Repeat Header Rows When Printing 2 min
  7. How to Center a Sheet on the Page 1 min
  8. How to Print Gridlines and Headings 1 min
  9. How to Set and Clear a Print Area 2 min
12 Chapter 12 Sharing 4 lessons · 12m
  1. How to Copy Excel Data Into Word 4 min
  2. How to Embed an Excel Worksheet in Word 2 min
  3. How to Save an Excel File as PDF 2 min
  4. How to Import and Export Text Files 4 min
13 Chapter 13 Protecting Your Work 6 lessons · 14m
  1. How to Password Protect an Excel File 2 min
  2. How to Protect Workbook Structure 2 min
  3. How to Protect a Sheet in Excel 2 min
  4. How to Lock Cells in Excel 4 min
  5. How to Make a Workbook Read-Only 2 min
  6. How to Mark a Workbook as Final 2 min
14 Chapter 14 Bonus: Useful Formulas and Charts 5 lessons · 27m
  1. How to Count Yes in Excel With COUNTIF 5 min
  2. How to Fix the #SPILL! Error 5 min
  3. How to Extract the Last Name in Excel 9 min
  4. How to Find the Closest Match in Excel 4 min
  5. How to Make a Box and Whisker Plot 4 min

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