Introduction To Excel

Excel
Excel is a spreadsheet application developed and published by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft
Office suite of productivity software.
Unlike a word processor, such as Microsoft Word, Excel organizes data in columns and rows. Rows and
columns intersect at a space called a cell. Each cell can contain a single of data, such as text, a numerical
value, or a formula.
Excel was originally code-named Odyssey during development. It was first released on September
30, 1985.
 Excel overview.
 Where do you find or start Excel?
 How can Excel be formatted?
 Download an example of a spreadsheet file.
 Why do people use Excel?
 Why would someone use Excel over a different spreadsheet program?
 Excel file extensions.
 What are the different versions of Microsoft Excel?
 What came before Excel?
 Related Excel pages.
 Microsoft Excel help and support.
Excel overview
Excel is a tool for organizing and performing calculations on data. It can analyze data, calculate statistics,
generate pivot tables, and represent data as a chart or graph.
For example, you could create an Excel spreadsheet that calculates a monthly budget, tracks associated
expenses, and interactively sorts the data by criteria.
Below is an example of Microsoft Excel with each of its major sections highlighted. See the formula
bar, cell, column, row, or sheet tab links for further information about each of these sections.
Where do you find or start Excel?
If you have Excel or the entire Microsoft Office package installed on Microsoft Windows, you can find
Excel in your Start menu.
Keep in mind that new computers do not include Excel. It must be purchased and installed before
running it on your computer. If you do not want (or cannot afford) to purchase Excel, you can use a
limited version for free at the Microsoft Office website.
If Excel is installed on your computer, but you can't find it in your Start menu, use the following steps to
launch Excel manually.
1. Open My Computer.
2. Click or select the C: drive. If Microsoft Office is installed on a drive other than the C: drive,
select that drive instead.
3. Navigate to the Program Files (x86) folder, then the Microsoft Office folder.
4. In the Microsoft Office folder, if there is a root folder, open that folder. Then open the OfficeXX
folder, where XX is the version of Office (e.g., Office16 for Microsoft Office 2016) installed on
your computer. If there is no root folder, look for and open a folder having "Office" in the name.
5. Look for a file named EXCEL.EXE and click or double-click that file to start the Excel program.
How can Excel be formatted?
Each of the rows, columns, and cells can be modified in many ways, including the background color,
number or date format, size, text font, layout, etc. In our example above, you can see that the first row
(row 1) has a blue background, bold text, and each cell has its text centered.
 How to format a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
Download an example of a spreadsheet file
We've created a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that can be downloaded and opened in any spreadsheet
program including Microsoft Excel. This spreadsheet illustrate some of the capabilities of a spreadsheet,
formulas, and functions and allows you to experiment more with a spreadsheet.
 Download example.xls
Why do people use Excel?
There are many reasons people may use Excel (a spreadsheet program). For example, someone might
use Excel to keep track of their expenses. For a full list of reason and examples of how people use a
spreadsheet, see our spreadsheet definition.
Why would someone use Excel over a different spreadsheet program?
Today, there are many different free spreadsheet options that someone could use instead of Excel.
However, even with the available free options, Excel remains the most-used spreadsheet because of all
its available options, features, and because many businesses still use the program.
 Where can I get a free spreadsheet program?
Tip
Even with all Excel's options, a free spreadsheet program like Google Sheets is often all most users need.
Note
If you want to get Excel because it's a job requirement, it's still okay to learn all the basics in a free
spreadsheet program. However, there are still many differences between Excel and a free spreadsheet
program.
Excel file extensionsThe following file extensions are supported by Microsoft Excel. The default format
for saving a Microsoft Excel workbook is .xlsx.

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Excel

 Where do you find or start Excel?

 How can Excel be formatted?

 Download an example of a spreadsheet file.

 Why do people use Excel?

 Why would someone use Excel over a different spreadsheet program?

 Excel file extensions.

 What are the different versions of Microsoft Excel?

 What came before Excel?

 Related Excel pages.

 Microsoft Excel help and support.

How can Excel be formatted?

 How to format a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Download an example of a spreadsheet file

Why do people use Excel?

Why would someone use Excel over a different spreadsheet program?

 Where can I get a free spreadsheet program?

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