Uses of MS Excel

List of Top 12 Important Uses of Microsoft Excel

There are plenty of uses of excel, and the list goes on, but here we have listed some of the important uses of Microsoft excel to start the things for a beginner.

1. Get Quick Totals
2. Data Analysis and Interpretation
3. Plenty of Formulas to Work with Data
4. Data Organising and Restructuring
5. Data Filtering
6. Goal Seek AnalysisGoal Seek AnalysisThe Goal Seek in excel is a “what-if-analysis” tool that calculates the value of the input cell (variable) with respect to the desired outcome. In other words, the tool helps answer the question, “what should be the value of the input in order to attain the given output?” read more
7. Flexible and User-Friendly
8. Online Access
9. Building Dashboards
10. Interactive ChartsInteractive ChartsCharts visuals are better in data depiction, but interactivity gets it better. Interactivity is when the user sees specific values in the excel chart in a more effective, efficient and crystal clear way.read more and Graphs
11. Dynamic Formulas
12. Automation Through Excel

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Now let us discuss each of them in detail along with an Example  –

#1 – Get Quick Totals

Getting the grand total or subtotalSubtotalThe SUBTOTAL excel function performs different arithmetic operations like average, product, sum, standard deviation, variance etc., on a defined range.read more is a common task, so excel provides a quick sum of numbers with its Auto Sum option. For example, look at the below data in excel.

We have monthly numbers above, so to get the quick total in cell B7, simply press the Auto Sum shortcutSum ShortcutThe Excel SUM Shortcut is a function that is used to add up multiple values by simultaneously pressing the “Alt” and “=” buttons in the desired cell. However, the data must be present in a continuous range for this function to function.read more key ALT + = sign.

As you can see, it has inserted the SUM function in excel. Hit the enter key to get the result.

There you go. We have a quick total of the numbers above.

#2 – Data Analysis & Interpretation

The spreadsheet contains data, so telling the story behind the data is what the decision-makers need to make decisions that are vital in the business world. So when the data is available with excel, we can make use of MS Excels features like pivot tablePivot TableA Pivot Table is an Excel tool that allows you to extract data in a preferred format (dashboard/reports) from large data sets contained within a worksheet. It can summarize, sort, group, and reorganize data, as well as execute other complex calculations on it. read more and formulas to quickly analyses the data and interpret the numbers quickly and efficiently.

#3 – Plenty of Formulas to Work with Data

MS Excel comes with plenty of built-in functions to work with data. There are 450+ functions in excel,Functions In Excel,Excel functions help the users to save time and maintain extensive worksheets. There are 100+ excel functions categorized as financial, logical, text, date and time, Lookup & Reference, Math, Statistical and Information functions.read more so these functions are categorized as “Financial, Logical, Text, Date & Time, Lookup & Reference, Math & Trig, Statistical, Engineering, Cube, Information, and Web.

#4 – Data Organizing & Restructuring

You cannot get the data that is ready to use, so using tools of excel, we can organize the data, and in fact, we can reorganize the data according to the needs of the users.

#5 – Data Filtering

Using the option of Filter in Excel, we can filter the particular data from the number of rows of data. Not only a single column filter can be applied, but also we can apply the filter to multiple columns to match multiple criteriaMatch Multiple CriteriaCriteria based calculations in excel are performed by logical functions. To match single criteria, we can use IF logical condition, having to perform multiple tests, we can use nested IF conditions. But for matching multiple criteria to arrive at a single result is a complex criterion-based calculation.read more to filter the data.

#6 – Goal Seek Analysis

When the target is set, and at a certain stage of the project, we may need to review that target achievement. So using excel, we can track all those things and also identify what needs to do in the remaining steps to achieve the desired goals.

#7 – Flexible and User-Friendly

When you compare MS Excel with other spreadsheets, you will find MS Excel as relatively friendly and flexible enough to fit in the needs of the users. One needs to have the proper training to get start the things in excel.

#8 – Online Access

Not all the time, we get he done offline, so some of the data needs to be fetched from online websites as well. We can import data from “MS Access File, Text File, From Web, From SQL Servers, From XML Data Import” etc.… So getting the data to excel is not a constraint.

#9 – Building Dashboards

When the story behind the data is read to tell, end users may want to see those summary results in a single page view, so using MS Excel, we can build dashboards that can tell the stories in a single page view. Not only can we build a dashboard, but it also makes the dashboard interactive as well.

#10 – Interactive ChartsInteractive ChartsCharts visuals are better in data depiction, but interactivity gets it better. Interactivity is when the user sees specific values in the excel chart in a more effective, efficient and crystal clear way.read more and Graphs

Charts and Graphs can attract user attention, so using MS Excel. We can build interactive charts and graphs to tell the story better than the summary tables alone.

#11 – Dynamic Formulas

When the excel formulasExcel FormulasThe term "basic excel formula" refers to the general functions used in Microsoft Excel to do simple calculations such as addition, average, and comparison. SUM, COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, AVERAGE, MIN Excel, MAX Excel, LEN Excel, TRIM Excel, IF Excel are the top ten excel formulas and functions.read more are applied, we can make them dynamic so that when the data range gets an addition or deletion, our formula shows the updated results instantly.

#12 – Automation Through Excel

At last, when you move to the advanced level of MS Excel, you may get bored with daily routine works in excel. In that case, we can automate the reports in excel by using the VBA codingUsing The VBA CodingVBA code refers to a set of instructions written by the user in the Visual Basic Applications programming language on a Visual Basic Editor (VBE) to perform a specific task.read more language.

Recommended Articles

This has been a guide to Uses of Excel. Here we discuss the top 12 important uses of Microsoft Excel that include Get Quick Totals, Data Analysis & Interpretation, Plenty of Formulas to Work with Data, Data Filtering, etc. along with examples and downloadable excel template. You may learn more about excel from the following articles –

• Divide Cell in Excel
• Excel Count Colored Cells
• Excel Negative Numbers
• Scroll Bars in Excel